ML855 Systems Paper, Sherry

48





Edwin H. Friedman, Generation to Generation: Family Process in Church and Synagogue (New York, NY: Guilford Press, 1985), 125.
Ibid., 129.
Peter Titelman, Clinical Applications of Bowen Family Systems Theory (Binghamton, NY: Haworth Press, Inc., 1998), 58-59.

Friedman, Generation to Generation, 19-39.
Douglas Fombelle, "A Theology of Family Systems Theory", Unpublished Paper, 4.
Patricia A. Comella, "A Brief Summary of Bowen Family Systems Theory", 2001, http://www.bowentheory.com/abriefsummaryofbowenfamilysystemstheorycomella.htm accessed on 4/10/13.
Ibid.
Dr. Richard B. McCune, "The Bowen Theory" PowerPoint Presentation, 2001, http://www.bowentheory.com/library.htm, accessed on 4/10/13.
Dr. Richard B. McCune, "Bowen Theory on Three Sheets", 2001, http://www.bowentheory.com, accessed on 4/10/13.

Friedman, Generation to Generation, 40.
Marvin R. Wilson, Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1989), 8.
F. LeRon Shultz and Steven J. Sandage, Transforming Spirituality: Integrating Theology and Psychology (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic Books, 2006), 15.
Friedman, Generation to Generation, 31.
Parry, Richard, "Empedocles", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2012 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2012/entries/empedocles

St. Augustine, Confessions, translated by Henry Chadwick (London, England: Oxford University Press, 1991), Book 11, Section XVII.
Shultz and Sandage, Transforming Spirituality, 16.
Easton's Bible Dictionary, s.v. "covenant".
Ibid.
Note some of these words are not contained in the Abridged Edition of this Table, but in the much longer unabridged edition not included in this report. This Table was compiled by the writer.
Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., Not the Way It's Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1995), 9-10.
Ibid., vii.
Note that while the word "covenant" is not used in early Genesis, all the key elements of the covenant are present, such as a promise and a command, and a blessing and a curse.
Noel Sherry, "A Genogram of Joseph and the Patriarchs" (Atlanta, GA: Genoware, Inc., 2009). Note that this Genogram was created by a donated copy of Genogram-Maker Millenium v3.1, authored by Sylvia Shellenberger, PhD.
Randy Gerson, PhD, "Online Demo Overview" (Atlanta: Genoware, Inc. 2012), http://www.genogram.org/demo/demo.html, accessed on December 21, 2012. To learn more about genograms, see the textbook by McGoldrick, Gerson and Shellenberger.
Michael S. Bushell, Michael D. Tan, & Glen L. Weaver, BibleWorks Timeline (Norfolk, VA: BibleWorks, LLC, 2006). All biblical dates are taken from this timeline.
N.A., "Matthew 16:24: How Many Years is a Biblical Generation?" (Everett, WA: BaptistHost.net, 2003 Archive), http://www.baptistboard.com/showthread.php?t=21086, accessed on December 21, 2012. Matthew 16:24 supports a biblical generation starting with age 20, and lasting ca. 40 years, though the lives of the Patriarchs by this lived for up to 4 generations.
Samuel Noah Kramer, History begins at Sumer: Thirty Nine Firsts in Recorded History (Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1981), xxi.
N. A., "Barrenness and Fertility" (Farmington Hills, MI: The Gale Group, 2008), http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0003_0_02084.html, accessed on 5/11/13.
N. A., "Concubine" (Farmington Hills, MI: The Gale Group, 2008), http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0005_0_04557.html, accessed on 5/11/13.
Alvin Dueck, "Speaking the Languages of Sin and Pathology," Christian Counseling Today 10 (2002): 20-24.
Bruce Demarest, Seasons of the Soul: Stages of Spiritual Development (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2009), 161.
Ibid., 160-169.
Janet O. Hagberg and Robert A. Guelich, The Critical Journey: Stages in the Life of Faith (Salem, WI: Sheffield Publishing, 1995), 168-9.
Demarest, Seasons of the Soul, 14-15.
Larry Crabb, Becoming a True Spiritual Community: A Profound Vision of What the Church Can Be (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999), 182.
V. W. Turner, The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-structure (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1969), 95.
Shults and Sandage, Transforming Spirituality, 235.
Ibid., 240.
Ibid., 33.
J. Louis Spencer, Bruce E. Winston, & Mihai C. Bocarnea, "Predicting the Level of Pastor's Risk of Termination/Exit from the Church", Pastoral Psychology (2012) 61:85-98.
"Transition", Merriam-Webster (Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 2012), http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/transition?show=0&t=1352727985, accessed on 11/12/12.
"Transition", The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, Volume II (Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1971), 264.
Ibid., 263.
"Transition", Dictionary.com (Oakland, CA: IAC Corporation, 2012), http://thesaurus.com/browse/transition, accessed on 11/12/12.
Helen L. Bee, The Journey of Adulthood (3rd Edition) (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2007), 54.
Ibid., p. 57.
Ibid., p. 59.
Frederic M. Hudson, The Adult Years: Mastering the Art of Self-Renewal (San Francsco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1999), 57.
Ibid., 101.
Ibid., 109.
Ibid., 132.
S. B. Merriam & R. S. Caffarella, Learning in Adulthood (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1999), 261.
Ibid., 262.
Ibid., 321.
Terry Walling (adapted by permission from Dr. J. Robert Clinton), "Character Processing: Ten Ways God Builds Character" (Anaheim, CA: Church Resource Ministries, no date), 6-3 & 6-4.
Ibid., 6-5.
Ibid., 6-44.
Ibid.
Dr. Bobby Clinton, Leadership Emergence Theory: A Self-Study Manual for Analyzing the Development of a Christian Leader (Altadena, CA: Barnabas Resources, 1989), 305.
Ibid., 306.
Israel Galindo, The Hidden Lives of Congregations: Discerning Church Dynamics (Herndon, VA: The Alban Institute, 2004), 61-76.
Ibid., 67.
Ibid., 60.
Ibid., 89.
Rev. Tom Griffith, Pastor of River of Life Church in Jamaica Plain, MA, interviewed by author, 16 April, 2013, Foxboro, MA C&MA District Meeting, in person.
Gerald J. Jud, Edgar W. Mills Jr., & Genevieve Walters Burch. Ex-Pastors: Why Men Leave the Parish Ministry (Philadelphia, PA: Pilgrim Press, 1970).
Dean R. Hoge & Jacqueline E. Wenger, Pastoral Transitions: Why Clergy Leave Local Church Ministry (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2005), 222.
Edgar W. Mills, "Career Change in the Protestant Ministry," Ministry Studies 3:1 (May 1969): 5-21.
Hoge & Wenger, Transitions, 221.
Barbara Brown Zikmund, Adair T. Lummis, & Patricia Mei Yin Chang, Clergy Women: An Uphill Calling (Louisville, KY: Westminister John Knox Press, 1998).
Hoge & Wenger, Transitions, 223-4.
Margaret S. Wiborg & Elizabeth J. Collier, United Methodist Clergywomen Retention Study, unbound report (Boston, MA: Boston University School of Theology, 1997).
Hoge & Wenger, Transitions, 223.
Adair Lummis, "Why Men and Women Leave the Ministry: Hypotheses from Research on Clergy and from Role Exiters of Other Statuses," in The Power of Gender in Religion, edited by Georgie Weatherby and Susan Farrell (New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 1996).
Hoge & Wenger, Transitions, 224.
Rolf Memming, "United Methodist Ordained Ministry in Transition," in The People(s) Called Methodist, edited by William B. Lawrence, Dennis M. Campbell, & Russell E. Richey (Nashvillle, TN: Abingdon Press, 1998).
Hoge & Wenger, Transitions, 224.
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Research Services, "Ministers Ordained in the 1990's: A Look at Clergy Who Have Left the Ministry," unbound report (Louisville, KY: Presbyterian Church (U.S.A), 1999).
Hoge & Wenger, Pastoral Transitions, p. 225.
Karen Smith Sellers, "Crossroads: Clergywomen Thinking Seriously about Leaving Church-Related Ministry" (paper presented at the annual meeting of the Religious Research Association, Boston, MA, November 1999).
Hoge & Wenger, Transitions, 225.
Alan C. Klaas and Cheryl D. Klaas, "Clergy Shortage Study," report (St. Louis, MO: Board of Higher Education, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, 1999).
Hoge & Wenger, Transitions, 226.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Sandi Brunnette-Hill & Roger Finke, "A Time for Every Purpose under Heaven: Updating and Extending Blizzard's Survey on Clergy Time Allocation," Review of Religious Research 41 (Fall 1999): 48-63.
Hoge & Wenger, Transitions, 226.
Elaine M. McDuff, "The Gender Paradox in Work Satisfaction and the Protestant Clergy," Sociology of Religion 62 (Spring 2001): 1-21.
Hoge & Wenger, Transitions, 226.
Ibid., 237.
Ibid., 236.
Ibid, 242.
Ibid, 238.
Ibid.
Ibid, 3.
Ibid., 4-13.
Ibid, 220.
Ibid., 162.
Henry Barry, "The Problem of Leadership Succession", (DMin project report, Bethel Seminary of the East, 2010), 1.
Peter Hasbrouck, "Pastoral Ministries Program Development Survey Results" (S. Portland, ME: New England Bible College, 2010), Question # 11.
Ibid.
John C. LaRue, "Forced Exits: A Too-Common Ministry Hazard," Your Church (Mar/Apr 1996), www.christianitytoday.com/cbg/features/report/6v2072.html, 72.
Ibid.
Focus on the Family, 1998.
Ken Sande, "Strike the Shepherd- Losing Pastors in the Church" (Billings, MT: Peacemaker Ministries, 2009), www.peacemaker.net/site/apps/nl/content3,asp?content_id=%7B7A3375ED accessed on April 2, 2013.
Helen Scott, "Emergence vs. Forcing: Basics of Grounded Theory Analysis" (Mill Valley, CA: Sociology Press, 2009),
http://www.groundedtheoryonline.com/what-is-grounded-theory. Also referenced were Glaser, B. G. (1992), and Corbin, J. A., & Strauss, A. (2008).

"Homeostasis", MedicineNet.com (San Clemente, CA: MedicineNet, Inc., 2012), http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=88522, accessed on April 19, 2013.
Jonathan Bollag, "The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Test: Are You in the Grip?" Career Assessment Site, Jan. 4, 2013, http://careerassessmentsite.com/assessments/mbti/2080-the-myers-briggs-type-indicator-mbti-are-you-in-the-grip, accessed April 21, 2013.
Fr. Richard Rohr, "The Male Spiritual Journey", in Men & Women: The Journey of Spiritual Transformation (Cincinnati, OH: Franciscan Media, 2000), Audio CD.
Sande, "Strike the Shepherd". Sande cites 23% of all current pastor sin the US have been fired or forced to resign in the past, 45% of the pastors fired in one denomination left the ministry altogether, and 1500 pastors leave their assignments every month because of conflict, burnout or moral failure.
Patricia Gilbaugh, "Supervision of Intergenerational Dynamics" (Iowa City, Iowa: University of Iowa School of Social Work, 2009), http://www.uiowa.edu/~nrcfcp/training/documents/Participant%20Packet%20Intergen%20Dynamics.pdf, accessed on April 21, 2013, 2-5.

Shults and Sandage, Spirituality, 24-25.
Ibid., 75.
Laura Cassidy-Moffatt. "Church Dysfunction Junction: An Examination of the Confluence of Systems Theory Issues that Contribute to the Failure of Some New England Churches," (DMin project report, Bethel Seminary of the East, 2013), 60.


