Judith A. Schwarz, Blessed Connections: Relationships that Sustain Vital Ministry. Alban Institute, 2008.
Referenced in: Ministry Burnout, Preventing and Overcoming
LifeandLeadership.Com Summary
Schwarz believes the startling statistics about ministry burnout and failure point to a breakdown in primary relationships with self, God, and others. The first three chapters discuss the development of an authentic self, with exercises to help readers assess strengths and growing edges. Chapters four through seven emphasize relationships with others, especially with family, congregation, and community. The final chapters address one’s relationship with God through a regimen of spiritual disciplines. Each chapter ends with a series of reflections and suggestions.
From the Publisher
No pastor sets out to fail, but statistics say 15 to 20 percent of pastors leave pastoral ministry within the first five years. One seminary administrator said that every person he had heard of leaving the ministry had done so because of a relationship failure. We cannot escape relationships in ministry, yet few seminaries offer courses in how to build healthy relationships. The assumption is that the type of person who is called to ministry will have all the “people skills” they need, which sadly is not always true.
In Blessed Connections, seminary professor Judith Schwanz focuses on the person of the minister and the relational system of the minister’s life. She spotlights three areas of connection—relationship with self, relationships with other people, and relationship with God. Attending to these three primary connections will strengthen the pastor and cushion her or him against the pressures and stresses of daily ministry. Blessed Connections is ideal for seminary students and new pastors and includes “Assessment Journal” questions at the end of each chapter for personal application.
About the Author
Judith Schwanz is Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling at Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri. She holds a Ph.D. from Portland State University as well as degrees from Northwestern University and Western Evangelical Seminary. She is a Certified Administrator of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and has served in both the local parish and a private counseling practice.
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