Items filtered by date: December 2015
Living Ministry suggests six principles to help you THRIVE in ministry [PDF] and while this was written with specific reference to the pandemic, it is based around excellent principles for ministry in any situation and well worth a look.
Spirituality is probably one of the most overworked and misunderstood words in present day religious vocabulary.
In the context of our life and mission in the Diocese of Derby, we are particularly concerned with Christian spirituality which is deeply embedded in the life and history of the Church.
In these days many people are taking their own journey into God far more seriously.
There is a real thirst within the Church as well as in the world for the things of God.
To try to address this, the Diocese of Derby’s Christian Spirituality Group tries to provide people who can accompany others on this journey as listeners and spiritual directors.
It also provides courses, quiet days and retreats.
Details of all these things will appear from time to time on this website and in other places.
For more information, please visit the Diocese of Derby Spirituality Group’s website page.
Pastoral supervision provides a safe and confidential space to be supervised or to ‘look over’ pastoral ministry with another person who is experienced and trained in this specialised service.
Along with spiritual direction and counselling, this is another valuable resource in support of your ministry.
Download more information on the pastoral supervision service [PDF]
‘How Clergy Thrive’
‘How Clergy Thrive’ is an excellent resource which looks at ways clergy can look after their wellbeing, including vocationally specific research, guidance, and help.
You can download a copy of this book and accompanying worksheets here: Living Ministry Resources | The Church of England
Wellbeing snapshot: The Wellbeing Map
The Living Ministry Wellbeing Map is a useful tool that you could use on your own or with others, maybe every six months or so.
It might re-assure, it might indicate a need for further support or input and help you target specific things.
Take some ‘Time out’
Please feel free to use any of these resources if you find yourself in need of a quiet space and something to help you reflect.
Sometimes the last thing we feel we can do is take ‘Time Out’. However, it is often one of the most helpful things to do. We suggest the following to make it more likely to happen:
- Decide when your ‘Time Out’ will be and how long it will last.
- Mark that time and space in your diary so that it stands along-side meetings and other commitments as equally important allocated time.
- Resist the temptation to move it, shorten it, delete it all together as other demands are made on you and your time.
Supporting clergy and their families serving the Anglican churches of the diocese.
“It was having someone listening to what I was saying without judging me. Listening to my problems and helping me to see them in a different light, that made all the difference”.
The diocese offers a free counselling service in which eight sessions of counselling are available for clergy and their immediate families including children.
Our counsellors are fully qualified and accredited with government recognised bodies.
All counselling arrangements are fully confidential and anonymous, and those using the service can self-refer without any reference to senior clergy.
The counselling service provides a safe and confidential space to unpack any sort of emotional distress, whether it is from relationships inside or outside of the family or church, or issues related to your working ministry that just aren’t working at all well.
Maybe you have experienced some losses and bereavement, depression and anxiety, a sense of loss of vocation, or anything else that is getting you down and is draining your energy and good will.
You may have experienced some painful disappointments, regrets, losses, and bereavement.
Anxiety and depression can be unwelcome emotional visitors to our lives.
Losing a sense of vocation and motivation is difficult - and can be symptomatic of approaching burnout.
All of these and other stressors can drain our energy and good-will.
Counsellors are trained to listen carefully and without any judgment and will help you to find a way through to restore your sense of wellbeing and resilience.
We can help with the following…
- Depression, anxiety, stress
- Low self-esteem/fragile self-worth
- Self-harming and suicidal thoughts
- Couples counselling
- Difficult relationships in the home and/or church community
- Bullying
- Chronic illness. Accidents
- Emotional traumas new or old
- Bereavement, losses, change
- Anger/resentment management
- Social anxiety (feeling anxious in public and social situations)
- Thoughts of giving up the ministry
We can also help children to talk about their school anxieties or bullying, and confusion about their sexual identity.
This not an exhaustive list; we can help with whatever it is you would like to talk about.
There are many other challenging issues that clergy and their families have talked about.
If you think that your problem is too difficult to talk about, or seems too trivial, please don’t hold back.
Your counsellor is experienced and will help you.
Counselling through this service is available for clergy, their marriage partners, and their children.
