In Pastoral Intelligence: Why Your Emotional Health is the Key to Your Church’s Health, Maurice Graham has shared not only from his lifetime of ministry, but what he has learned from two decades of counseling clergy. Although Graham incorporates the work of emotional intelligence by Daniel Goleman, the concept of Pastoral Intelligence adds theological intelligence or one’s relationship with God to the mix.
The first part of the book, Graham describes the Transforming Self Triangle. He shares not only the results of his research related to clergy experience that inform this model, but examples of how this process has been used in his work with clergy. He builds this personal development model on the work of the Holy Spirit in the clergy person’s life. From the theological perspective, he notes, “Ministers have to understand that God is always at work in the background. The invisible God is made visible in Christ as redemption is taking place, not only in our past and present but also in our future.”
In the second part of the book, the author shares the Five Abilities of Pastoral Intelligence. Of the five, the one that caught my attention was empathy. He writes, “A pastor who lacks empathy skills will have a very, very difficult time becoming effective in ministry.” Empathy is important for any leader—not only the ability to listen but to hear. Graham discovered in his research that most pastors do not understand the crucial role that empathy plays in their pastoral leadership. This impacts not only their approach to pastoral care but the way they interact with the lay leaders of the church and their staff colleagues.
As an experienced therapist, Graham notes that assistance of a therapist, mentor, or coach is important for any clergy leader dealing with the aspects of Pastoral Intelligence.
He has not only provided a process for developing pastoral intelligence but a source of hope and encouragement for all clergy.
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