BETHEL SEMINARY DOCTOR OF MINISTRY COHORT




STRIKE THE SHEPHERD AND THE SHEEP WILL BE SCATTERED



Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of
ML 855 Understanding Congregational Systems




By
Rev. Noel Sherry



December 21, 2012


CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………………………...2
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS…………………………………………………………….3
ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………...4
INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………..5-6
CHAPTER 1: FAMILY SYSTEMS THEORY………………………………………7-16
Who is Bowen?
Why a Family Systems Approach?
What are the Key Concepts in a Family Systems Approach?
Several Philosophical Considerations
CHAPTER 2: THEOLOGICAL BASIS FOR FAMIY SYSTEMS THEORY……..17-38
Theological Foundations
A Genogram of the Hebrew Patriarchs
Joseph from a Family Systems Point of View
Metaphors for Transition and Change
CHAPTER 3: LITERATURE REVIEW ON PASTORAL TRANSITIONS…..…..39-59
CHAPTER 4: FIELDWORK ON PASTORAL TRANSITIONS………………..…60-76
Interview Questions and Interviews
Summary and Synthesis of Interviews
CHAPTER 5: RECOMMENDATIONS FROM FIELD WORK………………..….77-83
Main Implications of the Findings
Implications for the Final DMin Project
BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………..…….84-87
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure Page
The Presence of Dialectic or Polar Opposites in Human Knowledge…………..13-14
Moiré Patterns as "Fields"- Matter & Energy (red) & Electro-Magnetism (black)…15
Words & Ideas Associated with the Key Biblical Theme of Covenant…………18-19

A Genogram of Joseph and the Patriarchs Depicted in Genesis…………………….25
Legend for Interpreting Symbols in the Genogram………………………………….26
Shults & Sandages Model of Spiritual Transformation……………………………...36
J. Robert Clinton's Model of Leadership Development with Boundaries Noted…...46
Pastoral Responses on Family Systems Theory Concepts…………………………..63
Special Issues Raised in the 5 Pastoral Interviews (24 Issues)………………………64
Defining Characteristics of Generational Cohorts…………………………………...75











ABSTRACT
This paper applies the concepts behind Family Systems Theory, originated by Psychiatrist Murray Bowen and applied to church ministry and leadership by Rabbi Edwin Friedman, to five pastoral transitions experienced in the writer's ministry circle in New England, for an understanding of the contributing factors that affected these leaders in themselves, in their family of origin, in their church and its cultural tradition, and according to the nature of spiritual and human development. An analysis of FST from the point of view of Scripture is considered, with a focus on the concept of covenant and an analysis of a Genogram of the three generations described in Genesis before Joseph, including biblical metaphors for change and Christian models for spiritual journey. Extensive data is included on the topic of pastoral transition and spiritual transition in general, with an application to the five pastors and their transitions. This paper concludes with some recommendations for pastors, churches and seminaries based on the findings.










Introduction
BACKGROUND
The first course scheduled for this DMin Program, with the title "Understanding Congregational Systems", it must be said created some degree of anxiety for this writer. As Center Director for Bethel Seminary of the East, New England, it has been some years since he has had a direct pastoral role in a congregation, and the word "systems" seems incongruous with the biblical notion of a church as a living organism, as described by the Apostle Paul: "So we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another" (Rom. 12:5, New American Standard Version). However, that word did bring to mind an incident in which a member of his church, First Baptist Church of Foxboro, MA, invited him to participate in a conference of businesspeople and educators sponsored by the area Chamber of Commerce, called together to forge a more collaborative relationship based upon "Systems Theory". The topic and method were so interesting that he drew up a model of his congregation that included all its committees and groups, its "suppliers and customers" (in keeping with the language of the business sponsor)…with every constituency represented by an appropriate box, communication line or feedback loop. This exercise did spur this writer to think about the ministry in a more holistic way, having gained a much wider view of the organizations and people who had a real stake in his actual ministry and how that affected his role. And so the title for this course did recall that positive memory, with class interaction suggesting a project that held both personal and professional interest- the examination of pastoral transitions using the Family Systems Theory explored in the course and proposed and practiced originally by Dr. Murray Bowen from 1950 to 1990. The case study presented by this pastoral leader from his tenure as Associate Pastor of that evangelical church in Foxboro, did feature a very difficult leadership conflict which triggered a pastoral crisis requiring time off as a couple, consultation with his mentors, and a reexamination of ministry philosophy and calling. The fact that it happened at a vulnerable moment in his adult life-cycle (midlife) and during an anxious period in the life of his church (the search for a new Senior Pastor), both amplified the intensity of feeling (and anxiety) that he and his wife experienced and suggested the focus for this paper and his course project. Then the consideration that this transition would have led to his abandoning his divine call to ministry, had he not had sensitive and wise mentors who guided him through what felt like stormy or rough waters, suggested that this may be a much more common experience than at first expected.
THESIS
This paper will summarize findings from a project focused on examining pastoral transitions using the key concepts identified in the Bowen Family Systems Theory (FST). Five pastors experiencing recent transitions will be interviewed using the questions generated via FST. The results will be analyzed and reviewed, with a view to highlighting factors that foster pastoral longevity (and preventing a termination of a pastor's calling). It is expected that the FST will offer several key insights for Christian leaders, churches, denominations and seminaries.








Chapter 1: Family Systems Theory
WHO IS BOWEN?
Family Systems Theory emerged with the work of Dr. Murray Bowen as he practiced individual and marriage therapy over a period of 40 years at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, DC and the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, MD from the early 1950's until his death in 1990. Trained in Psychiatry with the Menninger Foundation in Topeka, KS, Bowen did extensive therapy, research and teaching, pioneering what is considered to be both the foundation of the field of Marriage and Family Therapy today, as well as a new paradigm for helping individuals within a family system. Therapeutic practice in the mid-1900's- whether originating in Psychology or Psychiatry- focused almost exclusively on helping a problem individual affected by some form of neurosis or psychosis.
WHY A FAMILY SYSTEMS APPROACH?
As a Psychiatrist, Bowen sought to integrate knowledge from his studies of medicine and psychoanalysis with a new field known as "systems theory", which was questioning the mechanistic concepts of the Industrial age and Enlightenment period, and proposing a more holistic model derived from biological organisms and the emerging technologies of electronics and computers. The key assumption was that the parts of a system, like the feedback loop in a simple amplifier circuit, are all interconnected in a web of relationships, each one dynamically affecting the other as a process or function is completed. In human terms, each group member affects the others, and it is the inter-relationships that are the interpretive key, not the individual. Edwin Friedman, who applied Bowen's concepts to ministry in church and synagogue settings, explains this new thinking about the relationship of bodily health to soul care not using the word "psychosomatic", which implies a false dichotomy: "Rather than saying a mental state can cause a physical problem, new theoretical models and research findings suggest an organic relationship between them." Citing examples from the autonomic nervous system, the endocrine system, the immunological system, and genetic programming, Friedman states further:
The analogue to family systems thinking is that what counts is not thinking about our symptoms but thinking about our thinking, in particular, the extent to which such thinking falls into category 1 (victimization) or category 2 (responsibility)…As we shall see, with physical as well as with emotional symptoms, a major impediment to the recuperation of any part of an organism is the anxiety (inflammation?) in the rest of the system.

Bowen also included in his work and research a focus on the traditional "passages", or "nodal events" in which important life-transitions occur with every human being. Some examples of these include birth, becoming an adult, marriage, menopause, retirement, and death. Many of these events have important religious rituals associated with them. Modern life, technology, and cultural context actually have created new nodal events, adding to the aforementioned list, as suggested by Peter Titelman:
The following are the main nodal events: (1) school initiation, (2) school change, (3) family migration, (4) marital separation, (5) divorce, (6) remarriage, (7) job stress, (8) unemployment, (9) retirement, (10) physical change (menses, puberty, menopause), (11) illness, and (12) death. In addition, certain religious rituals of transition or other events that are more idiosyncratic can be nodal events for certain families.

Life-transitions thus come in many forms, with many differing triggers. One of this writers pastoral transitions occurred at midlife, a nodal event, deepening the impact it had on him and his spouse. Life stage may thus interplay with the stress of nodal events, with definite effects on a transition. It is likely that midlife or menopause was occurring as the pastoral couples in this study went through their transitions, magnifying the feelings, anxiety, and intensity of the experiences.
KEY CONCEPTS OF THE FAMILY SYSTEMS APPROACH
Bowen's concepts have been adopted and widely applied to synagogues and churches through the work of Friedman, author of Generation to Generation: Family Process in Church and Synagogue (1985), with eight concepts in this new paradigm for Marriage and Family therapy, or really, for any organization or grouping: (1) Triangles, (2) Emotional Process, (3) Family Projection Process, (4), Multigenerational Transmission, (5) Differentiation, (6) Sibling Position, (7) Emotional Cutoff, and (8) Emotional Process in Society. It will be noted that this author has expanded these to twelve, to offer a better basis for comparing and contrasting these with Scripture. To explain these concepts briefly: (1) Rising stress in any group typically causes members to "triangulate" in a negative pattern of going to a third party, seeking equilibrium but creating emotional tension (and often gossip and further anxiety). (2) All family systems involve real emotions, which rise in times of stress to create an anxiety all members react to as the "system" seeks a new sense of equilibrium or balance; e.g., the relational distancing and the shaming and blaming that often result in a charged state like this. (3) In a nuclear family, stress buildup will typically cause parents to project chronic anxiety onto one or more of the children, and the "identified patient" or "black sheep" is likely to develop physical, emotional or social symptoms of such scapegoating; stuttering, bed-wetting or bulimia, can be examples of this. (4) These negative reactions to stress and anxiety are very likely to be passed down to the next generation, and beyond, getting played out again and again in a "family tree"; e.g., repeated negative patterns of "Adult Children of Alcoholics" get passed down as part of the legacy mentioned in Ex. 20:5: "I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me." This can be explained by a description of the particulars of addiction and how it impacts relationships and the next generation:
Persons on their way into addiction in fact want to serve their own needs and desires, and as they lose control because of the addiction, try to control not only themselves, but everyone else around them so that those needs and desires can be met. As was enumerated in the discussion of the Old Covenant, violation of the covenant has terrible consequences on future generations. So the idolatry of the alcoholic has spiritual, moral, emotional and physical consequences for the next generations. The family covenant that provides for trust, safety, appropriate nurturing and care is violated by the idolatry of the addict.

(5) A person in the family unit is said to be healthy and "differentiated" if he or she is able to live in a creative tension that balances two extremes: (a) Cohesion- connected to other family members, but avoiding the extremes of being too emotionally disengaged or (the opposite extreme) enmeshed, and (b) Flexibility- intellectually flexible with other group members, avoiding being too rigid or (the opposite extreme) chaotic and loose with group expectations. Over-functioning or under-functioning are extremes to be avoided by the differentiated individual. A "scale of differentiation" will vary from one extreme of being overly enmeshed in the life of another, to the opposite extreme of being totally disengaged from others, and these patterns of relating are learned in one's "family of origin", with the differentiated person having resolved these attachment extremes in a balanced or healthy way. A basic definition of differentiation of self is "a mindful choice to act thoughtfully (objectively) or reactively (subjectively) to the emotional forces in his or her day-to-day experience." A person at the healthy end of the continuum would use a maximum number of "I" statements to define his or her position, while a person in the opposite unhealthy end of the continuum would use blaming "you" statements that seek to hold others responsible for their condition or destiny; (6) Gender and birth-order in the family-of-origin, are good predictors of how a member will develop and function, and how anxiety and conflict is likely to be handled (or projected). (7) A person with poor differentiation is going to create some kind of isolation or distancing with other family members, often reaching the point of "emotional cutoff" of other persons in a family or organization. "The lower the level of differentiation within the nuclear family and extended across the generations, the greater the degree of emotional cutoff there will be." And (8) the negative patterns learned by a family unit (triangling, cut-off and poor differentiation) will be passed on not only generationally but also to the larger ethnic or social groupings that evolve over time, setting the tone for a whole nation or people group.
SEVERAL PHILOSOPHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Three philosophical considerations pop up as this writer considers the wider context for this research project, the issue of paradigm shift, the repeating of the term "dialectic" in the readings, and the actual notion of time (and eternity) as a wider context for any transition in life. Friedman suggests that the application of Bowen's Family Systems Theory to the church and synagogue is more than mere application but really a paradigm shift from the prevailing individual model in counseling and ministry, to thinking in terms of how each congregation or family member interrelates with all the others:
It represents a shift in paradigms, a change in the very manner of conceptualizing emotional phenomena. Thinking in terms of family systems rather than individual personalities is analogous to a shift between algebra and calculus, between Newtonian and quantum mechanics, or perhaps between the crazy as bewitched or as emotionally troubled.

