JOIN: Conversations in “Safe Space for Pastors” about COVID impact

One lesson of the pandemic is how important it is to have support. Even in the best of times, the ministry can be a demanding and lonely place. For many of us, the days and months during the pandemic intensified these feelings.

The Presbytery of Lake Michigan is grateful to offer pastors a safe and confidential space to discuss the impact of COVID and the challenges moving forward.

Safe Space for Pastors (SSP) will be offered three times during 2022. Each session will include up to six meetings with licensed therapist Michael Reiffer, Southwest Clinic Manager for Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services. He will facilitate conversations between pastors about the challenges and impacts of COVID on our congregations.

The sessions will be offered:

• 10 to 11:30 a.m. Tuesdays from April 26 through May 31 with virtual sessions via Zoom. Registration is due by Thursday, April 21.
• 1 to 2:30 p.m. Wednesdays from June 8-29 and July 13-20 in person at Pine Rest Mental Health Services in Grandville, Michigan. There will be no meeting on July 6 due to the Fourth of July holiday. Registration is due by Wednesday, June 1.
• 10 to 11:30 a.m. Thursdays from August 4-25 and September 8-15 with virtual sessions via Zoom. There will be no meeting September 1 due to the Labor Day holiday. Registration is due by Thursday, July 28.

There is no cost to participate in this program being offered by the Presbytery of Lake Michigan through a generous grant from the PC(USA) Office of Mental Health Ministry.

This is a health and wellness program being offered by the Presbytery; participants will not be considered clients of Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services. All information shared during the sessions is confidential. No information that is shared will be disclosed to the Presbytery of Lake Michigan or its leaders.

More details about the program – including how to register – are available by contacting Elder Allison Goshorn, facilitator of the presbytery’s Administration and Support Team, at agoshorn@purdue.edu or Sharon Carper, the presbytery’s office manager, at office@lakemichiganpresbytery.org.