Australia’s churches were put on notice by the Royal Commission into the Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse and told to ensure that all pastors and ministers receive professional supervision, ensuring that they were reflecting on their practices. Churches are taking this seriously. For example, this year’s Sydney Anglican Synod (church parliament) passed rules that mean ministers can be required to have “pastoral supervision.” Ian Duncum, an experienced professional supervisor explains what supervision means for pastos and ministers.
An example of what part a Supervision Session looks like
Pastor: It was a challenging visit with Ms. Thompson, and I can’t shake the feeling that I missed something important. [1]
Supervisor: I appreciate your honesty. Can you share more about what you think you might have missed?
Pastor: Well, she was talking about feeling disconnected from the community, but I focused more on offering prayers than really understanding her perspective.
Supervisor: It’s commendable that you offered support through prayer, but it seems there’s a deeper need for connection. What could be contributing to her sense of disconnect?
Pastor: I’m not sure. Maybe I assumed too much about her situation. I didn’t dig into why she is feeling that way.
Supervisor: Exploring those roots is crucial. What led her to feel disconnected? Were there any past experiences or unmet expectations?
Pastor: Now that you mention it, she did briefly mention a disagreement with another congregant. Maybe that’s the key.
Supervisor: That could be a significant factor. How might you address that?
Pastor: Maybe I could organise another meeting with Ms. Thompson to delve deeper into her experiences and emotions surrounding that disagreement. It might help rebuild that sense of connection.
In this reflective dialogue, the supervisor gently guides the pastor through self-reflection towards a deeper understanding of the congregant’s needs and encourages a more comprehensive approach to pastoral care. Of course, this is one of many subjects that could be the focus of a supervision session but illustrates the importance of the pastor’s reflection on interactions with congregants/other leaders.
What is professional supervision?
“Supervision” isn’t a great word for describing what it is. It isn’t organisational surveillance or line management. Carroll sketches a definition of professional supervision:
- The focus of supervision is [in this context, pastoral] practice.
- The end result of supervision is learning (the deepest form of which is transformational learning).
- The method used in supervision is reflection.
- Supervisors facilitate that process by creating an environment and relationship that mediates learning. [2]
While there are some similarities between other intentional helping relationships such as mentoring and coaching, APSE places pastoral supervision as a distinct discipline that is also “not spiritual accompaniment [or] counselling.” [3]
Why is professional supervision being encouraged by denominations?
There are a number of reasons why professional supervision is being encouraged or even required by denominations.
First, supervision is commonplace in other helping professions; social workers, counsellors, psychologists, psychotherapists, and others engage in supervision as a normal part of their action-reflection professional development. However, pastoral supervision has emerged as its own specialty, working for the well-being of all dimensions of the system (individual, team and organizational well-being) and grounded in the Christian triad of faith, hope, and love. [4]
Second, rates of burnout for pastors/ministers, along with other helping professions mentioned above, are very high. The earlier burnout is detected, the shorter the recovery time, so professional pastoral supervision can have a protective or restorative effect.
Third, professional pastoral supervision helps to maintain best practice and ensure professional standards and duty of care issues are being addressed. It provides a place to work through ethical dilemmas.
What does a professional supervision session look like? How often might they happen?
A professional supervision session often commences by the supervisee bringing an incident to reflect on. It may be a conversation with an attender, a meeting with a leadership team, or some issue in the church. This is then explored through targeted yet supportive questions to gain new insights about self, others, the practice of ministry, and the organisational systems in which ministry is carried out. The supervisee then identifies new insights or action points that come out of the session.
I tend to see those who have monthly supervision sessions benefit more than those who have supervision less regularly.
3. Who can be a supervisor? Are there training courses?
Anyone who has completed an accredited pastoral supervision course and who fulfils the requirements of a professional body such as AAOS may practice as a professional supervisor. This will also entail having supervision on their supervision.
4. How does professional supervision make someone a better minister?
Many denominations and churches are seeing the value of professional pastoral supervision in improved pastoral well-being, better workplace culture and relationships, and enhanced pastoral care of attenders, and therefore, choose to fund that for pastors/ministers.
How do I find a pastoral supervisor?
There are lists of approved supervisors held by most denominations and chaplaincy bodies.
Rev Dr Ian Duncum is a trained and accredited church consultant with over 20 years experience working with non-profit enterprises and churches across a number of denominations. This has also included denominational leadership in church health and development, consultancy, and church research in the tertiary education sector. Ian also trains church consultants, facilitates training for ministers and leaders, and mentors/supervises pastors and other leaders. He can be contacted at www.ianduncum.com.au or [email protected]
[1] The situation described above is composite, and confidentiality has not been breached; names have been changed.
[2] Carroll, Effective Supervision for the Helping Professions, 18
[3] The Association for Pastoral Supervision and Education, https://www. pastoralsupervision.org.uk/about-pastoral-supervision, accessed November 8, 2023.
[4] Broughton, What is “pastoral” about supervision? A Christological proposal, St Mark’s Review, No. 254, December 2020 (4) [LINK] https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/103163799/95039438_published_article.pdf
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