Marvin Wilson, author of My Father Abraham, expresses this in a different way, when he states that to adequately understand and apply Scripture, a scholar, pastor or lay person must look not to Athens, Hellenism, and the ideas of Plato, but to Jerusalem where a thoroughly Hebrew mindset permeates Old and New Testament. For biblical thought, the individual was part of the group, the family-clan, or the nation, and it was his or her "corporate solidarity" with that unit, his membership in the group, that was determinative, rather than his or her individual identity:
The authors of God's Word- virtually every one of them a Jew- have profoundly Hebraic perspective on life and the world. If we are to interpret the Bible correctly, we must become attuned to this Hebraic setting in the ancient Near East. Thus we must look primarily not to Athens but to Jerusalem for the biblical view of reality.

Whether it is a new paradigm as suggested by FST or a call to return to a more holistic Hebrew view of life and relationships, rather than the very individualistic Greek paradigm that has been so prevalent in the Western world, this is an important change. For the very individualistic bias of American culture may be a significant part of why five pastors had to leave their congregations before they felt their work and call to be there had ended. Another bias that is very much a part of American church culture is that related to Christian mysticism, as North American evangelicalism has emphasized the Greek notion of propositional truth over narrative or story as the best medium for communicating truth. Shultz and Sandage in their important work on spirituality point out that "this tradition has often had a deep suspicion of 'experience' and 'mysticism' and a tendency to focus on propositional content of doctrine as the key marker for Christian identity." That point will also surface in this research.
The term "dialectic" is defined as "the dialectical tension or opposition between two interacting forces or elements" or "any systematic reasoning, exposition, or argument that juxtaposes opposed or contradictory ideas and usually seeks to resolve their conflict" (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary). Friedman in his work on Family Systems Theory did not use the term "dialectic" but spoke of the extended family "field" and of emotional attraction and repulsion, as if there were magnetic poles (positive and negative) affecting how members react to each other. The dialectic of opposite attractions and repulsions shows up so often in areas of human knowledge, with FST included among them, that this was noted as part of the context for this study. The Table in Illustration # offers a cursory list of the fields where opposite poles in a dialectic of interacting forces is significant. This certainly shows up in the five transitions.
Field of Study
Origin of Pursuit
Terms Used
Key Point for this Paper
Physics, Electro-magnetism
Hans Christian Ørsted & Andre-Marie Ampere
Forces, magnetic field, poles, attraction, repulsion, atoms, electrons, nucleus
Most forces affecting human life are summed up as the attraction of matter and negative charge of energy
Chemistry
Robert Boyle & Antoine Lavoisier
Bonding, chemicals, mixture, reaction & equilibrium, catalyst
Chemical changes result from the positive/negative charges in atoms and molecules
Biology & Medicine
Hans Selye
Stress, Homeostasis
Dialectic forces (stress) are responsible for the creation of disease, not germs
History & historical change
G.W.F. Hegel
Thesis, antithesis, synthesis
A dialectic of opposing ideas explains the flow of history
Psychology, Aversive counseling
Jean Piaget
The most mature stage of mental development is dialectical thinking
Some success has been achieved by use of dialectics for relieving internal conflict
Philosophy
Empedocles, Pre-Socratic Philosopher
Change comprises four "roots" (fire, air, earth & water) shaped by Love & Hate (Strife)
The dialectic between these two "forces" explains all changes human beings experience
Critical & Creative Thinking
Vincent R. Ruggiero
The human brain works in two Phases- Production & Judgment
There is a dialectic to the way the human brain works and solves problems
Theology
F. LeRon Shults,
Epistemic, ethical & ontological anxiety
A relational theology involved three dialectics in the human-divine relating or interaction.
Spirituality
Steven J. Sandage
Liminal space, dwelling in and questing for God
Spiritual growth has a dialectic between dwelling vs. questing
Psychiatry
Family Systems Theory
Murray Bowen
Homeostasis, family field, relational triangles, emotional attachments
Dialectic patterns of relating get passed on to extended families, to next generation and to society
Illustration # 1- The Presence of Dialectic or Polar Opposites in Human Knowledge

For the physical or material world, Illustration #2 shows how two force fields- matter as proton and neutron (positive charge in the atom's nucleus) and energy as the circling cloud of electrons (negative charges)- when closely interacting or overlapping form a third "field" of forces, or electro-magnetism- note the two poles (negative and positive) and typical pattern of a magnetic field. If such attraction and repulsion is present at an atomic and material level, why would this not be the case at a higher or human level, and with human relationships, families and systems?

Illustration #2 - Moiré Patterns as "Fields"-
Matter & Energy (red) & Electro-Magnetism (black)

Pre-Socratic Philosopher Empedocles (ca. 495–435 BC) seems to have picked up on this basic insight (which has been developed by Bowen) in his theory that all changes in the human world are the result of two competing "forces"- love and hate, or what he referred to as "strife":
Empedocles is proposing a way of explaining living beings by competing principles of Love and Strife. While each of the four roots has its particular quality, these qualities alone are not enough to explain how a cosmos, and its creatures, come to be. Besides the interaction of fire, air, earth, and water, there must be other forces at work in order to have the world we live in. Thus, the four roots, with their particular qualities, are not so naturally antagonistic as to defy combination but are capable both of repelling one another and of coming together.

Time and eternity have been speculated about by Theologians and Philosophers for ages, with the conclusion remaining that these are profound mysteries. A brief history of time would include speculations by the Greek Philosophers, Plotinus, St. Augustine, modern physics, Phenomenology and Buddhism (and probably by the average person). Perhaps some of the most profound comments about time were stated by St. Augustine in his Confessions:
It is in you, O mind of mine, that I measure the periods of time…I measure as time present the impression that things make on you as they pass by and what remains after they have passed by- I do not measure the things themselves which have passed by and left their impression on you. This is what I measure when I measure periods of time.

Clearly the five Pastoral transitions summarized in this paper took place within time and space, and yet it will be the contention of this writer that eternity is present in every moment, and that transitions sensitize us more strongly to what the Spirit of God it saying to us in our lives- so that the echo of eternity is much louder at these times of change or crossroads. A transition, difficult or otherwise, is like a grain of sand in an oyster shell or a splotch on a fine painting, needing attention, processing and interpretation.












Chapter 2: A Theological Basis for Family Systems Theory
THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS
A deeper question surfaces for this writer about the biblical support for Bowen and Family Systems Theory. This theory originated at a time when the social sciences of psychology or psychiatry were either antagonistic or disinterested in religion and spirituality, particularly with Freud. Thus it is appropriate to inquire about the "fit" of such a theory with biblical theology. By examining the biblical theme of covenant, by tracing FST concepts through several generations of Israel's Patriarchs, and by identifying the main metaphors used in Scripture for change and character formation, it will be argued that there is good resonance and that in fact, both complement and clarify each other. The word "covenant" first appears in the account of Noah, where it is stated: "But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark-- you and your sons and your wife, and your sons' wives with you" (Gen. 6:18). The Hebrew word for covenant, berith, is used 285 times in the Old Testament for "covenant", with several instances translating it as "treaty" or "league", the root idea being to "cut" a covenant, emphasizing its solemn and sacrificial nature: "Hence a covenant is a 'cutting', with reference to the cutting or dividing of animals into two parts, and the contracting parties passing between them in making a covenant (Gen. 15)." This word is used mainly to describe the sacred contract between the Lord and His people (e.g., Noah, Abraham, and Israel), but it also refers to such an agreement between human beings and tribes or nations, with associated elements being the sacrifice described in Gen. 15, and often with an accompanying promise (Gen 9), an oath (De. 4:31), a sign (Ge. 7), a blessing (Isa. 59:21) and a covenantal meal (Ex. 24). The Greek diatheke translates the Hebrew word berith, with 33 uses of this word in the New Testament, or a closely associated word "testament". Clearly the institution of Communion is seen in a covenantal context, with "the paschal lamb" (Jesus) represented as the covenant meal (1 Cor. 11:23-25). The Table in Illustration 3 shows the most frequent and significant words used in the same sentence with covenant, or in the general context, through the major sections of Scripture.
Usage
Verses
Key words in same sentence
Key words in context (4 verses)
8x
Gen 6-11
Gen 9:9
establish [c.] (4x-qum), sign of [c.] (3x-oth), remember [c.] (2x-zakar), descendants (1x-zera), cut off (1x-karath), generations (1x-dor), everlasting [c.] (1x-olam)
Noah (11x-Noach or nuach, "to rest"), fruitful (5x-parah), multiply (5x-rabah), destroy (5x-shachath), violence (4x-chamas), commanded (4x-tsavah), cursed (3x-arar), blotted out (3x-machah), blessed (2x-barak), rest (2x-nuach), evil (2x-ra), [Lord] sorry [He made man] (2x-nacham)
13x
Gen 12-30 15:18, 17:5, 21
descendants (5x), establish (4x), circumcised (4x-mul), everlasting (3x), cut (3x-karath), keep (2x)
circumcised (6x), nations (5x), name (3x), bless (3x), oath (3x-shaba,alah), name (3x), fruitful (2x), descendants (2x), land (2x-erets), peace (1x-shalom),
10x
Ex 19:5, 31:13-17, 34:6-10, 35:2
cut (5x), tablets (4x-luach), keep or watch (3x), obey (2x-shama), blood of (2x-dam), Sabbath (2x-shabbath), generations (2x), snare (2x-moqesh), blood (2x), sign (2x).
mountain (11x), written (4x-kathab), tablets (4x), observe (3x-shamar), draw near (3x-nagash), blood (3x), cease from labor or rest (3x-shabath), play the harlot (3x-zanah), commanded (3x), veil (3x-masveh), camped (2x-chanah), house (2x), complete rest (2x-shabbathon), loving-kindness (2x-chesed).
8x
Ex. & Numbers
remember [covenant] (5x), break [covenant] (2x-parar), salt (2x-melach), offering (1x-minchah), Sabbath day (1x), everlasting (1x), Israel (1x), fruitful (1x), multiply (1x), confirm [covenant] (1x-qum),
hostility (7x-qeri), iniquity (6x-avon), Sabbath (5x), offering (5x), statutes (4x-chuqqah), offering made by fire (3x-ishsheh), memorial offering (3x-azkarah), commandment (3x), walk in [covenant] (3x- Israel, God), obey (3x), ordinances (3x-mishpat), sins (3x), rest (3x), bread (3x-lechem), land (3x-erets), desolation (3x-shamem).
26x

De.
cut [covenant] (7x), swore [to fathers] (6x), keeps [covenant] (4x-shamar/natsar) and lovingkindness (4x-chesed), ark of [covenant] (4x-aron], keep and do (4x), commanded (3x-tsavah), tablets [of covenant] (3x), fire (3x-esh).
commanded/charged (26x-tsavah), commandments (25x), statutes (22x), keep/watch (18x), Moses (17x), judgments/ordinances (17x-mishpat), fear [Lord] (14x-yare), learn to [fear/obey] (12x-lamad], law (12x), love [2 way] (12x-aheb), possession/ inheritance (11x-nachalah), turn to right/left (11x-sur), bless (11x), a people (10x-am), multiply [seed & days] (10x), curse (9x-qelalah), the way (9x-derek), witness/testify (8x-ud), walk in (7x), blessing (7x-berakah).

