Pastors Becoming Effective Leaders

While most Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE)programs are sponsored by hospitals or human service institutions, most CPE students eventually serve as pastors in congregations. They will not only provide pastoral care but also provide pastoral leadership within their congregations and communities. Can a CPE program foster a student's development as an effective leader as well as a caregiver? This book shows how emotional intelligence, as a significant quality for effective leadership, and family systems theory, as a conceptual framework for understanding relational dynamics within congregations, can be integrated in a congregational CPE program to offer pastoral leadership training. The book begins with a rationale for congregational CPE, includes an overview of several of such programs in the history of ACPE, and summarizes what has been written about this topic. It identifies some relevant theological themes in congregational CPE and concludes with a reflection on some benefits and challenges of this type of program. The author makes an important contribution to the discussion of developing CPE programs in congregational settings.