In response to a growing interest in the provision of professional supervision to clergy and chur... more In response to a growing interest in the provision of professional supervision to clergy and church workers in Australia, this study sought to examine reservations that current clergy and church workers might have towards the introduction of professional supervision as a regular supportive practice. This study was conducted in an evangelical Anglican metropolitan diocese, a factor which was expected to affect the results due to the dominant theology and ecclesiology of the diocese. Furthermore, professional supervision for clergy is not a current practice in this diocese. Following an initial pilot survey with 12 clergy who were currently accessing some form of supervision, a qualitative survey was conducted using a semi structured interview process with a judgment sample of 12 clergy to give a spread of age, ministry experience, and gender, Transcripts of interviews were subjected to thematic analysis, which delivered a complex and rich account of the data collected. After coding, 31 emergent themes were grouped into six dominant themes relating first to current knowledge, experience and helpfulness of any supervision received at the time of interview, and second to the desire for more structured professional supervision and barriers to accessing supervision. Despite an ecclesiology which eschews influence of diocesan structures, the majority of participants were engaging in some form of peer support or supervision, encouraged through diocesan networks. However, participants mentioned several drawbacks in current systems: lack of training of supervisors, fears over confidentiality, insufficient or irregular provision and lack of any support from parish that encouraged regular time and financial commitment to attend regular supervision. This study shows a surprising finding in the strength of support for professional supervision. Despite the reservations expressed about the provision of professional supervision: three quarters of the sample had an interest in receiving professional supervision or it being made available. Enthusiasm was expressed variously such as being “invaluable for my long term survival”, or “really seeing the value in it”, and “I would jump at the opportunity”. This study demonstrates a consistent theme of clergy both needing and accessing some form of pastoral support for their ministry, a need which a large majority expressed as not being met while under the current system. This majority were keen for an encouraged, regulated system of accessing ‘proper’ supervision to be provided. It is noted that currently there has been limited research into the efficacy of professional supervision for clergy in promoting wellbeing, professional development through reflective practice and preventing burnout and boundary violations. As more denominations are providing or mandating professional supervision, it is imperative that further research is conducted into preferred models and the efficacy of professional supervision for clergy.
This paper considers the perceived purposes of a range of supportive optionsn of supportive prac... more This paper considers the perceived purposes of a range of supportive optionsn of supportive practices, and examines ways in which clergy grow and mature in ministry and the contributions of (some) of these possibilities. In particular, the alternatives of mentoring, coaching, spiritual direction, professional supervision and counselling are focussed on, as they appear to cover most of the potential ways in which ministers might obtain support, guidance and supervision.
Review(s) of: Big Porn Inc: Exposing the harms of the global pornography industry, by Melinda Tan... more Review(s) of: Big Porn Inc: Exposing the harms of the global pornography industry, by Melinda Tankard Reist and Abigail Bray (eds), Spinifex Press, Melbourne, 2011, softcover, 310 pages, ISBN 9781876756895, RRP $36.95.
God is love. The Bible reveals God as a fellowship of love among the Father, the Son and the Holy... more God is love. The Bible reveals God as a fellowship of love among the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and a God who shares his love with all people. As the recipients of his love, he has called us to love him in return, with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our mind, and to love one another as ourselves. God has also designed marriage, as the proper place for sexual love wherein children might be born and brought up in the fear and knowledge of the Lord. Moreover, as the Book of Common Prayer reminds us, marriage signifies and represents ‘the spiritual marriage between Christ and his Church’.
