Healthy ministry relationships make for healthy, happy churches.
Rev. Dr. Tracey Dawson
A church or specialized ministry setting is only as healthy as its pastoral leadership. God calls each of us into partnership with the Holy Spirit in ministry to others. We are Spirit’s voice, heart, hands, and feet in the world, tasked with proclaiming God’s will for justice and compassion. We want our churches and other ministry settings to be cared for, healthy, and happy. God is relational and the human creation mirrors God in relationship. How clergypersons treat parishioners is how parishioners see God. If we model healthy relationships with congregants, we give messages that God is faithful, kind, and loving, wanting us to want more of God in our lives. When we accept a call to serve God’s Word and the Good News, we take on the yoke of responsibility for our words and actions with the people we minister to. This is a sacred trust we are given; the hearts and lives we touch in our ministry settings are often fragile, wounded by past church experiences, and vulnerable to clergy overreaching.
In my former career, before I was an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ (UCC), I was a litigator and criminal court judge. In my more than 41 years in legal practice and 33 years on the bench, nearly every case I handled was steeped in boundary violations. Criminal cases are about people breaching the safe space of others; divorce is about the brokenness that often stems from wrongful behaviors and breaches of trust between marriage partners; car accidents are about not respecting lane lines, red lights, or right-of-way. You get the picture. I am an expert with experience in boundary violations. I am also an expert by choice and study in ministry systems and clergy misconduct.
For over 15 years, I have studied how healthy ministry relationships support growth and vitality in churches and how, conversely, an unhealthy pastorate and/or ministry system puts people and churches at risk for harm, the kind of harm from which most victims do not recover enough to ever try church affiliation again. Clergy sexual abuse is the most reported of these violations, but they are by no means the only form of clergy abuse. Most manipulative and unhealthy behavior is never reported, for fear by the victim of harassment, disbelief, and ostracism from their church families. As a retired church pastor, it now is my calling to support and train ministry leaders to have healthy ministry relationships with their congregants, care receivers, or other ministry partners. Laypersons are vitally important components of the Body of Christ, and they need training and positive reinforcement in their ministry relationships. Together, we can be the Beloved Community that God wills, the kind of community where healthy relationships and safe space heal the broken heart of the Church.
Awareness of the issues and their management in positive ways through training and skilled intervention is why I offer my services to you in education, consultation, expert witness services, design, and development of healthy ministry systems for use in churches.
Rev. Dr. Tracey Dawson
Founder, Sacred Space-Your Healthy Ministry
Testimonials
“Finding a consultant in Healthy Ministry Relationships that has experience and perspective as a parishioner, a pastor, and with a legal background is rare, but that is what one gets with Rev. Dr. Tracey Dawson. Her warm personal style, extensive knowledge and experience in the topic, her leadership skills as evidenced by her work in the Rocky Mountain Conference UCC, and her unabashed passion for the subject matter and its participatory distribution model are to be admired. She knows her stuff, and just as importantly, knows how to impart it.” — Judith Baillie, Vice Moderator of the Rocky Mountain Conference United Church of Christ
I think having an ordained minister who is a former Judge, —was a perfect balance that brought an authenticity to the presentation and to the discussion. The format was able to switch things with regard to slides, videos, didactics, breakouts for discussion, and lots of interactive sharing on Day 2. It kept you awake and focused and learning for practical real-world experiences. Thank you very much for an outstanding Training Experience. As I shared with our congregation on Sunday, I learned a lot and I will be drafting some policies and procedures to strengthen what is in my Call Agreement for boundary training. — Pastor Naleen Andrade, Kahikolu Congregational Church, Napoopoo, Hawaii
“Pastor Tracey Dawson, chair of the Healthy Ministry Relationships Team, put together a spectacular team of leaders with special expertise: active and retired clergy, an ordained chaplain, church lay and denominational leaders, a former church camp director, a liability expert, and church congregants with a background in conflict resolution. Under Tracey’s guiding hand, the Team has expanded training for active church clergy and added courses for lay leaders, retired clergy, and clergy serving in specialized ministries. I personally appreciate what Tracey has brought to the table with her expertise as a lawyer and a pastor. She knows and understands the laws around boundaries and ministers’ ethics, which I have found to be very helpful. I have learned so much by being on this very active Ministry Team and from this caring group of leaders. I was very appreciative of Tracey asking me to be on this team to share the resources from the Insurance Board as this is a very important Ministry to keep our churches healthy and safe.” Matt Huntington, Insurance Board Representative, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, and Arizona
“I have known Tracey Dawson for over 25 years as a legal colleague and in her capacity as a spiritual leader. Tracey has always been and remains very professional yet kind and caring. She is brilliant and has extensive legal knowledge and experience as well as great communication skills. All her work and actions are of the highest integrity. She is dedicated to the health of congregations and her ministry.” Terri Harrington, Collaborative Attorney and Mediator
“Thanks to you! I believe the small group size we had in Florida was a real enabler for all of us to get the most out of the session. I really enjoyed it and would attend another should you have additional topics.” Veronica Scuillo, Lay Leader in local church, UCC in Florida
“I have known Rev. Tracey Dawson professionally and personally for over twenty years. In that time, in both professional and personal settings, I have had the privilege of directly observing her expertise in crisis interventions. These have ranged everywhere from high conflict interpersonal matters to individuals that were in need of immediate care and sometimes life-saving intervention. Tracey is exceedingly gifted with an empathetic, gentle (but firm) way of reaching into the heart, helping people see their situation more clearly, and providing a safe, and loving space to take their next step.” — Leonard Higdon, Attorney
“I retained Rev. Tracey Dawson to serve as a liability expert in a pastor/parishioner abuse-of-counseling-relationship case. She is an expert in every sense of the word. She has command of a unique body of knowledge: fiduciary relationships in religious community. She focuses on the critical issues. Her analysis is accessible to lay readers. She supports her opinions with citations to evidence. She writes and speaks in simple declarative sentences. When the need arises, I will consult with her again.” — Randall S. Herrick-Stare, Esq.
“Tracey ‘s expertise in many areas has been a great asset to my ministry in countless ways and on many occasions. This education for clergy and laypeople alike on healthy ministry relationships is invaluable and I highly recommend her work.” —Rev. Rebecca Kemper Poos