Pastors often serve as an emotional anchor for their flock: providing a listening ear, advice, and social cohesion for their congregation members. And we’ve all needed more of those supports as we face the COVID-19 pandemic. Pastors, in turn, need additional support themselves as they offer that vital emotional labor to their communities. 

This summer, Eastern Mennonite Seminary hosted the “Navigating Ministry During COVID-19” online forum series for pastors. Recordings of each seminar are available for for viewing online here.

Topics included pastoral care and spiritual formation for pastoral resilience, trauma-informed ministry, theological questions during anxious times, biblical resources, ethical issues of medical care, and revisioning church after COVID-19.

“We are inviting you this afternoon to a time of spiritual rejuvenation, communal learning, and self reflection,” said Professor Sarah Bixler as she opened the webinar on spiritual formation for resilience, in which ministry leaders talked about the signs of pastoral fatigue and spiritual practices to sustain themselves in the face of burnout.

Bixler said afterwards that the forums “turned out to be so much more than we had initially envisioned.” 

After the forum, she and co-facilitator Hyacinth Stevens, the program coordinator for MCC East Coast in New York City, heard from “ministry leaders who expressed a deep need for renewal during this trying time – and who are using the tangible tools we offered to find their way. It was also remarkable to see attendees offer encouragement and creativity to one another during the forums.”

Over 150 people registered for the forums: mostly pastors, joined by others like chaplains, denominational and church staff, lay leaders, and theological faculty. They represented nine different denominations, 23 states, and five countries outside the U.S.

The pastors “who came together from across the country and around the world to share and participate in this learning community reinforced the resiliency of our pastors and church workers,” said church relations director and co-organizer Veva Mumaw.

“This series has impressed me with how the strongest leaders across the church find ways to lead together even during a time of felt isolation. God’s Spirit has brought courage and hope through this expression of Christian community,” Bixler said.

Register here.

The series is an outgrowth of an April 1 online gathering that drew 32 pastors, including 22 alumni, representing Mennonite Church USA, the Church of the Brethren, Presbyterian Church USA and United Methodist Church. 

The first session on April 15 focused on pastoral care and included a facilitated discussion on grief/loss without physical presence, caring for others from a distance, and caring for ourselves

April 29: Spiritual formation for pastoral resilience

• Signs of pastoral fatigue, spiritual practices to sustain the pastor

May 13: Understanding trauma and secondary trauma

• Supporting front-line responders and recognizing secondary trauma

May 27: Theological questions during anxious times

• Support for navigating theological issues associated with the pandemic

June 10: Ethical issues of medical care

• Issues of access, justice and understanding the medical system during the pandemic

June 24: Biblical resources for despair and hope

• Biblical literature that gives voice to human despair and theologically responsible use of scripture for hope in life and death

Facilitators are drawn from seminary professors, clinical pastoral education staff and the seminary’s large group of alumni working in ministry.

As the social restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic caused increasing challenges to those in the ministry, Eastern Mennonite Seminary instructor Sarah Bixler began to sense a need for connection among her pastor friends and current students serving as pastors.

The result was an April 1 online gathering that drew 32 pastors, including 22 alumni, representing Mennonite Church USA, the Church of the Brethren, Presbyterian Church USA and United Methodist Church. 

Participants in the 90-minute session brought not only ecumenical diversity but geographic diversity — pastors were working in ministry contexts in California, Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia.

“I’m glad I connected with the forum on Zoom because hearing personal stories was even more helpful than ‘best practices’ from folks who are positioning themselves as experts… even though no one has ever lived through this before,” said Jon Carlson, pastor of Forest Hills Mennonite Church in Pennsylvania.

Carlson is a member of MC USA’s executive board. Sue Park-Hur, denominational minister for transformative leadership, also attended.

Veva Mumaw, the seminary’s admissions director who also works in church relations, hosted the event and Bixler provided facilitation.

In her welcome and introduction to the group, Bixler stressed the need for resisting isolation during this time of personal transition and pastoral stress, “as you scrambled to take worship services online and care for your congregants.”

“Now more than ever, we need networks of support and spaces for innovation. We need to ‘lead together,’ which is EMU’s new tagline – to recognize that we are not alone, that we need not be isolated in our ministry, that we together can participate in God’s dynamic mission as it unfolds in surprising ways amid our changing world.”: 

Bixler then offered space to converse around three questions: 

• What has been your biggest challenge in the past few weeks of pastoral leadership?
• What grace has surprised you?
• What innovative pastoral response have you offered that you’re most proud of?

“During the forum, as pastors responded to my three questions, they reported good attendance at a variety of congregational online worship formats. Many acknowledged the challenges of meeting new pastoral care needs, drawing on theological and biblical resources during the crisis, responding to grief and loss and tending to their own spiritual well-being,’” Bixler said.

Forum series in the works

One result of the gathering is a plan to offer a free Online Pastors Forum Series for Navigating COVID-19, beginning April 15, throughout the spring of 2020 for pastoral leaders occurring every other week. These facilitated conversation spaces would cover interdisciplinary topics and feature EMU & EMS professors and current pastors in the format of online webinars, forums and panel discussions. 