BACKGROUND This study examines the following question:This study examines the following question:... more BACKGROUND This study examines the following question:This study examines the following question: “What is the nature of reservations concerning Professional Supervision amongst Sydney Anglican Clergy?” The background for this study is the interest I developed in the use of professional supervision for clergy after attending the ‘Safe as Churches’ professional standards conference in 2009. One of the Professional Standards Directors present put forward the proposition that over half of the professional standards complaints dealt with by churches would not occur if there was a systematic approach to providing professional supervision to clergy. Subsequently I conducted a pilot study amongst a group of clergy in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney about their experience in relation to professional supervision as contribution to their ministry practice for an assignment within the subject Min 500 . While a number of the participants spoke warmly of their personal experience of professional supervision they received, other comments suggested that there would be general resistance to the idea of professional supervision. One comment was “I am not aware that there has been any supervision or mentoring of Clergy in this diocese: I think most would resist it.” At a workshop on the provision of professional supervision at ‘Safe as Churches 6 Conference ’ in 2013, there was further discussion from the attendees about the difficulty of getting clergy to agree to undertake professional supervision. However, within the Anglican Church, a need for clergy supervision has been expressed: There is a direct relationship between unhealthy ministry practices and the abuse of others by clergy. A diocesan system of ministry support is a practical method of pastoral care for its clergy. Each diocese should include within the system of ministry support for its clergy mentoring; professional supervision / consultation; peer support; and ministry review. In the Anglican Diocese of Sydney a Working Party examining Professional Supervision for students and clergy was formed in 2011. The group met quarterly through 2011 and 2013 with the broader aim of examining the matter of Professional Supervision as part of training of students and as an integral part of pastoral support for clergy in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney. This group and other arrangements show a growing support institutionally for professional supervision for clergy. One Anglican diocese has a comprehensive plan for provision of supervision to clergy ; the Salvation Army and Uniting Church have prescribed supervision for all their church workers. Professional supervision for clergy working as chaplains, called ‘clinical supervision’ (first developed by Boisen in the 1920’s), is provided within the Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) system.
This paper explores the church's response to the issue of domestic violence and the ways ... more This paper explores the church's response to the issue of domestic violence and the ways in which it responds to survivors of domestic violence. The ways in which collective shame over the issue of domestic violence is explored as a contributing factor to failure to respond well the whole matter. "As a new relationship counsellor with a church-based counselling agency in the early 1990s, I was sent for training for dealing with the issue of domestic violence. Many of the agency's clients were church members; some were clergy families. Early on during the training, the trainer made a statement that I found somewhat startling for someone who had had little experience of domestic violence in my own family. He said that when he was working with a couple who had come for counselling, he always assumed that domestic violence was present unless demonstrated otherwise. Internally I railed against this assertion, naively believing that in the "nice" population of Christian clients I would be seeing at the agency, domestic violence would be present very occasionally, but that it was not something I should be routinely expecting."
The work of the pastoral counselor in relation to the nature of shame, its relationship to sin, g... more The work of the pastoral counselor in relation to the nature of shame, its relationship to sin, guilt and forgiveness, and the transformative nature of grace is discussed. Pastoral counseling provides a relational context of grace in which shame can be faced, explored and ultimately transformed.
This paper explores the church's response to the issue of domestic violence and the ways in which... more This paper explores the church's response to the issue of domestic violence and the ways in which it responds to survivors of domestic violence. The ways in which collective shame over the issue of domestic violence is explored as a contributing factor to failure to respond well the whole matter. "As a new relationship counsellor with a church-based counselling agency in the early 1990s, I was sent for training for dealing with the issue of domestic violence. Many of the agency's clients were church members; some were clergy families. Early on during the training, the trainer made a statement that I found somewhat startling for someone who had had little experience of domestic violence in my own family. He said that when he was working with a couple who had come for counselling, he always assumed that domestic violence was present unless demonstrated otherwise. Internally I railed against this assertion, naively believing that in the "nice" population of Christian clients I would be seeing at the agency, domestic violence would be present very occasionally, but that it was not something I should be routinely expecting."
