Family Focus

The highs and lows of ministry in the Seventh-day Adventist Church impact pastoral families in many ways. Surveys suggest that since clergy are one of the most trusted professions, that congregants turn to them for assistance for a wide variety of traumatic life experiences. The Seventh-day Adventist Church has high theological and behavioral expectations of its clergy and their families.  These expectations, however, can place significant stress on the clergy not trained in areas in which congregants expect their help.

 Throughout this convention, issues faced by the pastor's family will be addressed. Each arena session will give short, compelling focus on this subject. Through a variety of presentations, family subjects will be dealt with to create more thoughtful questions, offer suggestive solutions, and to help us discover better ways to create wholeness. 

 A stress study researched some years about the pastor's family in the NAD revealed that we are not immune to many of the challenges faced by other families.  However, what it did show was a call to action on the part of many entities of our Church organization to intervene and reduce the stressors associated with pastoral roles, expectations, and family life.

 Common issues faced by families like finances, marital resilience and intimacy, raising children, church conflict, unrealistic expectations, and living in a perceived glass house are just some of the issues planned.  If you are a pastor or spouse, you don't want to miss these relevant opportunities to address what happens in our families in the church and home.