Over the years, many of the clergy and their family members in the diocese have used the clergy counselling service (which includes couples counselling), so please don’t feel that you must soldier on alone, or that you are the only one who cannot manage sometimes. Others have benefited enormously from the private and confidential support that counselling provides. This service is here for you too so please get in touch. Your enquiry will be kept in strict confidence, and your anonymity assured from any other person, other than the counsellor to whom you could be referred.
If you think counselling might help you, or you would just like more information, please contact Sheila Pigott, Advisor for the Diocese of Derby Clergy Counselling Service - sheila.pigott@derby.anglican.org | 01433 639641
Your enquiry will be held in complete confidence.
You can talk to Sheila confidentially on the phone, send an email, or arrange a face-to-face appointment.
FAQ’s:
What happens in counselling
Who are the counsellors?
What happens in the first appointment?
Is there any cost?
Confidentiality
How to get in touch
Feedback
What happens in counselling?
Counselling takes place in a professional relationship. The meetings take place in a safe place, with an experienced and qualified counsellor. Your counsellor will listen to whatever you say with respect and without any judgment. The appointments take place in a private room which may be in the counsellor’s office or home.
With your counsellor’s support, you will develop insights and resources that will enable you to find a new and purposeful direction in your life and ministry.
Whether you feel confused or clear about the cause of your difficulty, your counsellor will help you to make sense of what is happening and will support you to find your own unique way through.
In counselling, you work actively with your counsellor, and while she or he does not advise or direct you, you will be helped to resolve the challenges, and will feel supported in any positive changes that you might like to make.
Who are the counsellors?
Our counsellors are qualified, accredited and experienced. Their work is regularly supervised, and they belong to government registered organisations:
The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)
United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP).
Association of Christian Counsellors (ACC).
The first appointment
Each of the eight counselling sessions are 50 to 60 minutes long. (90 minutes for couple’s sessions). They begin and end promptly to the times you arrange with your counsellor. Expect to be listened to respectfully and carefully, and feel free to ask questions or ask for more information.
The cost?
Our counsellors are paid by the Diocese for your eight appointments. This is a free service for you and your immediate family members.
Confidentiality
Confidentiality and anonymity are essential for the safety, and privacy of your counselling relationship. Your visits to a counsellor and whatever you talk about remain strictly confidential between you and your counsellor. Nothing is shared with anyone outside of the counselling arrangements within the diocese.
In rare circumstances where your health and safety, or that of others are at serious risk, or where there is a requirement in law, the terms of confidentiality can be changed by your counsellor for your own and others’ well-being.
How to get in touch
If you think counselling might help you, or you would just like more information, please contact Sheila Pigott, Advisor for the Diocese of Derby Clergy Counselling Service.
Your enquiry will be held in complete confidence.
You can talk to Sheila confidentially on the phone, send an email, or arrange a face-to-face appointment.
01433 639641
sheila.pigott@derby.anglican.org
Before retiring, Sheila had many years of training and experience in counselling and psychotherapy. She managed a private practice for over 35 years and worked in NHS Mental Health Teams for five years. Sheila also supported her husband through a long parish ministry before his retirement.
Feedback
Below are some of the comments we have received from those who have received counselling through our service.
“Busyness seems to have become an addiction! I can say this because that's where I was myself. The counselling I received was excellent. It was really helpful to have someone walk with me through what has been an incredibly difficult year. I feel much more equipped following the sessions.”
“My sessions were invaluable. Having a non- judgemental, impartial 'observer' meant I could receive feedback I could trust. It also very much helped me identify that the actual situation I faced was dysfunctional when I'd thought it was mainly my own incapacity to cope. I've already recommended this service to colleagues & will continue to do so. I can't see how it's possible for Clergy NOT to need this service at some point in their ministry!”