Gender, feminist and queer studies : Power, privilege and inequality in a time of neoliberal conservatism., 2023
Women’s voices have been silenced throughout the history of the church in wide ranging ways. Refe... more Women’s voices have been silenced throughout the history of the church in wide ranging ways. References to women in scripture are fleeting and disjointed, women have been barred from leading worship in churches, early church fathers were influenced by the long tradition debating the inferior physical, moral, and intellectual capacities of women and even in the 21st century women are barred from ordination to the priesthood in many conservative churches. This chapter explores the emotional impact of the silencing of women that occurs in contemporary conservative churches as a practical outworking of complementarian theology which effectively bars women from leadership and preaching positions in churches. Whilst in recent years there has been research into and public interest in the emotional impact of the silencing or not listening to women who are experiencing domestic violence, there has been little emphasis on the broader emotional impact on women of not allowing women to be heard in the weekly church gathering, nor being able to hold leadership and governance positions. The stories of individuals who have experienced being silenced and the negative impact this has on their well being, self esteem and ability to feel connected to their church and fulfil their vocation within that church are reflected on. Further, this chapter looks at how the removal of the feminine voice from teaching positions in the church has an emotional effect on female church members by not hearing their sacred writings expounded by a person of their own gender. Data will be collected and presented using collaborative inquiry and autoethnography. The author will draw upon her own and other women’s experiences as members of a different conservative protestant churches of Australia and examines the ways that complementarian theology is instrumental in silencing women’s voices and harming women’s flourishing despite a proclaimed position of equality of women and men. Key words: women’s voices; silencing; women priests; women preaching; complementarian theology; emotional impact; collaborative inquiry; autoethnography.
In response to a growing interest in the provision of professional supervision to clergy and chur... more In response to a growing interest in the provision of professional supervision to clergy and church workers in Australia, this study sought to examine reservations that current clergy and church workers might have towards the introduction of professional supervision as a regular supportive practice. This study was conducted in an evangelical Anglican metropolitan diocese, a factor which was expected to affect the results due to the dominant theology and ecclesiology of the diocese. Furthermore, professional supervision for clergy is not a current practice in this diocese. Following an initial pilot survey with 12 clergy who were currently accessing some form of supervision, a qualitative survey was conducted using a semi structured interview process with a judgment sample of 12 clergy to give a spread of age, ministry experience, and gender, Transcripts of interviews were subjected to thematic analysis, which delivered a complex and rich account of the data collected. After coding, 31 emergent themes were grouped into six dominant themes relating first to current knowledge, experience and helpfulness of any supervision received at the time of interview, and second to the desire for more structured professional supervision and barriers to accessing supervision. Despite an ecclesiology which eschews influence of diocesan structures, the majority of participants were engaging in some form of peer support or supervision, encouraged through diocesan networks. However, participants mentioned several drawbacks in current systems: lack of training of supervisors, fears over confidentiality, insufficient or irregular provision and lack of any support from parish that encouraged regular time and financial commitment to attend regular supervision. This study shows a surprising finding in the strength of support for professional supervision. Despite the reservations expressed about the provision of professional supervision: three quarters of the sample had an interest in receiving professional supervision or it being made available. Enthusiasm was expressed variously such as being “invaluable for my long term survival”, or “really seeing the value in it”, and “I would jump at the opportunity”. This study demonstrates a consistent theme of clergy both needing and accessing some form of pastoral support for their ministry, a need which a large majority expressed as not being met while under the current system. This majority were keen for an encouraged, regulated system of accessing ‘proper’ supervision to be provided. It is noted that currently there has been limited research into the efficacy of professional supervision for clergy in promoting wellbeing, professional development through reflective practice and preventing burnout and boundary violations. As more denominations are providing or mandating professional supervision, it is imperative that further research is conducted into preferred models and the efficacy of professional supervision for clergy.
This paper considers the perceived purposes of a range of supportive optionsn of supportive prac... more This paper considers the perceived purposes of a range of supportive optionsn of supportive practices, and examines ways in which clergy grow and mature in ministry and the contributions of (some) of these possibilities. In particular, the alternatives of mentoring, coaching, spiritual direction, professional supervision and counselling are focussed on, as they appear to cover most of the potential ways in which ministers might obtain support, guidance and supervision.
Review(s) of: Big Porn Inc: Exposing the harms of the global pornography industry, by Melinda Tan... more Review(s) of: Big Porn Inc: Exposing the harms of the global pornography industry, by Melinda Tankard Reist and Abigail Bray (eds), Spinifex Press, Melbourne, 2011, softcover, 310 pages, ISBN 9781876756895, RRP $36.95.
