Pastors For Life

Paul Kuzma is a pastor with a passion for "resourcing pastors for a lifetime of life giving." The website grew out of his personal experience of moving from a unhealthy personal and professional life to a life giving enabling healthy one. In telling his story Kuzma writes, "The pastor is:

One of those particular groups of people who is never supposed to burn out, but I did.

One of those people who are supposed to be resilient to weakness, but I wasn’t.

One of those professions that isn’t a profession, but it is.

One of those jobs that will never be 9 to 5, but honest pastors will say we sometimes wish it was.

The reality of this “calling”, “profession”, “job”, “ministry”, is that it is sometimes a monster that drains one of life instead of giving it. When I began to be honest about that and deal with it accordingly through my own burnout recovery, that’s when I began to find life in it. It was only then that I began to rediscover that Pastoring is what God made me to do, and I want to do it my whole life.

You can access the "Pastor For Life" website through the following link. Pastor For Life

Pastors Retreat Network

Imagine five days away at a scenic lodge with three delicious meals a day prepared by the resident chef. Imagine five days to pray, study and reflect with your spouse in a place where a broad library awaits you. Imagine scenic trails, boating and other recreational opportunities available during your stay. Imagine all this at no cost to you. Pastors Retreat Network was founded out of the belief that clergy need periodically times to retreat from stresses and strains of ministry to reflect on and renew their call, but often lack the financial resources to afford such an opportunity. PRN offer these self guided retreats for full time pastors at each of their three sites in Texas, Wisconsin and Ohio. For more information on this opportunity, click on the following link. Pastors retreat

The Clergy Health Initiative’s definition of health is wholeness of body, mind and spirit. In July 2007, The Duke Endowment generously funded our seven-year program intended to improve the health of 1,600 North Carolina United Methodist pastors serving full time as elders or local pastors.

The Clergy Health Initiative vision is to develop a resilient, well-informed cadre of United Methodist pastors as skilled in the care of themselves and their families as they are in the care of their congregations.

For more information on thes retreats, click on the following link. Pastors Retreat Network.

  
 

Marble Retreat Center

Intensive Counseling for Clergy Families

The Marble Retreat ministry was born out of the conviction that clergy and others in Christian service, more than any other group, have extreme job demands which frequently lead to anxiety, frustration and burnout. Because of their position, they find it difficult to seek help.

These factors, and God's call, led Mayo Clinic-trained psychiatrist Louis McBurney, M.D. and his wife, Melissa, to begin the ministry of Marble Retreat over 30 years ago. The Retreat has now served the Christian counseling needs of more than 3,000 leaders. They have come from every state and more than 60 countries.

In 1988, the McBurneys answered God's call to an additional challenge - counseling Christian workers on the mission field. Since that time outreach trips have included Sri Lanka, Cyprus, Germany, Hong Kong, Java, Iryan Jaya, Kenya, Zimbabwe, South Africa, West Africa, Austria, Greece, Malaysia, Thailand and Pakistan. This extension of the Marble Retreat Christian counseling ministry has led to the establishment of Marble Retreat Worldwide in 2003. The McBurneys now serve primarily in this capacity.

Furthermore, in 2003, Steven Cappa, Psy. D., and his wife Patti Cappa LMFT, CAC II, assumed the duties as directors of Marble Retreat where they serve to this day.

 

Holy Healthy

Holy Healthy is a ministry of the Arkansas Conference to promote mental, emotional, social, spiritual and physical health among the clergy, staff and laity of Arkansas United Methodism. The website offers practical steps for healthy living in each of af the above areas. The website also links to external resources that are available to assist persons seeking a healthy lifestyle. You can access the Holy Healthy Website by clicking on the following link. Holy Healthy .