“We (a married couple) had greatly appreciated the sessions, would be happy to return to the counsellor if the need arose, and were amazed at just how far we had come, and how so many of the issues had been resolved/worked through during these past few months. I found her (the counsellor’s) encouragement and unpacking of complex issues extremely helpful. I can honestly say that I wouldn’t be able to return to work next week without these sessions. She really helped me to understand how I had gotten to that stage, what I needed to do to get through my time away from work and some of the changes needed to enable me to get back to work with a different mentality. She has helped me to make a number of big decisions regarding how I approach my work/life balance and to understand how to manage external stresses beyond my control. I would wholeheartedly recommend the diocese’ counselling services, to anyone considering accessing it. I had already recommended it to others after my first set of sessions (2019). This latest round of sessions has only solidified my belief that therapeutic counselling can be transformative.”
The Diocese of Derby Safeguarding team in partnership with the Derby Association of Church Bellringers (the Assiociation) has developed guidance which applies to all Bellringers in Church of England towers in the Diocese of Derby, whether or not they belong to the Association.
The Guidance can be downloaded here
This Covenant, Calling & Crisis report from January 2023 presents qualitative findings from the third wave of the ten-year Living Ministry research.
It builds on the Wave 3 survey, exploring clergy wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemic along with issues of autonomy, accountability and support. Sixty three people took part through individual and group interviews held on Zoom.
A framework analysis based on the categories of spiritual and vocational wellbeing, physical and mental wellbeing, relationships, and participation was used to address wellbeing experiences (financial and material wellbeing was excluded because interviews preceded rises in the cost of living), while autonomy and accountability were explored through the lens of self-determination theory, which defines autonomy as 'acting in line with one’s interests and values'.
A copy of the report can be downloaded here [PDF].
The Diocese of Derby has again put together a leaflet sharing some of the many celebrations and faith opportunities that churches and villages are hosting over the summer months.
>> View the leaflet here [on Issuu]
>> Download a printable version of the leaflet [.pdf]
Churches are there for you and they do need support from the community and these events are opportunities to join in and support one another.
The Archdeacon's Office is handling the distribution of the printed leaflets.
The Diocese of Derby is committed to promoting, maintaining, and sustaining the wellbeing of our clergy.
To this end, the clergy wellbeing advisory group exists to offer advice and counsel to the diocesan bishop(s), to help ensure that diocesan procedures, practice, training, communications, and strategies are implemented and maintained which uphold clergy wellbeing.
The group also offers advice on the advancement and implementation of GS 2133 - A Covenant for Clergy Care and Wellbeing, developing principles of prevention, resilience, and self-care to help clergy flourish and minimise crisis situations.
In time it is hoped that the group will operate as a conduit through which clergy can feedback their experiences of clergy wellbeing, suggest areas for improvement, and air their views on the kind of support they would like to receive.
The group meets regularly throughout the year.
If you would like to contact any of the members of the group, you will find their contact details below.
The Ven. Karen Hamblin – Archdeacon of East Derbyshire, Chair and Clergy Wellbeing Lead
karen.hamblin@derby.anglican.org
01246 913688 / 07432 705285
Revd Dwayne Engh - Ordained Ministries Development Officer
dwayne.engh@derby.anglican.org
07425 606421
Mandy Francis – HR Manager
mandy.francis@derby.anglican.org
01332 388686
Mina Munns – Wholeness and Healing Lead
mina.munns@stalkmunds.org.uk
Sheila Pigott - Diocesan Counselling Co-ordinator
sheila.pigott@derby.anglican.org
01433 639641
Canon Julian Hollywell – Chair of the House of Clergy
julian.hollywell@derby.anglican.org
01332 673573
The Covenant for Clergy Care and Wellbeing was made an Act of Synod at the February 2020 Group of Sessions of the General Synod. The Covenant is the expressed view of the mind of the Church of England on issues relating to clergy care and wellbeing.
“Our vision is that the work of supporting clergy in their ministry will become an integral part of the life of the Church and part of the DNA of every aspect of our mission and ministry.”
Revd Canon Simon Butler, Head of the Clergy Covenant Working Group
To find our more, please see the national website, The Covenant for Clergy Care and Wellbeing.
If you would like to read the main document behind the Covenant (GS 2072 Clergy Wellbeing) you can access it here.
The Church of England has initiated a ‘Big Conversation’ around Clergy Wellbeing and is encouraging all of us to take part. There are three resource papers to help encourage reflection and action available here.
They are not long but do ask some searching questions of us as clergy, of the local church and of our bishops and the wider Church.