God is love. The Bible reveals God as a fellowship of love among the Father, the Son and the Holy... more God is love. The Bible reveals God as a fellowship of love among the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and a God who shares his love with all people. As the recipients of his love, he has called us to love him in return, with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our mind, and to love one another as ourselves. God has also designed marriage, as the proper place for sexual love wherein children might be born and brought up in the fear and knowledge of the Lord. Moreover, as the Book of Common Prayer reminds us, marriage signifies and represents ‘the spiritual marriage between Christ and his Church’.
BACKGROUND This study examines the following question:This study examines the following question:... more BACKGROUND This study examines the following question:This study examines the following question: “What is the nature of reservations concerning Professional Supervision amongst Sydney Anglican Clergy?” The background for this study is the interest I developed in the use of professional supervision for clergy after attending the ‘Safe as Churches’ professional standards conference in 2009. One of the Professional Standards Directors present put forward the proposition that over half of the professional standards complaints dealt with by churches would not occur if there was a systematic approach to providing professional supervision to clergy. Subsequently I conducted a pilot study amongst a group of clergy in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney about their experience in relation to professional supervision as contribution to their ministry practice for an assignment within the subject Min 500 . While a number of the participants spoke warmly of their personal experience of professional supervision they received, other comments suggested that there would be general resistance to the idea of professional supervision. One comment was “I am not aware that there has been any supervision or mentoring of Clergy in this diocese: I think most would resist it.” At a workshop on the provision of professional supervision at ‘Safe as Churches 6 Conference ’ in 2013, there was further discussion from the attendees about the difficulty of getting clergy to agree to undertake professional supervision. However, within the Anglican Church, a need for clergy supervision has been expressed: There is a direct relationship between unhealthy ministry practices and the abuse of others by clergy. A diocesan system of ministry support is a practical method of pastoral care for its clergy. Each diocese should include within the system of ministry support for its clergy mentoring; professional supervision / consultation; peer support; and ministry review. In the Anglican Diocese of Sydney a Working Party examining Professional Supervision for students and clergy was formed in 2011. The group met quarterly through 2011 and 2013 with the broader aim of examining the matter of Professional Supervision as part of training of students and as an integral part of pastoral support for clergy in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney. This group and other arrangements show a growing support institutionally for professional supervision for clergy. One Anglican diocese has a comprehensive plan for provision of supervision to clergy ; the Salvation Army and Uniting Church have prescribed supervision for all their church workers. Professional supervision for clergy working as chaplains, called ‘clinical supervision’ (first developed by Boisen in the 1920’s), is provided within the Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) system.
This paper explores the church's response to the issue of domestic violence and the ways ... more This paper explores the church's response to the issue of domestic violence and the ways in which it responds to survivors of domestic violence. The ways in which collective shame over the issue of domestic violence is explored as a contributing factor to failure to respond well the whole matter. "As a new relationship counsellor with a church-based counselling agency in the early 1990s, I was sent for training for dealing with the issue of domestic violence. Many of the agency's clients were church members; some were clergy families. Early on during the training, the trainer made a statement that I found somewhat startling for someone who had had little experience of domestic violence in my own family. He said that when he was working with a couple who had come for counselling, he always assumed that domestic violence was present unless demonstrated otherwise. Internally I railed against this assertion, naively believing that in the "nice" population of Christian clients I would be seeing at the agency, domestic violence would be present very occasionally, but that it was not something I should be routinely expecting."
The work of the pastoral counselor in relation to the nature of shame, its relationship to sin, g... more The work of the pastoral counselor in relation to the nature of shame, its relationship to sin, guilt and forgiveness, and the transformative nature of grace is discussed. Pastoral counseling provides a relational context of grace in which shame can be faced, explored and ultimately transformed.
This paper explores the church's response to the issue of domestic violence and the ways in which... more This paper explores the church's response to the issue of domestic violence and the ways in which it responds to survivors of domestic violence. The ways in which collective shame over the issue of domestic violence is explored as a contributing factor to failure to respond well the whole matter. "As a new relationship counsellor with a church-based counselling agency in the early 1990s, I was sent for training for dealing with the issue of domestic violence. Many of the agency's clients were church members; some were clergy families. Early on during the training, the trainer made a statement that I found somewhat startling for someone who had had little experience of domestic violence in my own family. He said that when he was working with a couple who had come for counselling, he always assumed that domestic violence was present unless demonstrated otherwise. Internally I railed against this assertion, naively believing that in the "nice" population of Christian clients I would be seeing at the agency, domestic violence would be present very occasionally, but that it was not something I should be routinely expecting."
