Gabriel J. Catanus | The Pastor as Patient and Agent

Pastors and ministry leaders nowadays find themselves under overwhelming pressure. Especially in Asian American and immigrant communities, pastors are expected to lead and preach prophetically, educate as in-house experts, care for and counsel people towards healing, grow our ministries with limited resources, and model Christian maturity in our contexts. It’s a lot! Meanwhile, spiritual leaders must also receive care, tending to their own wounds and needs as persons. In this workshop, we reflect on the pastor as a recipient of mental health services, demonstrating how receiving care helps to ground ethics and clarify pastoral responsibility.