Reflective Supervision

Reflective Pastoral Supervision (RPS)

In the best of times, ministry is a highly complex and demanding endeavor. In the USA today, church leaders are facing unprecedented challenges as they navigate institutional changes, shrinking budgets, expanding territories, and polarizing conflicts that have eroded trust and hope. Reflective Pastoral Supervision (RPS) has been demonstrated to support leaders in addressing some of the concerns they carry for those in their care.

Why RPS?

In a growing number of denominations in the UK and in Australia, RPS has become a respected, and in some contexts mandatory, support for the well-being, ongoing development, and safe practice of clergy and other leaders. It has been demonstrated to provide a sacred, safe, and courageous space to clarify roles, identify strategies and listen for God’s humanizing call to life, to the pastor, the congregation, and the wider community. Through its covenantal and relational approach, it has been shown to support the building of trust and relational safety in the cultures in which it is embedded. 

Research conducted in these contexts reveals that pastoral leaders receiving supervision experience lessened anxiety, improved ability to navigate challenging and conflictual situations, gained greater insight into how their inner assumptions and impulses impact their work, improved relationships with colleagues, and increased capacity to manage boundaries and risk. 

What is Reflective Supervision?

Reflective pastoral supervision supports the well-being, development, and safe and effective practice of pastors and ministry workers. Similar to the reflective supervision provided to those in other people-helping professions RPS invites the clergy person to view their work and the work’s impact on them through multiple lenses:

  • Their well-being as a person

  • Their pastoral practice and the ongoing development of ministry skills and approach

  • The context in which they work - navigating the boundaries, expectations, and ethical, professional, and theological norms that they and others hold.

This is supervision, not in the sense of being evaluated, but as a place of super (from above) vision. The aim is to provide the pastor with a space to step back from their work and reflect on it with curiosity, so they can step back into it better grounded and with enhanced insight and greater preparedness.

Meet the Centre for Creative Supervision Team

Our team is made up of highly trained reflective pastoral supervisors that come from a variety of backgrounds (clergy, therapy, spiritual direction). All have received intensive training and have been through skills assessment. Our reflective pastoral supervisors are also in supervision themselves. All these things ensure the quality of supervision you will receive.

Professional Track Courses

Pre-Professional Track Courses

  • Grace & Responsibility Courses

    If you are part of the UMC or another denomination and want to be trained to provide RPS within your organization, we offer pre-professional courses that aren't as rigorous as the professional track programs but still equip you to provide high-quality supervision. For more information, please contact Mary Kay DuChene.

    Contact Mary Kay

Announcing the Centre for Creative Supervision (CCS)

LeaderWise and Wesley House, Cambridge UK, have entered into a partnership to provide reflective pastoral supervision (RPS) to leaders. Both LeaderWise and Wesley House exist to serve the development of leaders in the church and beyond.

Beginning January 2024, training courses will be available in person to build a community of professionally qualified practitioners in this fast-growing practice.

View Press Release

Supervisors

Centre for Creative Supervision supervisors will find resources here. (This is a password-protected area for CCS supervisors only.)