Gender, feminist and queer studies : Power, privilege and inequality in a time of neoliberal conservatism., 2023
Women’s voices have been silenced throughout the history of the church in wide ranging ways. Refe... more Women’s voices have been silenced throughout the history of the church in wide ranging ways. References to women in scripture are fleeting and disjointed, women have been barred from leading worship in churches, early church fathers were influenced by the long tradition debating the inferior physical, moral, and intellectual capacities of women and even in the 21st century women are barred from ordination to the priesthood in many conservative churches. This chapter explores the emotional impact of the silencing of women that occurs in contemporary conservative churches as a practical outworking of complementarian theology which effectively bars women from leadership and preaching positions in churches. Whilst in recent years there has been research into and public interest in the emotional impact of the silencing or not listening to women who are experiencing domestic violence, there has been little emphasis on the broader emotional impact on women of not allowing women to be heard in the weekly church gathering, nor being able to hold leadership and governance positions. The stories of individuals who have experienced being silenced and the negative impact this has on their well being, self esteem and ability to feel connected to their church and fulfil their vocation within that church are reflected on. Further, this chapter looks at how the removal of the feminine voice from teaching positions in the church has an emotional effect on female church members by not hearing their sacred writings expounded by a person of their own gender. Data will be collected and presented using collaborative inquiry and autoethnography. The author will draw upon her own and other women’s experiences as members of a different conservative protestant churches of Australia and examines the ways that complementarian theology is instrumental in silencing women’s voices and harming women’s flourishing despite a proclaimed position of equality of women and men. Key words: women’s voices; silencing; women priests; women preaching; complementarian theology; emotional impact; collaborative inquiry; autoethnography.
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“What is the nature of reservations concerning Professional Supervision amongst Sydney Anglican Clergy?”
The background for this study is the interest I developed in the use of professional supervision for clergy after attending the ‘Safe as Churches’ professional standards conference in 2009. One of the Professional Standards Directors present put forward the proposition that over half of the professional standards complaints dealt with by churches would not occur if there was a systematic approach to providing professional supervision to clergy.
Subsequently I conducted a pilot study amongst a group of clergy in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney about their experience in relation to professional supervision as contribution to their ministry practice for an assignment within the subject Min 500 . While a number of the participants spoke warmly of their personal experience of professional supervision they received, other comments suggested that there would be general resistance to the idea of professional supervision. One comment was “I am not aware that there has been any supervision or mentoring of Clergy in this diocese: I think most would resist it.”
At a workshop on the provision of professional supervision at ‘Safe as Churches 6 Conference ’ in 2013, there was further discussion from the attendees about the difficulty of getting clergy to agree to undertake professional supervision.
However, within the Anglican Church, a need for clergy supervision has been expressed:
There is a direct relationship between unhealthy ministry practices and the abuse of others by clergy. A diocesan system of ministry support is a practical method of pastoral care for its clergy. Each diocese should include within the system of ministry support for its clergy mentoring; professional supervision / consultation; peer support; and ministry review.
In the Anglican Diocese of Sydney a Working Party examining Professional Supervision for students and clergy was formed in 2011. The group met quarterly through 2011 and 2013 with the broader aim of examining the matter of Professional Supervision as part of training of students and as an integral part of pastoral support for clergy in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney. This group and other arrangements show a growing support institutionally for professional supervision for clergy. One Anglican diocese has a comprehensive plan for provision of supervision to clergy ; the Salvation Army and Uniting Church have prescribed supervision for all their church workers.
Professional supervision for clergy working as chaplains, called ‘clinical supervision’ (first developed by Boisen in the 1920’s), is provided within the Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) system.
