Hello! Let me introduce myself - I am Arlene Ruggles, and I have been serving Lambton Presbytery for the past 1.5 years as the chaplain to the clergy. I also serve Kent Presbytery in the same capacity. This Presbytery was forward looking and sought out a person who could serve the needs of clergy and their families, providing support and pastoral care to the pastoral caregivers who so diligently serve your needs as individuals and congregations.      I have been working in the field of spiritual caregiving, pastoral counselling, and family therapy for over 20 years, and operate a private practice in the Chatham area. I completed an M.Div in 1979 and an M.Th in Pastoral Care & Counselling in 1999. My heart has always been in ministry vocation, and I feel this area of ministry is a deeply needed part of the United Church's work as a whole. As a result I am also currently training as a Diaconal Minister in the UCC through the Centre for Christian Studies.  My work in Lambton Presbytery entails pastoral visitation on a routine basis, telephone and email follow-ups, professional referrals where requested, short term crisis intervention and counselling, and spiritual encouragement and support to families affected by the vocational stress and pressure that clergy experience. The benefit to congregations, although often invisible, is immense, especially when clergy take the steps to avail themselves of this support.

Contact Arlene healing@wavedirect.net 519-360-7310

The health of the clergy is crucial to the health of the church ("clergy syndrome" DOES EXIST in Lambton and is characterized by depression, burnout, role and boundary confusion, all forms of addiction, marital breakdown, congregational conflict and spiritual bankruptcy ) As a result, 60% have considered leaving ministry. *

Did You Know?

• 80% of pastors believe the pastoral ministry has negatively affected their families
  

• 33% have no established means for resolving conflict. (George Barna - 2002)
  
• 49% of clergy identified two or less friends, 18% identified no one as a friend in their current church or community. "Relationally, [ministers] felt unfilled and lonely."
  
• 70% moderately or strongly disagreed with the statement: I feel fulfilled in ministry.
  
• 67% agreed to strongly agreed with the statement: I sometimes project my job frustration on the family.
  
• 80% agreed to strongly agreed with the statement: I feel guilty if people see me taking time off during the week.
  
• 4% have gone to denominational staff for support in a crisis. (To clergy union organizers, this indicates that many clergy don't trust church staff when support is needed)
  
• 51% indicated they have suffered physically from stress-induced problems.
  
• 20% have been diagnosed with emotional conditions, 16% with depression - double Health Canada's findings that 8% of Canadian adults experience major depression in their lives. Twice as many female clergy than male clergy become depressed.
  
• 50% moderately to strongly disagreed with the statement: I am consistent between who I am and how I appear to others.
  
• 80% of ministers admitted varying degrees of jealously toward the success of other ministers. This attributes to a high level of competition amongst clergy and few friends.
  
• 77% agreed to strongly agreed with the statement: I feel more like a CEO than a pastor.
  
• 83% agreed with the statement: My church wants a CEO rather than a pastor. 91% agreed with the statement: Being a 'minister' is more like a job than a calling. 86% agreed to strongly agreed with the statement: I pray with others but rarely have time for personal prayer.

*The entire study is available at www.utoronto.ca/caringforclergy/research.html.