Retreat or Advance?
Many years ago, I had a seminary professor whose nickname was “Red” Fred. He was so-called because of his flaming red hair, not because of his political leanings. An extraordinarily brilliant man, I rarely understood anything he said. However, in one class he came through loud and clear. He spoke out strongly against retreats. He argued that the church should never have retreats. “The Church,” he averred, “should only have advances.” I came to disagree with his view after leaving seminary. There are good reasons to slip away to a quiet, meditative place from time to time for re-storation and
re-creation.
Recently, the Board for The Center for the Restoration of Impaired Clergy (CRIC) began planning for a retreat. Its purpose is to give us a map for the future. While the retreat will be coming in the fall, Board Members and Consultants will be gathering in April in four separate teams to keep CRIC advancing.
The Program Team will meet to determine all the elements of CRIC’s program. What CRIC offers now is already the most comprehensive programming for helping church governing officials deal with clergy who have behavioral health disorders.
The Outreach Team will consider how to advance with the 30 prospects of regional governing bodies. They will also be planning for ways to maximize our use of social media. They will develop the basis for a long term outreach plan.
The Funding Team will look at major grants to help CRIC complete developing and piloting its programming among selective governing bodies. They’ll also give some thought to fees for services and products CRIC produces.
The Research and Evaluation Team will help us define what success is and how to measure it.
CRIC will keep pushing ahead even before the fall retreat. I think “Red” Fred would be pleased. This Retreat will be much more like an Advance.
CRIC is a non-profit whose sole purpose is to influence church governing authorities to use the best practices with clergy behavioral health issues. To learn how you can help, contact the editor, Otto Schultz,
at 402-770-1974. [email protected]
Just Say “No Thanks”
Compassionate Accountability is the newsletter of The Center for the Restoration of Impaired Clergy. You receive it since you indicated an interest in the Center’s work. To stop it, just say “No Thanks.” The newsletter is assembled by Otto Schultz so address your complaints and questions to [email protected].