26x

History Books- Joshua-Judges,
ark [of covenant] (13x), Jordan (11x), priests (8x-kohen), [not 1x] cut [c.] (7x), Joshua (4x), transgress [c.] (4x), trumpets (3x-shophar), commanded (3x), stones (2x-eben), swear oath (2x-shaba), angel (2x)
judges (7x-shaphat), tribes (7x-shebet), book of the law (6x), serve (6x), swear (5x), ban/accursed (5x-cherem), inheritance (5x-nachalah), evil (5x-ra), witnesses (4x), deliverer (4x-yasha), [served] Baal (4x), commanded (4x), inquired [of God] (3x-shaal), test [Israel] (3x-nasah), altar (3x-mizbeach), sinned (2x-chata), sons of Israel (2x), consecrate (2x-qadash),

73x

History Books- Samuel-Kings-Chr
ark [of Lord/God] (45x), cut (30x), ark [of c.] (26x), feast (10x-mishteh), burnt offering (9x-olah), glory (9x-kabod), house [of Lord]- (7x-bayith), [guilt] offering (6x-asham), peace offering (6x-shelem), sabbath (5x), peace (5x),
house/temple [of Lord] (74x), [House] for His name (48x, 1x "dwell"- shakan), Solomon (24x), bless/blessing (24x), [not keep-1x] statutes (22x), commandment (21x), sinned (20x-chata/chattath), dwelling [of Lord,13x= heaven] (19x-yashab, 1x=mishkan), prayer (19x-tephillah), supplication (19x-techinnah), king (14x), forgive (13x-salach), ordinances (12x), [remember -1x] lovingkindness (11x), law [1x=of Moses] (11x), walking [before you, not 1x] (10x), keep (10x),

25x

Wisdom Writings-
cut [c.] (5x), precept (3x-piqqud), keep [c.] (3x), remember [c./1x-His holy word] (3x), keep [c.] (2x-natsar), make to know [c.] (2x-yada), forgotten [Thee,1x-c.] (2x), statute (2x-choq), violated [c.] (2x-chalal), swear (2x), lovingkindness (2x),
lovingkindness (18x), remember [Lord] (15x), bless/blessed (14x), my ways/the way (13x-derek), righteousness (13x-tsedaq), [His] paths (11x-orach), justice/judgments (10x-mishpat), compassion (9x), wise/wisdom (8x-chokmah), [His] name (8x), iniquity (8x-avon), save/salvation/Savior (8x), inheritance/possession (7x), [Thy] faithfulness [3x w/chesed] (7x-emunah), [keep] commandments (6x), forget (6x),

72x

Prophets-


broke [c. 2x- everlasting, 1x-make void] (14x- parar berith), cut (11x), everlasting [c.] (5x), words [of this c., fulfill them 1x] (5x-dabar), despise oath (4x-bazah), make [a c.] of peace (3x), mercies/ lovingkindness (3x),
righteous/ righteousness (27x, 1x-everlasting), name [of Lord, 2x-new name] (22x), justice/judgment (22x), turn/return/ restore (14x-shub), mercy/compassion (14x), iniquity (12x- avon), prophet/prophesy (11x), [My/your] ways (10x-derek), salvation (9x), bless/blessed (9x), peace/welfare (8x), dwell in safety/security (7x-yashab batach), curse (7x).
34x

New Testament
first [c.] (4x-protos), blood [2x-in Lk & Paul new c. in My blood] (4x-haima diatheke ), cup (4x), mediator of better/new [c.] (3x-mesites), sacrifice (2x), ratified [by God] (2x-kuroo), new [c.] (2x-kainos), [c] written on hearts (2x-dianoia/kardia),
law/Law (22x-nomos), Jesus/Christ (14x-christos), blood [animals vs. Son's] (14x-haima), [Holy] Spirit [2x-bear witness] (12x-pneuma), glory (10x-doxa), sacrifices (10x-thusia), high priest (10x-archiereus), prophet/prophesy (9x-propheteuo), promises [of God] (8x-epaggelio), bread (7x-artos), My body (7x-soma), veil [over heart] (7x-kalumma), sin (7x-hamartia), [true] tabernacle (7x-skene), sins (7x),


Illustration #3: Words & Ideas Associated with the Key Biblical Theme of Covenant

Thus it may be observed from a study of the biblical text that the divine initiator (the Lord or Yahweh) establishes (qum) a covenant that is everlasting (olam), shows steadfast love (hesed) by keeping (shamar) all the words of His stated promise (dabar), continually remembers (zakar) His covenant servants, who are in turn to obey (shama) Him by observing (not forgetting) His commandments (tsavah), ordinances (mishpat), statutes (chuqqah) and law (torah), by fearing (yare) and loving (aheb) Him, walking in a nearness (nagash) to Him that is referred to as the way (derek)- not turning to the right or to the left- a path (orach) characterized by knowledge (yada), justice (mishpat), righteousness (tsedaq), faithfulness (emunah) and wisdom (chokmah); they in turn will be His special inheritance (nachalah) and witness (ud) to other nations, bearing His Name (shem) and dwelling in His Presence (yashab), being fruitful (parah) and multiplying (rabah) on the earth, and in a special sense experiencing His peace (shalom), rest (nuach), Sabbath (shabbathon), safety/security (batach), deliverance (yasha) and blessing (berakah). This is a summary of the positive side of the covenant promise, conditioned by human faithfulness to the terms in the contract. Here is a clear theology of relationship with the two complementary metaphors of dwelling (in His Presence) and of journeying (in His Name). Both concepts are united in the theme of covenant, captured well in David's Psalm 132, a Song of Ascent, with a play on words for dwelling (note the four words beginning with "m"):
[vs. 4-5] I will not give sleep to my eyes , Or slumber to my eyelids; Until I find a place [maqom] for the Lord, A dwelling place [mishkan] for the Mighty One of Jacob…[vs. 7,8] Let us go into His dwelling place [mishkan]; Let us worship at His footstool [hadom]. Arise, O Lord, to Thy resting place [menuchah]; Thou and the ark of Thy strength… [vs. 12-13] If your sons will keep My covenant, And My testimony which I will teach them, Their sons also shall sit upon your throne forever. For the Lord has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His habitation [moshab]. This is My resting place [menuchah] forever; Here I will dwell [yashab], for I have desired it.

Family Systems Theory imagines a healthy state in which the nuclear or extended family, like the biological systems that function as its prerequisite, is the basic societal unit, with emotional connections bonding members together in a healthy balance and symmetry, or what is called "homeostasis". Within such a "family field" heads of household have enough differentiation of self to both maintain the emotional connections and challenge the clan with a larger purpose, uniting or balancing the sense of safe dwelling with purposeful movement and journeying. When in a healthy state of balance, such a family "blessing" can be transmitted to the next generation and extended to society as a whole. The biblical concept of covenant, with its interplay of human and divine elements, individual and community focus, can foster such homeostasis or union. The biblical story of Noah, whose Hebrew name Noach is derived from the verb nuach, "to rest", is one concerned about returning human community from a state of conflict and violence to one of homeostasis and peace: "Now he called his name Noah, saying, 'This one shall give us rest [nacham] from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the Lord has cursed" (Gen. 4:16).
One of the examples of covenant in Genesis is that between Abraham's son Isaac and his Philistine neighbor Abimelech and it illustrates the negative side of this contract as well as its positive side. The occasion for "cutting" the covenant is a disputed well dug by Abraham but taken by the Philistines, a new situation with the imminent threat of violence (21:25), with further mention of feelings of hate and broken relationship (26:27). There are in these passages description of a sacrifice of sheep and oxen, the exchanging of oaths and the naming of the place as Beersheba ("well of seven"), the planting of a covenant memorial (tamarisk tree) to serve as witness to both parties, and a spoken blessing and feast, with the following conclusion:
…"Let there now be an oath between us, even between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good, and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord." Then he made a feast, and they ate and drank. And in the morning they arose early and exchanged oaths; then Isaac sent them away and they departed from him in peace (26:28-31).

Clearly the covenant contract is a creative response to the problem of conflict and sin, which brings with it the threat of violence and warfare which is part of the fallen human condition. The Table in Illustration #3 also highlights that tragic negative side with the following words used to describe the human side of the covenant relationship: Dealing falsely (shaqar), mistreatment (anah), unfaithfulness (maal), transgressing (abar/pesha), acting corruptly (shachath), stubbornness (qasheh), rebellion (marah), iniquity (avon), sinning (chata), forsaking (azab), wickedness (raah), acting arrogantly (zud), and turning aside (sur). These actions are described as covenant breaking (parar) and violation (chalal), resulting in a form of curse and serious consequences, described using various words, such as distress (tsar), troubles (tsarah), oppression (lachats), affliction (dachaq), a breach (perets), adversity (raah), and hardship (telaah). Events that often attend these consequences are mentioned as well, such as plagues (nega/maggephah), famine (raab), mourning (ebel), lamentation (odurmos), loneliness (yachid), pestilence (debir), and diseases (tachalu/razon). Clearly there is in this very relational language a theology of sin as willful and unintentional forgetting of a covenant relationship with God and neighbor, but much more. Cornelius Plantinga paints the picture positively and negatively, in his seminal work on sin, showing what is really involved with covenant breaking or violation:
As the writing prophets of the Bible knew, sin has a thousand faces. The prophets knew how many ways human life can go wrong because they knew how many ways human life can go right. (You need the concept of a wall on plumb to tell when one is off.) These prophets kept dreaming of a time when God would put things right again. They dreamed of a new age in which human crookedness would be straightened out, rough places made plain. The foolish would be made wise, and the wise, humble. They dreamed of a time when the deserts would flower, the mountains would run with wind, weeping would cease, and people could go to sleep without weapons on their laps. People would work in peace and work to fruitful effect. Lambs could lie down with lions. All nature would be fruitful, benign, and filled with wonder upon wonder; all humans would be knit together in brotherhood and sisterhood; and all nature and all humans would look to God, walk with God, lean toward God, and delight in God. Shouts of joy and recognition would well up from valleys and seas, from women in streets and from men on ships. The webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight is what the Hebrew prophets call shalom. We call it peace, but it means far more than mere peace of mind or a cease-fire between enemies. In the Bible, shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight- a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator and Savior opens doors and welcomes the creatures in whom he delights. Shalom, in other words, is the way things ought to be.

