Professional Dissertations DMin

Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Ministry

College

Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary

Program

Doctor of Ministry DMin

First Advisor

Johnny Ramirez-Johnson

Second Advisor

Vaughan Grant

Third Advisor

Mario Philip

Abstract

Problem

I have observed that many pastors are suffering from problems experienced in the past and in the present. The problems are both personal (e.g., lack of self-care and depression) and national (e.g., lack of support for social recovery from hurricanes and other natural and socioeconomic catastrophes). Some of the problems experienced by these pastors are because they have not had the opportunity to identify the traumas they experienced in their lives and that still affect them now. In addition, many of them do not have a place where they can share their problems with their colleagues, be heard, supported, affirmed, and so that they can achieve emotional health. They have not been able to develop an emotional, physical, and spiritual self-care program; they are not aware how this “burnout” feeling is affecting their lives physically, emotionally, professionally, and spiritually. This experience of anxiety and sadness affects their ability to relate to other people. One contributing factor is that most pastors are not taking care of themselves.

Methodology

This project drew from both the Bible and Ellen White’s writings, as well as my own Adventist foundations in order to meet the pastoral needs of CPE student pastors and to develop an understanding of relationships in fostering both spiritual and emotional self-care. The specific topics selected for the study of foundational ideas from the Bible and Ellen White’s writings include the following: (1) Seeing Elijah as a spiritual leader of Israel helps to recognize his emotional failures and post-traumatic stress as emblematic of pastors who have been traumatized by natural disasters and socio-economic depravations; thus, 1 Kgs 19:9 was presented as a definitional narrative; (2) presenting the ministry and life of Jesus as an example of self care according to Matt 11:28, (3) using conflictive dialogues with other people (Matt 26) to illustrate how to achieve better relationships; and finally (4) illustrating the influence of generational patterns illustrated by the biblical examples of the life experiences of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. -- The project also included multidenominational/multiethnic studies with a special focus on pastoral self-care, as well as the influence of inter-generational patterns of life trauma and familial systemic experiences. -- This project included six male and one female CPE chaplain interns taking their CPE unit at Bella Vista CPE training center under the Clinical Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy (CPSP) model that includes the therapeutic aspect of training as a central principle (Lawrence 2017, 8). These individuals were Adventist pastors, responsible for churches in the western area of Puerto Rico. The study also included one female CPE chaplain intern, a Baptist pastor working as a hospice chaplain in the Miami, Florida area. The six pastors were taking their fourth CPE unit, and the hospice chaplain was taking her first CPE unit. The group included four senior adults (55+) and three middle-aged adults (35–54) with different educational levels. Two had Doctor of Ministry degrees, four had Master’s degrees in Pastoral Ministry, and one had two Master’s degrees (Ministry and Theology). Six participants shared the same rural and small city social contexts (the western Puerto Rico area), and one was from the Miami, Florida metropolitan area. I documented the spiritual, emotional, and professional needs, as self-reported, for the study participants. -- The study helped the participating pastors identify their emotional trauma (intergenerational and otherwise) and evaluate how that trauma affected their ministry and motivated them to develop a self-initiated work on them. -- This training program, as evidenced by a post-survey, improved the self-reported emotional and spiritual health of the pastors.

Results

This research project showed that participation in the CPE training was one of the contributing factors of the self-care tool. The responses obtained from the survey given to the participants prior to the CPE training showed a variety of traumas experienced by the participants, including family loss, emotional abuse, personal and work difficulties, as well as negative experiences in community settings. Five of the seven participants (71%) reported having experienced parental abandonment, and three of the seven participants (42%) reported having experienced some type of abuse and emotional trauma. In other words, the results of the survey given prior to the CPE training reported that all the participants were experiencing some type of trauma. In addition, the pre-survey showed that the traumas experienced by the participants were influencing their ministry and personal life and were affecting their interpersonal relationships, emotional well-being, self-esteem, and professional capabilities. All seven participants (100%) reported that the traumas they were experiencing prior to participating in the CPE training were negatively influencing their ministry and interpersonal relationships. Six months later when the participants completed the pos-survey, the results showed that the CPE training had been important in increasing the emotional growing process: six of the seven participants (85%) reported that the CPE training had helped them grow emotionally, four of the seven participants (57%) reported that the CPE training had helped them enter into an emotional growth process, and five of the seven participants (71%) reported that trusting God, in combination with the CPE training, had played an important role in obtaining emotional relief. In addition, this project showed that CPE training is a therapeutic experience that helps participants identify their traumas and gives space for growth and emotional relief through self-reflection processes, group dynamics, and acquisition of self-awareness. -- Furthermore, the CPE training prompted the participants to be motivated to replace the misconceptions they had about themselves, which affected their emotional health, and to replace them with positive convictions, which motivated them to make behavioral changes and encourage notable personal growth in self-care. Responses from the post-survey appear to reflect a higher level of introspection, emotional awareness, and ongoing healing process compared to responses from the pre-survey. This could suggest progress in the emotional growth and recovery process in the participants and that the CPE training is one of the contributing factors of self-care. According to the participants’ responses, six of the seven participants (85%) recognized the CPE training as one of the contributing factors of self-care and as an experience of emotional relief. This research project also showed that the acceptance of God and the practice of faith in God, in combination with the benefits obtained from the CPE training, were determining factors in the self-care process. In addition, after participation in the CPE training, the results showed an increase in the emotional growth process and interest in seeking help. Seventy-one percent (71%) of participants reported that the CPE training helped them to initiate an emotional growth process and that they intended to seek help.

Conclusions

The results of the survey given to the pastors who participated in the CPE training showed that CPE was one of the contributing factors of self-care and an emotional relief resource that helped them identify their traumas and understand how their traumas were influencing their life and ministry. In addition, the CPE training helped the participating pastors gain more emotional intelligence through the processes of confrontation, affirmation, and constructive criticism that emerged in the group meetings. The CPE experience also provided for continuous processes of self-reflection and self-exploration that emerged during the six months of training that provided a space for emotional relief for the participants.

Subject Area

Self-care, Health; Clinical pastoral education (Movement); Relationships; Interpersonal relations; Emotions

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