The first event is Wednesday, April 15, 2020, 3:00 – 4:30 pm EDT. The topic is “Pastoral Care in the Time of Covid-19 and Beyond” and will include a facilitated discussion on grief/loss without physical presence, caring for others from a distance, caring for ourselves, etc.

Register here for the first forum.

Facilitators include Penny Dreidiger, ACPE Clinical Educator, Eastern Mennonite Seminary, and Sentara RMH Staff Chaplain; Eric Martin, Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community Supportive Living Chaplain; and Lonnie Yoder, Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling, Eastern Mennonite Seminary.

Please let us know what you’re interested in sharing and learning more about in the comment box below.

Participants came from 13 states and two countries, and represented nine denominations, including Mennonite, Quaker, Church of the Brethren, Disciples of Christ, Church of God of Christ, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian and United Church of Christ.

Hurst and the planning committee selected Mark 4:35-41 as the guiding scripture.

“Navigating these times as followers of Jesus and church leaders does feel like charting unknown waters in a choppy and stormy sea,” Hurst said in her welcome. “The biblical story found in Mark 4 of the disciples crossing the story sea with Jesus seemed appropriate for our repeated hearing and reflection over these days.”

Maren Tyedmers Hange, co-pastor of Charlottesville Mennonite Church, painted a special piece of art, featuring an empty boat floating in storm-swept seas, for contemplation. The boat is “intentionally empty as a invitation to join Jesus there,” said Veva Mumaw, seminary admissions director and member of the planning committee.

Expanded worship opportunities throughout the three days led the gathered through interpretation and reflection on the scripture passage. Keynote addresses were provided by David Evans, associate professor of history and intercultural studies and the director of cross cultural programs at Eastern Mennonite Seminary; Sue Park-Hur, denominational minister for leadership development and transformative peacemaking for Mennonite Church USA; and John Pavlovitz, author and Methodist pastor.

Pavlovitz provided three keynotes, addressing parts of the scripture each day. A pastor for two decades, writer and activist from Wake Forest, North Carolina, Pavlovitz blogs about. His books include A Bigger Table: Building Messy, Authentic, and Hopeful Spiritual Community (Westminster John Knox Press, 2017) and HOPE and Other Superpowers: A Life-Affirming, Love-Defending, Butt-Kicking, World-Saving Manifesto (Simon & Schuster, 2018).

In an “upsidedown world” that corrodes hope and faith, followers of Christ – seeking to embody the compassion modeled by Jesus, “to intercede on the behalf of people in need” – often feel anger and disillusionment.

“You have the eyes of Jesus and the heart of Jesus that moves you towards people who no one else knows, who everyone else avoids, who no one else hears,” Pavlovitz said. The “collateral damage” of moving with empathy towards those has to be acknowledged, but at the same time, the movement is the heart of the Gospel.

“Muslim bans, health care repeals, ICE raids, Nazis in the street, debating the value of a black life,” he said, “I feel completely inverted spiritually. I feel profoundly disoriented as a Christian…but disorientation means your faculties are intact, your mind is right, your heart is working properly, and your soul is keeping you human in profoundly inhuman times.”

Pavlovitz suggested that the challenge for ministers and people of faith is “how to take that natural anger and channel it in to something redemptive and constructive … Can we find a transcendent Jesus? … Can we create a community where the full Jesus can be on display? I think we can. We have to embrace the activist, compassionate heart of Jesus with people who we would not otherwise be with, in places we would not think to be.”

Acknowledgements

In addition to Brenda Martin Hurst and Veva Mumaw, the planning committee included Dale Detweiler, pastor, Birch Grove Mennonite Church, Port Allegany, Pennsylvania; Peggy Packard, pastor of Weyers Cave United Methodist Church, Weyers Cave, Virginia; Dawn Ranck-Hower, pastor of New Holland Mennonite Church, of New Holland, Pennsylvania; and Danilo Sanchez, co-pastor, Ripple-Allentown, and associate pastor, Whitehall Mennonite Church, Allentown, Pennsylvania.

The worship planning team included Perry Blosser, Maren Tyedmers Hange, Matthew Hunsberger, Robert Michalides, Veva Mumaw and Ryan Scarberry.

The Jan. 14-16, 2019, event will highlight the Mark 4:35-41 narrative of Jesus’ crossing the stormy sea with his disciples, and feature keynote speakers John Pavlovitz, Sue Park-Hur and David Evans, plus seminars, facilitated conversation circles and luncheon discussions.

In addition, participants are invited to join in worship and sharing, a church leaders/pastor appreciation breakfast with President Susan Schultz Huxman, and a story slam competition in which participants can volunteer to tell humorous stories from their ministry experiences.

The deadline for early registration is Friday, Nov. 30.

“Church leaders and pastors are keenly aware of the needs in their congregations,” said SLT coordinator Veva Mumaw. “Like other years, this will be a chance for them to find strength to thrive, to be inspired along with other ministers, and to become renewed in their calling to serve.”