Plantinga's chapter titles are further illustrative of the true nature of sin, because of what it robs the human family of: "Vandalism of Shalom, Spiritual Hygiene and Corruption, Perversion, Pollution and Disintegration, Parasite, Masquerade, Sin and Folly, The Tragedy of Addiction, Attach and Flight." Clearly Family Systems Theory, after setting out foundational elements of health in terms of social dynamics, describes similar dysfunction, as biological or relational systems malfunction and turn in on themselves, with negative consequences. While some stress is necessary for motivation and growth, excess anxiety leads to overload and breakdown. The temptation to evade responsibility and blame another, as when an identified patient is said to be the cause for problems in the family system, is characteristic of biblical sin as well as FST. The formation of relational triangles, as healthy communication breaks down and one party is silently left out of the loop, is often referred to as gossip in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Proverbs 20:19 states: "He who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets, Therefore do not associate with a gossip" and 2 Corinthians 12:20 affirms: "For I [Paul] am afraid that perhaps when I come I may find you to be not what I wish and may be found by you to be not what you wish; that perhaps there may be strife, jealousy, angry tempers, disputes, slanders, gossip, arrogance, disturbances…" Triangulation is universally counter-productive. The identified patient or avoided member of a triangle is likely to be emotionally cut off if anxiety continues to rise in the relational network. Human capacity to project what is perceived to cause that stress seems boundless; and as such projection works within one family unit, transmits this anxiety to the next generation, or percolates outward to leaven the larger society of which it is part. FST depicts the human condition, as the Bible does, at its best and worst, and as such amplifies and complements the biblical story. Perhaps the story of the Fall as recorded in Genesis 2-3 illustrates this best, by including all the positive and negative elements that are part of Family Systems Theory, with the unity and bliss of the original couple, depicted in covenant relationship with their Creator. But when separate and alone, Eve triangulates the two VIP's in her life (Adam and God), and in conversation with the diabolical snake (who represents the Devil), breaks covenant by taking and eating the forbidden fruit and convincing her husband Adam to share in her rebellious deed. When confronted by the Lord, Adam and Eve play the blame game, evading responsibility, passing down their rebellion and associated habits (e.g., scapegoating) to their race, with the widening circle of anxiety and cycle of violence that is well documented in Scripture.
A GENOGRAM OF THE HEBREW PATRIARCHS
Illustration #4 & 5 depict a Genogram covering the three generations before Joseph's, that of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and their family members. A Genogram is "a graphical diagram, widely used by clinicians, to display information gathered during a family assessment, and to identify patterns in the family system." Terah, shown at the top of the diagram, migrated from Ur in Mesopotamia to Canaan with his son Abram (later named Abraham) and daughter-in-law Sarai (renamed Sarah) in 2025 BC, following the Fertile Crescent north to Haran. .
Illustration #4: A Genogram of Joseph and the Patriarchs Depicted in Genesis

Illustration #5: Legend for Interpreting Symbols in the Genogram

on the Tigris-Euphrates River (Gen. 11:31). Next on the diagram is the generation of Abraham (1955-1780 BC) which would have lasted for 40 years from ca. 1935 to 1895 BC, followed by that of Isaac (1855-1675 BC) from 1835-1795 BC, and that of Jacob (1795-1648 BC) from 1775 to 1735 BC. The first generation may actually have stretched from 1955 to 1855 BC, or a hundred years, given the longer lifespans indicated in the biblical text. Ur was one of the first seven cites that existed on earth, all part of Sumeria, where writing was invented ca. 3050 BC, some 25 years before Terah left his home turf. The head of this family, Terah, was polytheistic, and the main object of worship in Ur was Sin the Moon goddess. Thus the calling of Abram to follow the monotheistic God Yahweh, recorded in Genesis 12:1-4, would have represented a huge departure from their polytheistic cultural upbringing, and some stress and tension in this growing clan, which left Haran upon Terah's death and ventured south into the land of Canaan in obedience to the Lord's call. The events noted in Genesis listed on the left side of the Genogram would have presented external challenges to the three generations of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob- with cross-cultural differences, a famine emergency and regional war presenting stress for Abram and his family. Using the Genogram Legend (Illustration #5) to interpret the dynamics of this first Patriarchal family, it is noted of this founding generation that Abram's wife Sarai was very beautiful, and when forced by famine to sojourn with foreigners, Abram manipulated her into saying she was his sister, putting her at great risk (Gen. 12:13); she was also barren, a condition considered to be a curse of God, and Abram resorted to the Hittite custom of taking Sarai's concubine Hagar to bear a child to continue the family line. Thus Ishmael was born, introducing real tension between the two women over their ability to bear children. But as a result of the covenant promise to Abram, and his divine name-change (Gen. 17:5), the "miracle child" Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarah in their old age, and the Genogram depicts growing hostility in the family system, forming a three-cornered relationship (triangle) that put Abraham in tension with Sarah (and their favorite son Isaac) against his Concubine Hagar (and her son Ishmael, the displaced heir). The stress between Hagar who bore Abraham a legal heir and Sarah who late in life had the child that replaced Ishmael (Isaac), built up quickly. The resulting conflict became so intense that it led to the expulsion of the latter two from the household (Gen. 21:10), and some would add, one source of tension between heirs of the Judeo-Christian tradition and Muslims to this day! The Hebrew word toledoth- derived from yalad ("to bear/beget"), and translated in Genesis as "account" (2:4), "order of birth" (25:13), "genealogy" (10:32) and "generations" (5:1, 6:9, 10:1, 11:10,27, 25:12,19, 36:1,9, and 37:2) - is used thirteen times in Genesis, eight of them in the records of this family over three generations. This literary feature does point to the genre of Genesis being that of a family history, with the same tension that was observed in the covenant relationship- the very real and often tragic interplay of jealousy and strife resulting in relational breakdown, with the countering influences toward peace (shalom) and rest (nacham) as part of the Abrahamic covenant. A surface reading of the family history leads to the conclusion that the dysfunction and sin would triumph, leading to family breakdown and disintegration; but the biblical hope is maintained through the whole account as clearly stated in Genesis 17:7: "And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after your throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant."
JOSEPH FROM A FAMILY SYSTEMS VIEWPOINT
It appears to this writer that most of the FST concepts do describe what biblical revelation is communicating about the human condition, with the promise of health and salvation that highlights that message (Ps. 3:8). It has been said that a more (eastern) Hebrew than (western) Greek model is needed for properly understanding and interpreting Scripture as it presents itself. Family Systems Theory may represent such a paradigm shift, helping readers toward a more holistic view. It may help to summarize the Genogram from the point of view of Joseph, the central figure in the Genogram, who follows the generations of his great grandfather Abraham, his grandfather Isaac, and his father Jacob. Migration, war and a series of famines provide the external context for the real internal family anxiety (emotional process) Abraham and his wife Sarah experienced, due to her inability to bear children and Abraham's manipulation of his wife in cross-cultural situations (low differentiation). The Hittite custom of concubines provides a setting for the triangling that pitted Sarah and Abraham against Concubine Hagar (and her legally provided heir Ishmael), dividing the family in growing envy and jealousy. The arrival to Sarah later in life of her own child Isaac, in response to the covenant promise made by God to Abraham and his descendants (Gen. 12:1-4), intensified this conflict and led to forced exile for Hagar and Ishmael (emotional cutoff). The genealogical record provided in Genesis is very frank and honest in its depiction, but it also records the visitation and covenant connection of God with Abraham (his new name Hebrew for "father of many nations"), describing a maturing in character and growing differentiation for this central biblical figure. But the dysfunctional family pattern seemed to reproduce itself in the second generation- that of Isaac and Rebecca- almost mirror-like (multigenerational transmission). The anxiety this time was focused on inheritance rights of the first and second-born sons, Esau and Jacob (sibling position), with a toxic triangle formed by Rebecca's favoritism for youngest son Jacob, Isaac's for their firstborn Esau, and the manipulation and rivalry that characterized all interactions in that household. As God re-affirmed His covenant with this second generation (Gen. 25:11), family conflict escalated with Esau's selection of two Hittite wives and Rebecca's plan to trick Esau out of the firstborn's inheritance rights, which resulted in emergency exile for her favorite son under threat of death by his older brother (emotional cutoff). Jacob found sanctuary in Paddan-aram with uncle Laban, where the same pattern was set for the third generation after he fell in love with his uncles' beautiful daughter Rachel. Jacob expended seven years earning the bride-price for Rachel, but Laban tricked him on his wedding night by slipping Leah, his firstborn daughter (not nearly as attractive as her younger sister), into the bridal tent, coercing Jacob to work another seven years for both of them. Barrenness afflicted Rachel, too, and during his exile Jacob had twelve sons (and one daughter) by Leah and her Concubine Zilpah, and by Rachel's Concubine Bilhah, and eventually by Rachel herself, to whom the two youngest were born- Joseph and Benjamin. The triangulation that took place in this 3rd generation was almost doubled in magnitude or intensity, with unloved Leah competing against jealous Rachel for her husband's acceptance, not to mention the inter-locking competition of the two Concubines and their sons added into the mix (interlocking triangles). Sibling position played prominently in the Biblical account, with Jacob's favoritism symbolized by the prized coat given to Rachel's son Joseph, and his dreams placing his brothers in an inferior position, setting the stage for a murder plot by his brothers, settled only when they were able to sell their brother as a slave to a caravan company on the way down to Egypt (emotional cutoff). Thus the pattern of the 1st and 2nd generation was transmitted to this new generation, leading to further conflict and division. Dark secrets abounded as Jacob's sons reinforced their lie about an animal attack ending Joseph's life, by producing the bloodied coat. In spite of the spiraling dysfunction, God appeared and reaffirmed his covenant with Jacob, renaming him Israel (Gen. 32:28). And God remembered Joseph in his captivity, granting him favor in the sight of prominent Egyptians, including Pharaoh, troubled by dreams of an imminent famine that only Joseph could interpret. Appointed to high position as the King's trusted advisor because of his wisdom and discernment, Joseph prepared the nation for the coming crisis. In time Joseph's brothers were sent by their father for food and appeared before him, bowing to the ground as Joseph had described in his childhood dreams (though they did not recognize him in his royal garb). After a period of testing to see if his brothers had learned any life-lessons, the climactic revelation came as Joseph could hold back his emotions no longer: "I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life" (Gen. 45:4-5). Shocked, they were sent to share the incredible news with their father Jacob, who did not believe them at first, followed by an epic reunion of Jacob with the son he believed to be dead, and the move of the whole clan to live under Joseph's care and provision in Egypt. What is remarkable in this Genesis account is the transformation that took place in Joseph, his brothers, and father Jacob. Gone is the pattern of jealousy, conflict and violence, of emotional triangles and cut-offs seen in the Genogram, replaced by the divine blessing, peace, and lovingkindness of the covenant relationship. FST's differentiation is also evident in the account, as family members broke earlier patterns and began to take responsibility for each other, often using younger members of the birth order (Joseph and Benjamin are number 11 and 12 among the twelve). A key theological point is proclaimed in the account, as sinful family triangles and criminal cutoff put Joseph in mortal jeopardy, but Yahweh uses suffering and misfortune to prepare Joseph to be the means of deliverance and salvation that bring His blessing to his whole family, and also to the nations of which they are part. As the time came for Jacob to die, his blessing upon each of his twelve sons is a prominent part of the family history, but also a significant concept in FST as patterns of behavior are transmitted to new generations and to the character or formation of a nation. Says Jacob: "May my name live on in them, And the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth" (Gen. 48:16). In this case each of the twelve sons became a tribe in the nation of Israel, and their character is captured metaphorically in the blessings (along with some curses) of Genesis 48, foreshadowing their future destiny as founding fathers and clans in the nation Israel. The nodal events or life passages shown in the Genogram are also significant for FST and for Biblical theology, as they often memorialize the values and faith of God's covenant people, and several of the transformational moments when good differentiation and the reality of Covenant peace and rest actually do begin to trump or eclipse the darker patterns of sin and FST dysfunction.
METAPHORS FOR TRANSITION AND CHANGE
Another theme emerges in the climax to the family history, as Joseph the wise man (chakam for wisdom) decided to test his brothers the way he had been tested by their cruel treatment and the years of separation from family, to see if there was any truth (emeth) in them (Gen. 42:15): Since their father had kept their youngest brother Benjamin behind, fearing the same fate that came to him, Joseph ordered that one of them be kept in prison as they delivered food to their father (Gen. 42:18-24). Their reaction showed what FST calls a growing differentiation: "Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress (tsarah) of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; therefore this distress (tsarah) has come upon us" (vs.21), or what eldest son Reuben in vs. 22 called a "reckoning" (darash). As their testing continued, older brother Judah confessed: "What can we say to my lord? What can we speak? And how can we justify ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants" (Gen 44:16). The verb for "test" here is the Hebrew bachan, which means "to examine, try or test" and it originates as a mining metaphor, where pure metals such as gold are separated from impurities under heat and pressure. This concept can help provide one biblical category for understanding the pastoral transitions that are a focus of this study and for interpreting any life transitions that may be experienced. Psalm 26:2 states: "Examine [bachan] me, O Lord, and try [nasah] me; Test [tsaraph] my mind and my heart." Here two more words express this biblical category for life's challenges and difficulties- nasah, a word translated as "prove" one time, "tempt" (3x), "test" (28x), and "try" (2x); and another word with an explicitly mining origin, tsaraph, translated as "refine" (10x), "smelt" (3x), "gold/silversmith" (10x), "test (6x) or "try" (2x). Clearly transitions or trials in life may be designed to remind us of our covenant relationship or the source of our life or salvation, or they may be designed to purify our motives, or to draw us deeper or closer to the Lord. Certainly that was one outcome of the church crisis this writer went through at midlife, and of most of the pastoral transitions. Often some pain is involved in that process, analogous to the heat or pressure of smelting. Alvin Dueck offers a general taxonomy of potential sources of spiritual struggle and darkness that may fit such a biblical metaphor: "Sin, evil, social oppression, physical and mental health problems, psychopathology, loss, trauma, failure, relational conflicts and developmental transitions."
Traditionally, Christian thinkers have offered the "Triple Way" as a paradigm for spiritual transformation, the first being purgation, beginning from a conversion to Christ and involving a learning of the practices of the spiritual disciplines, often with some "dark night of the senses" experience before entering the second or way of illumination and yielding to the work of the Holy Spirit and a deepening of a person's love for God and others, with a "dark night of the spirit" experience preceding a third way of union and the highest state of integration and spiritual maturity in which the adult truly does realize what John stated in his gospel, that "You live in me and I in you" (Jn. 14:20). Bruce Demarest's helpful book discusses nine more recent paradigms for the spiritual journey, each which depict spiritual formation not as a straight line but more like an upward spiral, and many of them following the general outline of the traditional path just mentioned: Pseudo-Macarius' threefold journey through struggle to restoration of the divine image (4th Century); Bernard of Clairvaux' four stages of developing in love- love of self for self, love of God for self, love of God for God and love of self for God (1090-1153 AD); Jan Van Ruysbroeck's four stages from external to interior and contemplative to missional (1293-1381); Teresa of Avila's journey of increasing engagement with God through seven "rooms" in a castle (1515-1582); John of the Cross' five stages which prepare the believer for the spiritual marriage expressed in John 17:20-23, guiding him or her through dark nights of the senses, soul and spirit into contemplative prayer and deepened communion (1542-1592); Evelyn Underhill's five stage journey through awakening, purification, illumination, dark night and union with God (1875-1941); M. Scott Peck's four-stage journey (informed by the work of James Fowler) and guiding a believer from individual to communal expressions of faith (1936-2005); and Janet Hagberg and Robert Guelich's six-stage paradigm of the spiritual journey from converted and discipled life to a productive life- first in a selfish sense and then by a selfless love. Hagberg and Guelich include in the middle of their journey stages, at the height of a Christian's productivity for God "some experience [of] a crisis due to a developmental event (a midlife transition), an event that intrudes from without (career failure, divorce), a condition that arises from within (burnout, crisis of belief) or a dark night of the soul." A final journey model of interest to this research project is the three-fold pattern, often repeated, offered by Walter Brueggemann, with a spiritual beginning in which one is securely oriented or located- compared to Israel's Exodus from Egypt; second, a movement into trials that will cause one to be painfully disoriented or dislocated- analogous to Israel's wilderness wanderings; and a third step of being securely reoriented or re-located- not unlike Israel's victorious entry into the Promised Land. Larry Crabb has summed up this journey theme very succinctly but effectively: "We are on a journey. Life is a journey toward a land we have not yet seen along a path we sometimes cannot find. It is a journey of the soul toward its destiny and its home."
Another category for approaching journey experiences is that of darkness, some experience of which is included in each of the above paradigms, often as a dark night of the senses, soul or spirit. These are often related to purgation, with a technical term sometimes used, "liminality"- derived from the Latin word limen for "threshold". Each of the pastoral interviews included in this study involved some aspect of darkness. Victor Turner describes these transitional experiences occurring during rites of passage as "frequently likened to death, to being in the womb, to invisibility, to darkness." Shults and Sandage go further in explaining the function or result of going through such an experience: "Liminal transitions purgatively strip off the masks of false selfhood and re-form illuminative identity in deeper integrative wholeness." Shults and Sandage identify ten such "dark containers" used in Scripture which were used to do the refining or smelting work needed in spiritual transformation, as follows:
Prison or dungeon (Gen. 39, Jer. 37, Acts 16), Cave (1 Kings 19), King's Palace (Esther), Cistern or Well (Jer. 38), Cooking Pot (Ezek. 11:24), Fiery Furnace (Dan. 3), Lion's Den (Dan. 6), Belly of a Whale (Jonah), Desert (Luke 4) and Garden of Gethsemane/Mount of Olives (Matt. 26/Luke 22).

