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Center for Pastoral Health

Equipping those who equip the saints

The Center for Pastoral Health (CPH) is committed to assisting, encouraging and developing the wellbeing and effectiveness of Nazarene pastors and congregational leaders in the Southeast Field so they can flourish in ministry.

As part of the Millard Reed School of Theology and Christian Ministry, the Center for Pastoral Health serves Southeast Field District Superintendents, pastors, their families and church leaders across the Nazarene’s Southeast Field and in the larger Body of Christ.

Jay Earles has served as the director for the Center for Pastoral Health since 2022. Jay is a clinical health psychologist in South Carolina and a member of the Church of the Nazarene.

Resources

The Center for Pastoral Health offers these resources:

Ministry consultations

For informal and confidential discussion about a pastor’s well-being and sharing of relevant resources, contact Center for Pastoral Health Director Jay Earles.

Equipping for Life and Ministry


Developmental Coaching

Developmental coaching is a thought-provoking and creative process that assists individuals in their personal and professional growth. The cost of coaching is typically $100 to $125 per session.

While not typically covered by health insurance, coaching for pastors can be financially supported by districts and churches.

Each of the coaches included on our Coaching Clearinghouse list has been vetted and recommended by the director of the Center for Pastoral Health. They are Christians and most have some affiliation with the Church of the Nazarene. They are also trained at Level 1 or higher by the International Coaching Federation, with specific training and experience in coaching pastors. All coaches provide services via secure online platforms.

Spiritual Direction

Nazarene Theological Seminary’s Spiritual Formation Initiative (SFI) has developed a list of Spiritual Directors. The spiritual directors included in this directory have been through rigorous training and certification processes, operate under volunteer supervision of another spiritual director(s), and operate from a Wesleyan-Holiness theological lens. This directory was created through the Spiritual Formation Initiative at Nazarene Theological Seminary. For additional questions about contacting a director or about the other projects of the initiative, contact Rev. Michaele LaVigne at Michaele.LaVigne@NTS.edu.

To learn more about SFI please visit 
www.nts.edu/sfi

Ministry Consoltations

For informal and confidential discussion about a pastor’s well-being and sharing of relevant resources, please contact Jay Earles at jkjbear4@me.com or jeearles@trevecca.edu

Seminars and training

The Center for Pastoral Health can provide the following seminars for pastors and congregations:

  • Flourish in Ministry: Discernment and Acceptance 
  • Cultivating Daily Well-Being: Patterns and Practices
  • Developing Resilience: Challenges and Opportunities 
  • Forming a Pastoral Identity: Called to Authenticity
  • Developing Pastor/Church Alignment: Partners in Ministry
  • Training in Individual and Team Self-Awareness
  • Conflict management
  • Dealing with Grief and Loss
  • Strengths-based Ministry
  • Church’s Response to Mental Health Concerns
  • Dealing with Your Anxiety and Depression
  • Family Systems and Life Balance

Other relevant TNU Resources

Pastor's Toolbox

The following links provide resources and tools for pastors to address their own and their congregation’s wellbeing.

Organizations dedicated to pastors' wellbeing:

Interpersonal skills:

Pastoral Counseling and Care Resources

Self-care:

Pastor Transitions:

Pastor Spouse Resources

Welcome, pastor’s spouse! Your journey is unique and complex - it is a high calling filled with incredible joys, difficult challenges, silent sacrifice, and beautiful blessings. This site is designed to remind you that in your role, you are not alone. If you know of other helpful resources for pastor spouses, please contact Jay Earles at jeearles@trevecca.edu

Data about pastors spouses:

Books & Articles:

Care for Pastors resources:

Just Between Us: A magazine and international ministry/online presence for women started by Jill Briscoe with a section for pastors’ ‘wives’

She is a Message: A nondenominational website to encourage pastors’ wives and women in ministry

Sabbatical Resources

Lily Endowment Clergy Renewal Program. It is a grant program in support of renewal leaves for American clergy and churches that provides grants of up to $50,000 to defray sabbatical related costs. Lilly Endowment, an Indianapolis-based, private philanthropic foundation, seeks to deepen and enrich the lives of American Christians. It does this largely through initiatives to enhance and sustain the quality of ministry in American congregations and parishes. To this end, National and Indiana Clergy Renewal Programs provide an opportunity for pastors to step away briefly from the persistent obligations of daily parish life and engage in a period of renewal and reflection. Renewal periods are not vacations but times for intentional exploration and reflection, for drinking again from God’s life-giving waters, for regaining enthusiasm and creativity for ministry.

It is recommended that pastors and board members review the following resources to explain the purpose of sabbatical and view sample sabbatical plans.

Assessment Events

Ministerial Candidate Workshop

The CPH in conjunction with the leadership of the Church of the Nazarene across the Southeast Field conducts a workshop for district licensed ministers and their spouses.  The overarching goal of the Southeast Field’s Ministerial Candidate Workshop (MCW) is to assist licensed ministers in their preparation for ministry and possible ordination.  As the primary outcome of the weekend, candidates will explore their call to ministry, increase their self-awareness, and gain a deeper understanding of their personal ministry profile.  The candidate’s ministry profile includes insights gleaned from a battery of psychological assessments and personality inventories, the results of a one-on-one consultation with an assessment professional, and participation in a variety of equipping seminars and ministry development opportunities offered during the workshop weekend. The workshop is offered each year in English and at least every other year in Spanish.

Events:

SE Field Church Planters Assessment

The SE Field in partnership with the Center for Pastoral Health hosts an annual church planters assessment. This assessment event is designed to ascertain your readiness to plant a church and give you a growth plan that will equip you with the coaching and resources you need to build the competencies to lead well in the days ahead. The assessment and feedback focuses on 13 key competencies for church planters.

Our assessments are designed to help you see where you are ready and where you need to grow. Our assessments are not information-based, but are competency-based. We want to help you be ready to “do” what you need to do to lead well, not just pass a test on do you have the information that you should. Attendees to the SE Field Church Planters Assessment have been nominated by their Districts to participate. Their Districts will also have ordained ministers at the event participating as assessors. If you have not been directed by your DS or his representative to register for the SE Field Church Planters Assessment, please contact your District office before registering. If you have been directed to register for this event, please follow the link below for more information about the event and to register.

This 2 day assessment is designed to evaluate future Church Planters’ readiness and capacity for launching new starts. Spouses of those being assessed are required to attend the assessment and participate in all activities but are not being assessed themselves.

The cost of the assessment is $250. This will cover part of the cost of accommodations, food, snacks, and materials. Meals will be provided on-site for Thursday dinner through Saturday (lunch). Lodging will be provided Thursday and Friday evenings on the SC Gunter Camp and Conference Center, 1420 Nazarene Rd, Batesburg, SC 29006.

Future dates and registration will be announced several months in advance.