Pastoral Care and Conduct: Boundaries for Ministers

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Pastoral Care and Conduct: Boundaries for Ministers

I. SCOPE OF CARE AND SERVICES:

  • I will provide ongoing pastoral care to members and regular attendees of the Church free of charge, on an as-needed basis.  I will provide limited services to extended family members of the church, at my discretion.

  • Services provided are as follows: 

    • limited counseling of a spiritual nature (no more than five sessions for  one hour each for any single counseling request);

    • hospital visits for hospital stays under 2 days with 1 overnight (as I am able);

      • hospital visits for hospital stays over 2 days (every 3 days or more frequently, depending on need and availability;

    • rehabilitation/nursing home visits at least 1 time per week, unless a greater need is evident or expressed;

    • emergency response to an ER or to a death, as it occurs and I am notified, as best as I am able;

    • home visits for shut-ins or by request at least 1 time per month, with a deacon or a Care and Nurture Team member accompanying me if to a single person’s residence or as otherwise needed;

    • premarital counseling for a wedding I will officiate, up to 3 sessions.

 

II. COMPETENCIES AND REFERRAL:

  • I am a pastor who counsels on spiritual and emotional issues.  I am not a certified pastoral counselor, and I have no specialized training as a pastoral counselor.  I do not belong to any pastoral counseling associations.

  • I have limited competence to counsel persons who are troubled, grieving, experiencing losses, struggling with faith or theology, and those experiencing family distress.  There are many emotional and psychological issues for which I am competent to render counseling services only in the short-term, with recognition of underlying problems and referrals to specialized community resources.

  • I will have professional supervision at all times and will disclose my sources of supervision.

  • I will not counsel or attempt to counsel beyond my competencies.  I will call 911 in the instance of a situation requiring immediate intervention for the prevention of self-harm or harm to others, or in the case of a medical emergency.  I will not perform CPR or any other medical procedure on a person with whom I am in professional contact.

  • From time to time I provide consultation services to the Church Conference, to Associations within the Conference, to its church camp, and to individual pastors and moderators, generally on the issue of clergy and lay leader boundaries.  I charge for training sessions I lead for these denominational entities as well as for seminary teaching, but I generally do not charge a fee for consultations over the telephone.  I do this work as part of my global ministry and not as the pastor of any church.

    I will keep my boundaries training current (the current requirement is for an intentional, formal learning conversation every year) and will take advantage of continuing education in the fields of boundary training and pastoral competency.  My most recent boundaries training was in _______________. My certificates are kept by me and are available for review upon request.

 

III. CONFIDENTIALITY, RECORD-KEEPING, AND MANDATORY REPORTING:

  • Ministry is a sacred trust, and I am a fiduciary of that sacred trust placed in me in my professional capacity as the pastor of the Church.  I will not reveal confidences told to me in private pastoral care situations without the express prior permission of the counseled or care-receiver.  If the information is told in the presence of another person, it is not automatically privileged, but if I am asked to keep the confidence, I will unless:

    • The person threatens to harm himself or herself or another, including me or my family;

    • The person intends to commit a crime;

    • The information is vital to the protection of the church community or building;

    • I learn directly or through a reliable source that the person is the perpetrator of child abuse, including child sexual abuse or elder abuse, or abuse of an at-risk adult, in which case I am a mandatory reporter under state law and I will report;

    • Or, I learn directly or through a reliable source that the person is a minor or elder or at-risk adult and is being abused currently,  in which case I am a mandatory reporter under Colorado state law and I will report.

  • I will keep records of my pastoral care and counseling activities.  In the case where confidentiality is not required, I will report my intentional pastoral care contacts by name, date, location, and purpose for the contact.  If the contact was confidential or was for counseling purposes, I will report by numerical identification (and keep the identity separate and password protected).  I will not keep notes of counseling sessions, except as to referrals given, though I may take notes before or during the session that I will destroy thereafter, unless there is an overriding need that they be kept, and then I will keep them separately with password protect.

  • I will report on my pastoral care activities as requested or authorized by Council, and I will provide limited information to the Care & Nurture Team as needed by them to help me with the task of pastoral care within the Church.  I may also need to bring confidential information to the Pastor-Parish Team (a confidential setting) in limited cases for my protection or for the protection of the Church.

 

IV.  AVAILABILITY AND ACCESS:

  • I will be available for emergency contact 24/7, unless I am out of town, in which case I will have an on-call pastor available to handle emergencies only.

  • I will hold regular office hours each week in my church office and be available for meetings, confidential counseling sessions, or drop-ins during that time.

  • I will, at my discretion, be available for pastoral counseling away from the church or during off-hours, but I will not counsel individual persons without another person being present in the building, out of earshot.

  • I will be available to meet persons for discussion or counseling in a public place, out of the earshot of others, but not in my home, and not in the counselee’s home alone.

  • I will be available for texting and emailing, but not for counseling purposes.  Short exchanges only will be allowed.  I will conduct church business by email and text, but I will identify confidential items specifically and limit the addressee list as needed.

 

V. BOUNDARIES-HEALTHY MINISTRY RELATIONSHIPS:

  • I will practice healthy ministry boundaries at all times.  I will not engage in unhealthy dual relationships, conflicts of interest, or unhealthy personal practices.  I will take care to respect all persons and their personhood, I will remain open & affirming of all persons, and I will respect reasoned opinions that differ from my own.

  • I will recognize red flags in counseling situations and seek immediate supervision.  I will refer persons who engage in unhealthy transference or projection toward me, or for whom I feel a risk for my own countertransference or projection.

  • I may have friends within the congregation, but I will not use those friendships for my personal aggrandizement or against the best interests of other church members.

  • I will accept reasonable honorariums for special services, and reasonable gifts given in appreciation of my ministry and service to the church, but I will not accept gifts in exchange for any deference on my part or special favors or treatment. 

  • I will not drink alcohol at any church function or with any church members or at any church-sponsored event, and I will not stay in any place where recreational marijuana is being used.  I will not consume any controlled substances for recreational purposes.

  • I will practice self-care through regular exercise, retreat, days off, time with family, and recreation.

 

VI. SUPERVISION:

  • I will at all times be supervised within the Church setting by the Church Council, by the Pastor-Parish Team of the Church, and to a limited extent, by the Care & Nurture Team.  After opportunity for discussion and discernment, I will follow reasonable directives of the Church Council and the advice of the Pastor-Parish Team and the Care & Nurture Team, unless I strongly disagree with same, and then I will state my reasons for my chosen course of action.  I will act always, first and foremost, according to the highest ethical and moral standards, in conformity with my faith, and not out of self-interest.

  • I will additionally be supervised by objective professionals as follows:

    • By the local Conference Minister

    • By a spiritual director or personal therapist.  (As of 2015, I meet regularly with my certified spiritual director.)

    • By a peer support group of ordained ministers (I currently have such a group);

    • By at least one pastoral mentor.

  • I understand that the Pastoral Evaluation Team each year may want to speak or hear from persons to whom I have given the non-confidential service of pastoral care, and to that end, I will provide my Pastoral Care Log for the previous year.

  • I will immediately seek supervision should I experience a problem with my mental or emotional health, or should I experience clergy burnout.  I will have regular medical check-ups and care.

 

Signed and dated: __________