These metaphors and references remind all Christian leaders that change of any kind often has a dark side. Shults and Sandage offer their own model of spiritual transformation, one that

Illustration #6 : Shults & Sandages Model of Spiritual Transformation
balances periods of spiritual dwelling and those of spiritual seeking, of relational stability and of relational growth (see Illustration #6). They include in their model the traditional ways of purgation, illumination and union discussed earlier. It will be seen that the pastoral interviews included in this paper contain both aspects in this dialectic of life, often with the anxiety created in a church during a time of "spiritual dwelling"- a long and relatively stable period of ministry that ends up with an abrupt transition, motivating the pastor toward an experience of intensification and a renewed sense of call and trust in the Lord, and a new place of ministry.
"Threshold", the etymology for the word "liminal", has an interesting presence in Scripture, too. The very notion of a covenant between the Creator God and His created beings involves a threshold or point of connection where human and divine, earth and heaven, flesh and Spirit, actually meet or connect. The covenant was either initiated or renewed with each of the generations depicted in the Genogram, as the Lord appeared to or visited the heads of the Patriarchal family (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob). The technical term for such visitation is a "cosmogony". The biblical words for "threshold" or "boundary" are instructive, with a look at several key passages offering significant clues or context for understanding pastoral transitions, or change in general: Saph is the Hebrew word for the doorkeepers (priests) who guarded the threshold (miphtan) to the temple of the Lord (2 Chr. 23:4), where the miphtan bordered that space where the glory of the Lord became manifest to the priests of Israel (Ezekiel 46:2). The Psalmist declares that one day at the threshold (saphaph) of the temple of his God is better than a thousand elsewhere (Psa. 84:10). The threshold at which a human being becomes aware of God's Presence is an important boundary (gebul), requiring special preparation and care, and such boundaries have been set by the Lord (Prov. 8:29-30): "When He set for the sea its boundary [choq], So that the water should not transgress His command, When He marked out [chaqaq] the foundations of the earth; Then I was beside Him, as a master workman"…"I" referring back to 8:12: "I, wisdom [chokmah], dwell with prudence, And I find knowledge and discretion." When the Lord gave the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai, Moses said: "The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for Thou didst warn us, saying, 'Set bounds [gabal] about the mountain and consecrate it" (Ex. 19:23). God asks Job the probing question: "Can you discover the depths of God? Can you discover the limits [taklith] of the Almighty" (11:7)? Those limits or depths are said to be unfathomable (Job 9:10) and unsearchable (Job 36:26). A close study of these words and how they are used in Scripture reveals that the Lord has set important physical, social/ emotional, intellectual/moral, and spiritual boundaries (and limits) in life, the overstepping of which has serious consequences. The potential if not the purpose of many of the transitions people experience have to do with these boundaries, limits or thresholds, where a Christian leader may (potentially) encounter God in a fresh way. One of the Interview Questions picks up on this very point: "Did the transition trigger for you deeper reflection on your ministry calling- were there any 'echoes of eternity' that seemed to surface during or after the transition" In other words, did the transition trigger for the pastoral leader a deeper encounter with the Lord, a deeper or a higher sense of calling, or a new awareness of His covenant love and care? Each of the pastors interviewed mentioned a renewal of his calling to serve as a pastor. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob encountered God, often in a new way, through their crises, rites of passage and transitions. It is the contention of this writer that the wide variety of transitions we experience are meant to contain an "echo of eternity" or a call to our true home, beyond this life.



