Many will know how Pastoral Supervision provides a confidential context for support and restoration.
More recently, I have been encouraging supervisees to develop some “learning goals” to discuss and work through in their supervision sessions. These learning goals are identified and set by the supervisee. The supervision sessions can then focus on the supervisee working toward and implementing their goals.
We should note these goals are not ‘strategic’ in the normal sense of the word (achieve X or Y in their church – that’s the domain of coaching). These goals are personal to the supervisee, and typically relate to how they do their work and ministry. These ‘learning goals’ might explore
Contexts the supervisee might tend to avoid, with a view to working more effectively
How the supervisee might better listen effectively and attend to parishioner needs
How improve workload/time management and avoid ‘schedule creep’
How they can better work within, relate to, or lead their team
Pulling out of ‘autopilot’ and working more effectively on what matters most
Develop reflective practice, taking time to rest in the Word, and/or notice more how God might be working through their ministry
Learning Goals like the above show the formative function of Pastoral Supervision.
Goals like these can help a pastor bring better ministry and work toward better Gospel outcomes.
Now is the time to get your Supervision organised for 2026.
DM me with any questions and/or to make arrangements for 2026. Sessions can be arranged face to face or online.
Pastor Bob is not doing great. He’s guessing the stress he’s feeling is not healthy. The feeling leaves him a little insecure, and he wonders whether he’s leading Green Pastures Church as well as he could be.
Bob – like so many others – is a solo pastor. Sure, he has a team of co-leaders around him. They are good hearted people, faithful Christians, long term members, volunteers.
Bob gets on well with all of them, although there’s one person – Charlie – whom he’s finding a little challenging lately. Charlie has a strong personality and doesn’t mind telling Bob what the church really should be doing. Bob feels pressured. Charlie has even said Bob should be doing more: more contact with church members, develop outreach opportunities, shorten his sermons a bit, give better application. The last time Charlie and Bob chatted, it was cordial enough, but Bob sensed they weren’t making headway. He guesses Charlie is thinking the same. Bob knows that when Charlie talks, people listen. And what if he’s talking? What if he’s sharing his thoughts about Bob?
Some nights Bob lies awake turning it all over. He’s really tired and needs sleep, but it doesn’t come easily. When he wakes he seems more exhausted than ever. There’s so much to do but his capacity is waning. And it’s not getting any better…
Bob wonders who he can talk to…
He doesn’t want to burden his wife: she has enough on her plate with her own work and wrangling the kids. Bob doesn’t feel that comfortable talking with her about another Green Pastures leader, anyway. That could get awkward for both of them.
He considers talking with some other Green Pastures leaders. He’s hesitant because they all have good relationships with Charlie. Talking with them might mess with those loyalties. Besides, what would they think? He decides it’s all too risky.
There are other pastoral colleagues nearby, but Bob wonders whether they’d see him as a pastoral battler, or worse: a failure. In a weird way he’s thankful he’s not that close to any of them.
So along with the stress and confusion he feels, Bob is feels isolated and a little anxious. How can he sort this out? How can he find clarity? How can he unravel all his mixed emotions and complicated relationships?
Bob stares at his coffee, and wonders “is this what ministry is supposed to be?” Bob leaves the thought hanging. He doesn’t have any answers.
Whereas many in ordained ministry attest to fulfilment and joy in their calling, there are notable others reporting a low sense of well-being, feeling isolated, accessing counselling for strained personal and ministerial relationships, or requesting psychiatric referral or therapy for mental health issues.
Gubi, Korris & West, Reflective Practice Groups for Clergy, University of Chester Press, 2020 p.57
This is where Professional Pastoral Supervision can really help Bob. Regular supervision sessions can provide a safe space for Bob to work through his situation. Over time, Bob can unravel the tangled bits and pieces, finding some clarity on how to move forward.
Supervision sessions could help Bob
Rediscover his core calling. The reflexive sessions helping him to articulate what matters most and how he can serve his church best
Safely explore the situation with Charlie, discerning better responses and reviewing his perceptions about Charlie in the confidential context supervision provides
Apply his theological framework to develop better pastoral practice, working through new ideas and approaches that work better
Review his workload and consider how he might do things differently
Pastoral Supervision does not provide easy answers or quick fixes. A Supervisor will work with Bob’s ministry philosophy, respect his theological emphases, along with his church context, governance and polity. Professional Pastoral Supervision is an ideal context for personal pastoral development.
Read this to find out how Professional Pastoral Supervision can help you, or slip me a message or email. I’m pretty sure we’ll be able to work something out that helps you keep moving forward in healthy and sustainable ways.
Dave Groenenboom Paraklesis Supervision Horsfield Bay, NSW
People in ministry often say they don’t have time to unravel the complex pastoral issues that come their way. There are too many people to visit, too many meetings, there are sermons to plan, ministries to lead, contacts to follow up – and none of these fit neatly into organised blocks in the schedule … it never ends and it never seems to get better.
What tends to happen is that because we’re so time poor, when we sense there are complexities bearing down upon us, we’ll often push them out of our immediate awareness by just keeping busy and trying to get it all done.
The stress of all this will often work its way out in some other way: frayed nerves, short temper, irritability, a drink too many, other escapist behaviours …
This is why I love pastoral supervision.
Supervision provides a welcoming and courageous space where pastors can reflect on their work to learn how to do it differently and better.
Supervision is welcoming because it’s an intentional interruption to ministry’s constant demands. As I step into a supervision session, I have permission to pause, to breathe, to relax, and settle into a time of intentional reflection. I will meet with a friend (my supervisor) who comes beside me with an open heart, an accepting attitude, and a non judgemental spirit.
Supervision is courageous because I can wade into whatever is weighing me down as honestly as I can. I will be encouraged to see wider perspectives on the issues and on how I might move forward more effectively. My supervisor will encourage me to see what I really need to know, as opposed to what I merely want to hear. So supervision is a place for me to learn. I will be encouraged to own and address some of the harder lessons I might otherwise avoid. Supervision keeps me honest to myself and to my calling as a minister of the Gospel.
It’s no surprise that some of the most common feedback I receive is that supervision gives greater clarity on complex issues … it to find better ways to move ahead … it open up new perspectives on things that had been significant burdens.
That all sounds pretty positive – but here’s the thing: These are precisely the sort of conversations that pastors rarely have, and yet they are also precisely the sort of conversations they need to have. They bring such value to ministry and pastoral work. They help us bring our ministry practice closer to the theology and values we espouse. They can give new insights into how the Gospel is embodied in ministry – and that can be very transformational!
Where appropriate, I use a redemptive cycle of theological reflection. This method breaks down confusing or complex issues, allowing us to better hear how the Gospel of Jesus speaks to the situation at hand.
I’ll give some detail on the Redemptive Cycle in a future post – but for now, we can all imagine that where pastors can approach their ministry with greater clarity, more insightfully working through Gospel values, they’ll likely be less stressed and working more sustainably. That is a huge win!
Would you like to know more? Email me and we’ll discuss how to take it forward.
Paraklesis 