This year, financial assistance is available through the Thriving in Ministry Lilly grant for pastors whose continuing education funding is insufficient or who as bi-vocational pastors face financial constraints.

“The seminary’s 50-year commitment to offering School for Leadership Training reflects its steadfast commitment not only to training women and men for ministry but also to supporting and nurturing pastors in the years following their seminary training,” said EMS Thriving in Ministry grant director Brenda Martin Hurst, who led the SLT planning committee from 2002-07 and is on the committee again this year. “For the next five years, this grant will support EMS in offering SLT, focusing on helping pastors to thrive and to navigate the transitions they experience in ministry.”

Keynote speakers

Pavlovitz will present three keynote addresses. A pastor for two decades, writer and activist from Wake Forest, North Carolina, Pavlovitz blogs about and has published A Bigger Table: Building Messy, Authentic, and Hopeful Spiritual Community (Westminster John Knox Press, 2017) and HOPE and Other Superpowers: A Life-Affirming, Love-Defending, Butt-Kicking, World-Saving Manifesto (Simon & Schuster, 2018).

Park-Hur will provide the first keynote address. The denominational minister for leadership development and transformative peacemaking for Mennonite Church USA, Park-Hur is co-director of the Los Angeles peace center specializing in conflict transformation and restorative justice for immigrant churches. She served as co-lead pastor of Mt. View Mennonite Church in Upland, California, and co-church planter of Church for Others in Temple City. In addition, she taught theological English to pastors from overseas at Fuller Theological Seminary. She is trained in Intercultural Development Inventory and sexual abuse investigations, and is a Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience practitioner.

Evans will present the fourth keynote address. An associate professor of history and intercultural studies and the director of cross-cultural programs at EMS, Evans focuses his teaching and research on the braided identity categories of race, religion, and nation. He is the co-editor of Between the World of Ta-Nehisi Coates and Christianity (Cascade, 2018), and practices a local “eco-lutionary” lifestyle that promotes an ecologically just future for the diverse people of the Shenandoah Valley watershed. He is a United Methodist.

Themes reflect change

Past themes reflect SLT’s developing and persistent engagement with issues facing church leadership, from 1971’s theme of “The Church in the 70’s” to 1982’s “Creating a Resourceful Ministry” to 1993’s “Which Way Worship?”

“Over the years the themes became more relevant and interesting as opposed to purely academic lectures,” said Linda Alley, an ordained minister and spiritual director who from 2006-16 was involved with SLT as an assistant or director and in previous years participated with her pastor husband and as a seminary student.

Increasing diversity among the attendees led also to a widening array of workshops that met various needs in church leaders: for networking within and across denominational boundaries, for meaningful continuing education, for a chance to experience worship not as leaders but as participants, Alley said.

Its name’s evolution suggests a broadening understanding of leadership in congregations: The event first took place in 1970, with the name “Ministers Week.” In 1983 the name expanded to “Minister Week: School for Leadership Training.” By the mid-90s it had transitioned to just “School for Leadership Training.”

“It truly was a refreshment to the soul for many busy leaders who needed time for self-care and renewal,” Alley said. She continues to follow the works of two past SLT lecturers in particular, Tilda Norburg () and Ruth Haley Barton (the ).

Learning and sharing in 2019

This year’s SLT includes a variety of seminars, facilitated conversation circles and luncheon discussions.

Seminars will include:

• “Building resilience and practicing self-care as pastors” with Park-Hur;
• “Embracing the Beauty of Failure” with Pavlovitz;
• “Such time as this?” with Victor Gomez, Virginia United Methodist Church Harrisonburg district superintendent;
• “Gather up the Fragments: An Ecclesioculture for Thriving Small Churches” with Bradley Roth, pastor of West Zion Mennonite Church, Moundridge, Kansas;
• “‘The Thundering Silence’: Hearing and Ministering to Combat Veterans suffering from PTSD and Moral Injury” with Darin Busé, pastor of Riverside United Methodist Church, Fulks Run, Virginia.
• “It’s always been about bodies” with EMS instructor Mary Thiessen Nation and Harrigan McMahan Bowman, an elder at Early Church in Harrisonburg; and
• “Reading the Clouds” with Maren Tyedmers-Hange, co-pastor at Charlottesville (Virginia) Mennonite Church.

Facilitated conversation circles will include:

• “The Loneliness of Leadership” led by Sue Cockley, EMU dean of graduate and seminary;
• “Pastoring in Polarizing Times” led by Todd Friesen, pastor of East Chestnut Street Mennonite Church, Lancaster, Pennsylvania;
• “Help, I’m a solo pastor! Things I didn’t know I would have to do” led by EMS Professor Lonnie Yoder; and
• “Bats in the belfry” led by Jeff Mumaw, a former mental health worker.

Luncheon discussion options will be “Ministry in Anabaptist Churches” for students, leaders and conference ministers to network, and a “Women in Ministry Gathering” led by Hurst.