Chapter 3: Literature Review of Pastoral Transitions
The phrase "pastoral transition" is one that can include many differing categories or concepts. A survey of the References in one article used in this Lit Review, "Predicting the Level of Pastor's Risk of Termination/Exit from the Church," includes the following phrases: Ministry burnout, conflict, leader development, compassion stress or fatigue, pastors at risk, overfunctioning, workaholism, clergy health, career change, and an at-risk pastoral profile. Four of the five pastoral interviews included in this study would suggest this phrase as a euphemism for "getting fired" by the church governing board. Some work on definitions will help to sort out whether specific factors act as context conditions leading up to a transition, the trigger for the change, a symptom or reaction, the characteristic or result of the change, one or more coping skills needed to navigate it, or the outcome of the transition from one ministry (then to the next). Merriam-Webster literally defines transition as "passage from one state, stage, subject, or place to another, change." Another source, Oxford English Dictionary, identifies Latin transire "to cross or transit" as the etymology of the word, with this definition of "transition": "Passage from an earlier to a later stage of development or formation." Picking up on the idea of transit, a literal sense gives "the action or fact of passing across or through, passage or journey from one place or point to another, often as 'in transit'" or figuratively "a passing across, transition or change, esp. the passage from this life to the next by death." A Thesaurus adds interesting connotations to "transition" with a list of synonyms: "Alteration, changeover, conversion, development, evolution, flux, growth, metamorphosis, passage, passing, progress, progression, transformation, transit, turn, turning point, and upheaval." Implied in these definitions are qualitative changes that could happen to a pastoral leader at any time and for many reasons, related to a church situation, the denominational tradition, the life-cycle or evolution of the local church, the particular calling or personality of the pastor, or a transit related to adult life-cycle or "rite of passage"- such as midlife, succession or retirement. The five pastoral transitions covered here contain all of these elements, pointing to how dynamic and complex such changes usually are. This Literature Review will attempt to touch on several aspects or types of transition- those related to the life-cycle of the person and formation of the leader, the life-cycle of the church or tradition of the denomination, and some summary of surveys and research on actual pastoral transitions and departures.
Wading into this territory of adult learning and development may be a bit like reading conflicting survey or topographical maps, all purporting to describe the same reality on the ground using different scales, symbols, or points of reference. A student of the multiple theories offered to explain learning and development realizes immediately that there are differing categories of theories- stage theories and chapter theories- the former suggesting human beings grow toward maturity through what are claimed to be sequential stages, often linked to defined ages or marker events, the latter projecting relatively stable seasons or "chapters" of life, punctuated by briefer and sometimes traumatic transitions. Helen L. Bee in her book The Journey of Adulthood, offers a helpful typology of these "maps" using a two-dimensional grid with development versus change (chapter theories) as the vertical dimension, and stage versus non-stage (stage theories) as the horizontal dimension. It will be helpful to summarize just one representative theory for each category here, to point out that these schemas can map out and predict when life transitions of various kinds can happen, and how they are likely to unfold. The developmental theories, of which Eric Ericson's model of psychosocial (and emotional) development was the first, assumes growth toward a "better" future of maturity, integration or wisdom. Ericson's theory of identity formation has perhaps been the most influential of all theories, and offers several clear indicators for Christians seeking to discern life-direction. The four dilemmas or crises that describe adulthood, he says, are identity vs. role confusion (age 13-18), intimacy vs. isolation (19-25), generativity vs. self-absorption (25-65) and ego integrity vs. despair (65+). Strengths or virtues for each stage are, in turn, fidelity, love, care and wisdom. One can identify parallel virtues highlighted in the Genesis "family journals" of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rachel, and Jacob and Rebecca- as they learn to walk with the Lord and change in character from their young adult to their elder years, maturing into men and women of love, faith and wisdom. Young adults are challenged by force of biological maturation, social roles and peer pressure to "develop some specific ideology, some set of personal values and goals…and an occupational identity (What work will I do?), a gender or gender role identity (How do I go about being a man or a woman?), and political and religious identities (What do I believe in?)." Later in the lifespan, adults take on the role of establishing and guiding the next generation, which is Ericson's definition of "generativity": "The bearing and rearing of children is clearly a key element…but serving as a mentor for younger colleagues, doing charitable work in society, and the like (e.g., teaching), are also expressions of generativity." The adult lifespan, accordingly, ends with a quest for the virtue of integrity and wisdom, and a relative absence of unfinished business and unresolved conflicts (ideally). Navigating a challenging transition after having been called to pastor a congregation, at some important level involves a resolution of Ericson's stage conflicts and a cultivation of his virtues, as a result of a faith-walk with Christ. Identity, intimacy, and generativity are particularly fertile concepts for clarifying a Biblical call or making sense of a difficult transition. The task or challenge of each of these, and especially generativity, comes through in most if not all of the pastoral interviews.
On the vertical axis of Helen Bee's typology of theories is a contrast between "development" and "change" (as opposed to the stage model already highlighted). Of great interest to this project is Frederic M. Hudson's "Life Transitions Cycle of Adulthood" scheme which proposes longer stable chapters of life punctuated by sudden and often disorienting transitions. Hudson's "Life Transitions" model identifies four distinct phases of adulthood, and highlights the periods of transition between chapters. He calls Phase 1 the "Go For It" chapter; Phase 2 is the Doldrums, after plateauing and questioning one's ability to fulfill the "Go For It" vision, and often a time of feeling "trapped"; Phase 3 he calls "Cocooning" or a time of tapping back into core values, and renewing an earlier passion or motivation; and Phase 4, following a full "Life Transition" (or mini-transitions that renew an original call) as a time for creative exploration, expanded networking and optimistic re-engagement. Hudson's model overflows with implications for a believer wrestling with the meaning of life, a painful transition, or a crossroads in which ministry calling has come to the fore. Hudson's insights on life-transition are particularly applicable to the search for a ministry call. His guidance on "Cocooning" is not meant to be an unusual or exceptional part of life experience, but a normal one: "[Transitions] are retreats into the deep recesses of our real selves. Successful transitions simplify, purify, center, and empower a person's life course. Like pruning a rosebush, they purge the past and prepare for the future." Noting with de Tocqueville that Americans "are externalizers, doers, achievers," Hudson acknowledges the feelings that may be associated with Cocooning, such as anger, fear, loneliness, and sadness (before the positive sense of liberation comes), but he also notes the results of this kind of a purgative experience: "A sabbatical, personal resilience, spiritual renewal, new friends, positive solitude, personal confidence, and a new sense of purpose. Clearly Hudson integrates the best of the development and stage theories, as he perceives midlife transition as a "pursuit of personal integrity… increased interest in deep-seated values, wholeness, a capacity for mentoring future generations, the mastery of life itself, and the presence of seminal wisdom."
One adult learning theory which could offer an interpretive grid for Christian leaders going through a significant transition is that proposed by a school called Constructivism (Jack Mezirow and Paulo Freire), which assumes that "learning is a process of constructing meaning; it is how people make sense of their experience." Constructivist literature speaks of ideas such as "reflective practice, learning communities, experiential learning, and perspective transformation" Jack Mezirow's Transformation Theory includes three phases, critically examining one's assumptions, discourse to integrate those insights, and then action:
The process is often set in motion by a disorienting dilemma, that is a particular life event or life experience such as the death of a loved one, a job change, or an illness that a person experiences as a crisis. This crisis cannot be resolved through the application of previous problem-solving strategies. Next, the learner engages in self-examination, which is often accompanied by "feelings of guilt or shame, sometimes turning to religion for support. Self-examination includes the third step of a critical assessment of assumptions. Such an assessment leads to the fourth phase of recognizing that others have gone through a similar process, painful as it is. Step Five consists of exploring options for forming new roles, relationships or actions, which leads to formulating a plan of action. This plan includes four steps: acquiring knowledge and skills, trying out new roles, renegotiating relationships and negotiating new relationships, and building competence and self-confidence. The final step or phase of the process is a reintegration back into one's life based on the new, transformed perspective.

Mezirow and Friere's "disorienting dilemma" is not dissimilar from Walter Brueggemann's model for the spiritual journey which includes a "painful disorientation" (or dislocation), often following some trial or a transition. Mezirow and Friere's steps do outline key action points each of the pastors took as they navigated their transitions, and as they sought counsel from others who had gone through similar transitions.
Another researcher of interest to Christian leaders is J. Robert Clinton, who suggests that three kinds of formation are necessary in that development- ministry formation, spiritual formation and strategic formation. Clinton includes the interesting topic of blocks to development and the category of boundary events in his research. Leaders who finish well, according to Clinton, see mentoring and being mentored as key, have a dynamic and productive ministry philosophy, grow in their awareness of their calling and the destiny that goes with that, perceive their ministry in a lifetime perspective, and maintain a learning posture throughout the challenges of life and ministry, with the following kinds of experiences: "Informal training, personal growth, projects, personal research, non-formal training, workshops, seminars, conferences, and formal, continuing education." Blocks to development are discussed, too, with several of interest to this study, the first of which is Ministry Assignment, leaving one without bringing adequate closure to the previous one. While there was informal and individual closure extended to most of the pastors interviewed for this study, none of them had any real institutional and official blessing or thanks for their years of service and ministry. A second one had to do with Ministry Philosophy, or the formatting of previous lessons into a format that undergirds decision making, leading one to be static in approach to ministry, unwilling to change. Each of the pastors interviewed had significant experience in ministry and had a definite sense of pastoral calling that when challenged led to a crisis of faith and identity, which took considerable transformation to change, and be open to a new sense of direction and ministry. And thirdly, Negative Preparation- a tendency to avoid negative processing and move on to another leadership situation. This is a very human trait, and figured in each transition, particularly at the beginning. Clinton discusses five specific boundary events that separate the six stages he sees in the development of a leader, as seen in Illustration #7, with "x" marking the Boundary Event, coming at the end of one of the phases of development as a time of evaluation and transition to the next stage, and often triggered by a crisis or ministry conflict.

"Sovereign Foundations-->Inner Life Growth-->Ministry Maturing-->Life Maturing-->Convergence-->Afterglow"
[X] [X] [X] [X] [X]
Illustration #7 - J. Robert Clinton's Model of Leadership Development with Boundaries

Clinton explains the divine purpose behind these boundary events:
God often allows leaders to enter into a period of uncertainty and difficulty (Boundary) to lead them to a deeper level of character growth and ministry maturity. But leaders many times do not recognize the time of Boundary, and therefore do not recognize the part it is playing in their on-going development. Confusion…frustration…and often fear takes over. By understanding the concept of Boundary, leaders can become more aware of God's greater purposes in their life.

Clinton offers a list of activities that can actually trigger the time of change or boundary event: "Crises, promotions, changes to a new ministry, change of organization, educational interlude, and isolation experience that brings retrospective evaluation, a paradigm shift in views on leadership, unusual religious experiences, a divine guidance experience, or a geographic shift." Typical developmental tasks during these boundary events include retrospective reflection, analysis, evaluation of the previous phase, some sense of closure, guidance about future ministry, and decision-making needed to take the necessary steps to that next phase of ministry. Clinton is helpful in giving definition to this notion of boundary and envisioning what the divine purpose may be for a transitional time, even for seeing these essentials in formation. All Christian leaders will pass through many boundaries as they serve the Lord, and maintaining the sense of divine calling and connecting with trusted mentors through each one are key to a successful passage.
Another category that may lead up to or trigger a pastoral transition relates to the life-cycle of a church, and particularly its size, as well as the tradition of that churches denomination. One expert identifies eight stages in the lifespan of a congregation listing the following stages, noting that a church is both a living organism and a complex relational system: Establishing Stage, Formation of Formatting Stage, Adolescence Stage, Prime Stage, Maturity Stage, Aristocracy Stage, Bureaucracy Stage, and Dissolution Stage. At least two of the pastors interviewed for this project attributed their churches pressure on them to resign to a unique challenge of a stage in that churches lifespan. This may be generally illustrated by citing a particular leadership challenge for the pastor of a church in the Adolescent Stage. Longstanding and newer members often find their needs not being met; this and other realities often precipitate the first major dilemma for pastoral leaders, and a decision on whether to stay or go:
Specifically, the Adolescent congregation needs a lot of attention to institutional development, including financial and stewardship development. Therefore, the pastor's functioning needs to shift from a primarily personal and personality-centered ministry, to one that is more administrative. It is possible that very soon the church may decide that the pastor is more of a hindrance to growth and development than an asset. If the pastor does not reach the same conclusion and willingly and gracefully leave- the resulting conflict may result in the pastor's dismissal.

