This book addresses why ministers should establish good boundaries and the facilitators believe it would be helpful in working with healthy Pastoral Relations Committees.

Recently MESA offered two Zoom sessions on Pastoral Relations Committees. The response from Committees on Ministry and Pastoral Relations Committees (PRC) was significant, which indicated that there is a need for conversation and information about this important committee in the life of our congregations. One takeaway from those presentations was that there was a need for ministers to participate, share their experiences and have input into what a healthy PRC would like.

Rev. Stephen Boyd and Rev. Tara Barber would like to start this conversation with a denominational-wide conversation around the book, Saying No to Say Yes by David C. Olson and Nancy G. Devor, available online and from local sellers. After reading the book, they are inviting ministers (limited to 25 at each session) to join us for a discussion. Following those conversations, MESA plans a latter opportunity to reconvene with interested parties to discuss boundaries, parameters and expectations for healthy Pastoral Relations Committees in their ministerial settings.

Two meeting dates are available: July 22 at 7:00pm ET or July 29 at 4:30pm ET.