This chapter explores the emotional impact of the silencing of women that occurs in contemporary conservative churches as a practical outworking of complementarian theology which effectively bars women from leadership and preaching positions in churches. Whilst in recent years there has been research into and public interest in the emotional impact of the silencing or not listening to women who are experiencing domestic violence, there has been little emphasis on the broader emotional impact on women of not allowing women to be heard in the weekly church gathering, nor being able to hold leadership and governance positions. The stories of individuals who have experienced being silenced and the negative impact this has on their well being, self esteem and ability to feel connected to their church and fulfil their vocation within that church are reflected on. Further, this chapter looks at how the removal of the feminine voice from teaching positions in the church has an emotional effect on female church members by not hearing their sacred writings expounded by a person of their own gender.
Data will be collected and presented using collaborative inquiry and autoethnography. The author will draw upon her own and other women’s experiences as members of a different conservative protestant churches of Australia and examines the ways that complementarian theology is instrumental in silencing women’s voices and harming women’s flourishing despite a proclaimed position of equality of women and men.
Key words: women’s voices; silencing; women priests; women preaching; complementarian theology; emotional impact; collaborative inquiry; autoethnography.
“What is the nature of reservations concerning Professional Supervision amongst Sydney Anglican Clergy?”
The background for this study is the interest I developed in the use of professional supervision for clergy after attending the ‘Safe as Churches’ professional standards conference in 2009. One of the Professional Standards Directors present put forward the proposition that over half of the professional standards complaints dealt with by churches would not occur if there was a systematic approach to providing professional supervision to clergy.
Subsequently I conducted a pilot study amongst a group of clergy in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney about their experience in relation to professional supervision as contribution to their ministry practice for an assignment within the subject Min 500 . While a number of the participants spoke warmly of their personal experience of professional supervision they received, other comments suggested that there would be general resistance to the idea of professional supervision. One comment was “I am not aware that there has been any supervision or mentoring of Clergy in this diocese: I think most would resist it.”
At a workshop on the provision of professional supervision at ‘Safe as Churches 6 Conference ’ in 2013, there was further discussion from the attendees about the difficulty of getting clergy to agree to undertake professional supervision.
However, within the Anglican Church, a need for clergy supervision has been expressed:
There is a direct relationship between unhealthy ministry practices and the abuse of others by clergy. A diocesan system of ministry support is a practical method of pastoral care for its clergy. Each diocese should include within the system of ministry support for its clergy mentoring; professional supervision / consultation; peer support; and ministry review.
In the Anglican Diocese of Sydney a Working Party examining Professional Supervision for students and clergy was formed in 2011. The group met quarterly through 2011 and 2013 with the broader aim of examining the matter of Professional Supervision as part of training of students and as an integral part of pastoral support for clergy in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney. This group and other arrangements show a growing support institutionally for professional supervision for clergy. One Anglican diocese has a comprehensive plan for provision of supervision to clergy ; the Salvation Army and Uniting Church have prescribed supervision for all their church workers.
Professional supervision for clergy working as chaplains, called ‘clinical supervision’ (first developed by Boisen in the 1920’s), is provided within the Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) system.
This chapter explores the emotional impact of the silencing of women that occurs in contemporary conservative churches as a practical outworking of complementarian theology which effectively bars women from leadership and preaching positions in churches. Whilst in recent years there has been research into and public interest in the emotional impact of the silencing or not listening to women who are experiencing domestic violence, there has been little emphasis on the broader emotional impact on women of not allowing women to be heard in the weekly church gathering, nor being able to hold leadership and governance positions. The stories of individuals who have experienced being silenced and the negative impact this has on their well being, self esteem and ability to feel connected to their church and fulfil their vocation within that church are reflected on. Further, this chapter looks at how the removal of the feminine voice from teaching positions in the church has an emotional effect on female church members by not hearing their sacred writings expounded by a person of their own gender.
Data will be collected and presented using collaborative inquiry and autoethnography. The author will draw upon her own and other women’s experiences as members of a different conservative protestant churches of Australia and examines the ways that complementarian theology is instrumental in silencing women’s voices and harming women’s flourishing despite a proclaimed position of equality of women and men.
Key words: women’s voices; silencing; women priests; women preaching; complementarian theology; emotional impact; collaborative inquiry; autoethnography.