The Clergy Support Trust has created a series of free well-being workshops for clerics in the UK and Ireland, in direct response to clergy households asking for more support with mental health, and for safe spaces to reflect on their own wellbeing.
This recent article in The Church Times cited a recent report showing that overall well-being of the clergy had declined since 2019.
Well-being workshops available from the Clergy Support Trust include:
- Mental health first aid training, to equip clergy with practical frameworks to support people experiencing mental health difficulties.
- Trauma-informed ministry, to explore the emotional and psychological impact of the pandemic on clergy and their congregations.
- Stress and resilience, to prevent the pressures of ministry from having a detrimental impact on clergy health.
- Building a healthy team and dealing with conflict, learning to address conflict when it arises, and find creative, constructive ways to move forward together.
- Building reflective practice groups and
- Leadership training for emerging and established leaders.
The Revd Ben Cahill-Nicholls, Chief Executive of Clergy Support Trust, said:
“In 2022, the Trust walked alongside almost a fifth of all Church of England clergy.
That startlingly high number, and the conversations we’re privileged to have with applicants, reveals a great need for more wellbeing support across the Churches whose clergy we serve.
Our prayer is that these new Wellbeing Workshops, developed in partnership with specialist providers, will play a pivotal role in ensuring clergy feel better prepared not only to look after their own mental health and wellbeing, but also for those they minister.
We know how tight some diocesan finances are right now, which is why these Wellbeing Workshops are completely free.
The Workshops are a pivotal step for the Trust as we seek to increase the preventative nature of our vital work - serving those who do so much in service of others.”