How Are You “Being”? Clergy Wellness in a Time of Uncertainty

by F. Jerry Streets

Publisher:

Pickwick Publications

, 2024

COVID-19 forced clergy to attend to the needs of their congregations in new ways. But it also encouraged them to look again at how they attended to their own needs. Self-awareness and self-care are often imperative for clergy well-being, which in turn affects the well-being of their congregations. During the pandemic, clergy gained new insight into how they were "being"--how they might access internal and external resources that allowed them to thrive not only as pastors but also beyond their professional role.

This book is based on multifaceted surveys of clergy personal responses to the pandemic. It encourages readers to consider the importance of an ethic of clergy well-being. Its practical examples and self-care protocol for clergy are intended to foster discussion within individual contexts. This is an important read for clergy, lay leaders, denominational stewards, and seminary and divinity school students and faculty as they engage in discerning the future needs of leaders of the church.

Praise for How Are You “Being”?

“How Are You ‘Being’? offers a profound exploration into the intricate tapestry of clergy well-being, meticulously crafted from the insights gleaned through a well-designed, comprehensive research study. This seminal work not only elucidates the challenges faced by clergy but also offers a beacon of hope, igniting a collective call to prioritize the holistic flourishing of those entrusted with nurturing the spiritual fabric of our communities.”

—Anna Yusim, co-founder, Yale Mental Health & Spirituality Center



“The esteemed Frederick (Jerry) Streets offers us in this wise and timely book a powerful intervention into clergy burnout. Streets, who is a legend at Yale University and a national treasure, draws on his decades of outstanding pastoral leadership and freshly gathered data on the state of clergy health to give us an essential manual for those doing the work of ministry. The survival of many doing this work may depend on getting this book into their hands.”

—Willie James Jennings, associate professor of systematic theology and Africana studies, Yale Divinity School

Product Details

• Title: How Are You “Being”? Clergy Wellness in a Time of Uncertainty
• Author: F. Jerry Streets
• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Print Publication Date: 2024
• Logos Release Date: 2024
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Ebook
• ISBNs: 9781666778113, 9781666778106, 1666778109, 9781666778090, 1666778095, 1666778117
• Resource ID: LLS:9781666778113
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-08-01T20:49:51Z

About F. Jerry Streets

The Reverend Doctor Streets is senior pastor of the Church of Christ in Yale, acting master of Trumbull College, and a clinical social worker at the Yale Child Study Center. His research, publication, and teaching interests are in pastoral theology, institutional leadership and development, law and religion, and social welfare. He has been engaged in issues affecting both troubled regions of the world and New Haven. As a consultant to the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma and in conjunction with the mental health community of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Streets helped implement a model for the psychiatric and pastoral care of Bosnian citizens who were traumatized by war. He has also traveled to Colombia, South America, to promote peace-making there and to Buenos Aires, Argentina, as part of an effort to foster a greater understanding of the nonprofit sector’s relationship to higher education. Closer to home, Streets has been a member of the New Haven Board of Police Commissioners for the past six years, is co-chair of the Ward One Democratic Town Committee, and was a delegate to the first world conference of religious leaders ever to convene at the United Nations. Prior to coming to Yale, he was senior pastor of the Mount Aery Baptist Church in Bridgeport, Connecticut, for 17 years.