Galindo notes that pastoral leaders must understand the unique needs and expectations of each stage, both providing the leadership functions needed at that stage and yet helping the congregation "maintain resilience in the face of change or challenges. Pastors can do this only if they themselves are growing in their capacity to be resilient and adaptable." While these eight stages may or may not determine the size a congregation reaches, Galindo notes that size may also put stress on the pastoral leader, because he or she lacks the skills to take the church from a small Family-Sized Congregation to a large Corporation-Size Church of 300 to 500 members, in which the Pastor is likely to function more as a CEO than the Pastor who acts more like a chaplain to a Shepherding-Size Congregation. A Pastor lacking the skills to guide a large paid professional staff is likely to be asked to move on to a more suitable (i.e., smaller) church. And it is commonly known that the denominational tradition of a given church is also a major factor in pastoral transitions, with mainline Denominations such as Methodists, Catholics, and Episcopalians being more directive in moving and assigning an individual Pastor by regional needs, while it is more the interplay of the local congregation and their individual Pastor which determine tenure (and placement) in the Congregational, Presbyterian or Baptist traditions. Cultural traditions also have a significant bearing on a churches attitude to or respect for their pastor, with urban or ethnic traditions viewing their pastor "as if he or she were the Pope", and the more utilitarian attitudes evident in this writer's five interviews related more to either their generational cohort (i.e., Baby Boomer lay leaders) or to a suburban rather than urban context.
This survey then leads up to a third important category, the body of research on pastoral transitions available both in books and in journals. One definitive study in book form titled Pastors in Transition, summarizes the results of eleven important studies done on this topic, with detailed discussions of the common conditions that led to transitions or exits from ministry, and with recommendations for churches, leaders and seminaries in light of their findings. A brief summary of each study is appropriate for this Lit Review. (1) In 1968 a study by Jud, Mills and Burch was done on 241 active and ex-pastors in the United Church of Christ (with 131 of them interviewed in a retreat setting). The study found that the ex-pastors had more frequent moves in and out of ministry and more marital crises and family problems, while the pastors were able to correct the things that caused occupational dissonance, to manage frustration and nurture hope over the long haul. (2) In 1969 Edgar Mills studied 60 male Presbyterian pastors who had either transitioned to secular jobs, grad study, another pastorate or an executive church position (with 15 in each category). The first group was most unique, having served shorter pastorates in smaller churches, expressing least enjoyment of pastoral tasks, the most pressure to compromise, the least feedback from their lay leaders, and the most marital stress. (3) In 1993-4, Zikmund, Lummis & Chang did a major study of 5000+ men and women in 15 differing denominations, using survey and selected interviews. The authors of the study found the women to be paid on average 9% less than the men, with special findings related to those men (8%) and women (13%) who had left the ministry altogether, that they were not part of a clergy group, did not believe it easier to get a better position, and felt denominational leaders did not support their role or skills; and they found, interestingly, that these ex-pastors (who kept their ordination) had "problems of 'boundary maintenance,' that is, keeping private life distinct from ministerial duties…In addition, clergy in small towns and rural settings were often unhappy due to a lack of contact with other clergy." (4) In 1994, Wiborg and Collier did a large United Methodist study of female clergy who were in local church ministry, other forms of ministry, or who had left the ministry (using questionnaire and interview). They found female clergy leaving he ministry at a ten percent higher rate than their male counterparts; reasons given for this centered on change in type of ministry (28%), disillusionment with denominational leadership (25%), and less importantly family duties, finances and health. (5) In 1996, author of the former study Lummis analyzed the same sample to focus in on the reasons men and women left the ministry, finding the strongest factor for both sexes to be not having any participation in a clergy group, lack of recognition by their denomination, and perception that they would not be able to get a better church position. (6) In 1998, Memming analyzed the careers of United Methodist pastors from 1974 to 1994, with the median age changing form 28 to 38 by 1993. 60 percent of the men were still in ministry after ten years, 48 percent for the women, retention varying by gender but not by age; by twenty years, the percentage still in church ministry was 42, with more leaving for specialized ministry than leaving altogether. (7) In 1998, researchers of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) surveyed ministers ordained since 1990, had received at least one call to serve a church, but who were not then serving in a denominational ministry (11 to 13%). Four reasons were given for those who transitioned out of ministry: Completion of call, conflict with other staff, need for more time with family or children (women only), and health problems (more women than men). (8) In 1999, Sellers did nine extended interviews with clergywomen contemplating leaving the ministry. The main reasons were the lack of support for living out basic Christian values and local church operation; questioning their denominations position on ordination, and the distinction between clergy and laity; disillusionment with the church in its current state (with commitment to the biblical ideal); and the perception of few appealing alternatives to their current ministries. (9) In 1999, Klaas and Klass did a major Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod study via focus group interviews of pastors, spouses and their children, seminary students, and resigned pastors. The findings indicated 30% satisfied pastors, 30% ambivalent, 20% approaching burnout, and 20% in serious burnout; reasons cited included multiple pressures, lack of denominational support, little recognition and few successes in their work , too much criticism from laity, low pay and inadequate preparation at seminary. Another significant factor was mentioned: "Wives of pastors complained of loneliness, too-frequent residential moves, low family income, and too much stress on their husbands." This factor shows up in several of the pastoral interviews in this study. Mismatches were also mentioned in the study, with over half the resignations due to a scholarly type, for example, in a small church or an activist in a church resistant to change, leading them to call for total reassessment of denominational ministry. (10) In 1999, Brunnette-Hill and Finke investigated how clergy spent their time, finding substantial changes over the previous study they were checking for replication. Hoge & Wenger summarize their major finding: "Ministers today spend less time with church members, potential members, and religious and civic leaders than they did in the past. Clearly they spend less time visiting members and attending local meetings. On the other hand they spend more time in planning and administration." This reflects a major change in ministry expectation over five decades, pointing to definite cultural and generational factors which may have impact on pastoral transitions today, which would not have been the case in the 1950's and 60's. Two of the pastoral interviews in this study cited key differences between the WWII generational cohort and that labeled "Baby Boomer", in terms of basic respect and support for the office and ministry of the pastor, versus a more expedient and utilitarian view of the pastor as a "hired hand", similar to how the latter cohort might treat a manager in the workplace. And (11) in 2002, McDuff studied the question of why Protestant clergywomen experienced higher satisfaction than men, despite less pay and less attractive job positions, finding women satisfied with more intangible rewards (interpersonal) and having "different occupational values than men- mainly less concern about their total career." While these eleven research studies tend to focus on the Mainline Protestant spectrum of ministry versus more independent and Evangelical groups, there are many factors identified here which do apply to the five pastoral transition experiences interviewed here.
Hoge and Wenger summarize their own survey research with five denominational groups- the United Methodists, Presbyterian Church USA, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and the Assemblies of God- upon which they base their findings and recommendations (along with the previous 11 studies). For example, for those who left local church ministry, the top reason was "I felt drained by the demands on me" (the 5 denominations mentioned averaging 56 responses of either "Great Importance" or "Somewhat Important" for this); with averages clustering around 50 for the following reasons (in decreasing order): "I felt lonely or isolated" (50.8), "I felt bored or constrained in the position" (42), "I was not supported by denominational officials" (41.8), and "I felt doubts about my abilities as a pastoral minister" (31). Feelings surrounding departure from local church ministry by pastors in these five denominations included the following: New ministry opportunity (average= 31.8 mentioned this reason), lack of denominational support (25.6), stress or burnout (19.4), family needs (10.8), conflict with church members (9.2), staff conflict (7.8), doctrinal conflicts (7.4), unreasonable church expectations (7.0), church resistant to change (7.0), marital stress (6.4), financial considerations (6.0), sexual misconduct (4.8), health issues (4.4), need for further education (3.4), gay or lesbian issues (2.4), difficulties around co-pastoring with spouse (1), or other categories mentioned (23 for UMC, 11 for PCUSA, 12 ELCA, 10 LCMS and 14 A/G). Clearly these factors and reasons show up in this writer's interviews- with support from denomination, ministry mentors or a small group or clergy group providing decisive factors offsetting the major stressors listed here for departure or low satisfaction with a ministry calling. Hoge and Wenger also include conflicts pastors in these denominations experienced in the last two years of their ministries, with 37 "yes" responses in UPC, 38 in PCUSA, 42 among ELCA and LCMS pastors, and 37 for the AG group, together listing the following conflicts ranked from highest to lowest: Pastoral leadership style (average = 35.4), finances (24.8), worship style changes (24.8), issues about building or renovations (18.8), staff or clergy conflicts (18.0), change in music style (18.2), program changes (14.6), lay leadership style (14.4), doctrinal issues (9.6), sexual misconduct (7.6), issues with homosexuality (4.6), local outreach efforts (4.2), racial issues (3.6), church growth issues (3.2), and other (average= 13/8). At least a handful of the issues in this list contributed to anxiety and conflict in the pastoral transitions studied in this report. Another area of research appears to be relevant to this study, in terms of feelings about ministry and seminary in these five denominations, with pastors surveyed responding "Strongly Agree" or "Somewhat Agree" to experience in their last ministry position, with the following responses: "I felt the demands of laity were unrealistic" (average= 52.8); "I felt I could not speak openly and honestly with denominational officials" (49.8); "I felt discouraged about being able to find a better ministry job" (31.8). In addition, these pastors expressed their feelings on seminary today as follows: "The calling and deployment system of my denomination needs to be reformed" (61.8); "training in theological seminary today is not practical and realistic enough" (57.0); and "training in seminary today is not deep enough spiritually" (52.2).
Hoge and Wenger's examination of the context of ministry and its changes since the 1960's has some relevance to this study, with the following questions being posed: "Exactly what has changed? What are the pressures on today's structures? How do we know the structures are not performing well?" These researchers identify the following changes over the four decades before their publishing date: More educated laity, less trust in centralized authority, decreased denominational commitment, lowered clerical authority, and changes in seminary grads (more women, older students, less attachment to denomination). Perhaps the most interesting or relevant part of their research is the seven recommendations made by pastors who had left the ministry during difficult transitions or as a result of stress or burnout; these are echoed in the pastoral interviews studied here:
1. Seminaries should do more to prepare ministers for the practical aspects of ministry. 2. Denominations should improve the call process. 3. Denominations should provide ongoing support for pastors. 4. Denominations should support pastors in conflict and crisis, offering support from external sources where necessary. 5. Congregations should articulate their genuine needs. 6. Congregations should be realistic about expectations. 7. Congregations should provide relief from workloads when pastors are facing conflict or crisis.

This matter of ministry call comes up in all of this writer's pastoral interviews, and is also highlighted here in the research of Hoge and Wenger. In their interviews with District Minsters of denominations, they spotlight this for any pastor in a transition or on the verge of dropping out of ministry. In the words of an Assemblies of God district supervisor:
Since I was about fifteen or sixteen, I knew that God had called me. It was a lifelong assignment from God himself that was non-amendable, non-negotiable. It was a mandate kind of thing with me. When the going gets tough, I say, "Man, this is some kind of a job I got," but I never question the call. I just know there is nothing else I'm supposed to do. Without a clear call to the pastorate, you don't have a chance of survival.

This writer observes this same thing, that in each of the pastoral transitions, the call to pastor or lead is questioned, but some "best practices" of spiritual discipline and connection to ministry mentors or a supportive clergy group reaffirms that call, refines and strengthens it, since it is ultimately a "lifelong assignment from God himself." A special case of church or pastoral transition, one usually handled poorly, has to do with pastoral succession, or that nodal event in which a pastoral leader will end a ministry and pass it on to the next person, the subject of the DMin work of another member of Bethel Seminary of the East, Henry Barry, who examines independent churches, reviews leadership succession in the Bible and contrasts such a change in a centralized denominational setting versus a decentralized authority. It may be noted that here the nodal event of retirement coincides with a critical transition for a church, requiring very special knowledge and wisdom. The delicacy of this is probably one reason why there are so few healthy or positive pastoral successions- this writer can only name four or five in New England.
A wide range of studies and journals could be cited as background to this project's thesis. Several will be mentioned briefly. A study done for New England Bible College, a training center that equips pastors and leaders for churches in Maine 17 responses from pastors, 4 from Church leaders) notes in response to the question "What should our program provide to meet the unique needs of New England churches," identifies the following ranked for frequency of response: "Need for pastoral support and willingness to be patient in dealing with discouragement" (6 responses), change/conflict management (4x), leadership/vision (3x), counseling (3x), and marriage and family (3x). Interestingly, more than a few responses to this survey mentioned the idea of "helping pastors stay in ministry in the New England Region where ministry can be discouraging." There are certainly economic factors that impact pastoral ministry and transitions, and could be included in this study, though none of the pastors interviewed mentioned economics as a significant or deciding factor. However, the spiritual factors mentioned by Ken Sande, founder of Peacemaker Ministries, were mentioned, as needed emphasis for the church and seminary. Sande cited the following statistics collected by key organizations: 23 percent of all current pastors in the United States have been fired or forced to resign in the past. 34 percent of all pastors presently serve congregations that forced their previous pastor to resign. And 1,500 pastors leave their assignments every month in the United States because of conflict, burnout, or moral failure. Pointing out the dangers inherent in these stats, Sande identifies the main causes for forced exits, and suggests that pastors and lay leaders (elders and deacons) get some basic biblical training in peacemaking principles, as a way to cut down on this "leadership hemorrhaging." An army that loses its officers and leaders will very soon lose the war and leave the troops in disarray and discouragement! Interestingly, none of the pastors interviewed for this study decided to leave the ministry, but in the process of their transitions experienced a deeper confirmation of their call to serve in pastoral leadership.


















Chapter 4: Fieldwork on Pastoral Transitions
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS AND INTERVIEWS
When this writer first drafted his interview questions, they came to about twelve, and the practical questions of his DMin Mentor Rev. George Kohl and Dr. Doug Fomblle, quickly pared them down to six, eliminating most of the technical terms related to Family Systems Theory, which were reserved for the interview analysis. This guidance was invaluable. Each interview was introduced in advance with some explanation of the reason this topic was chosen- an attempt to put the writer's own crisis transition at midlife and doubting of ministry calling into a broader theological and ministry context. Confidentiality was promised given the sensitivity of much of the material, and a sharing of the results to each of the pastors interviewed promised. Two of the pastors selected were graduates of Bethel Seminary of the East (New England), two with loose ties to the Seminary, and all serving as either senior pastor or associate in one of the Evangelical denominations here in New England (Christian & Missionary Alliance, Conservative Congregational Christian Conference, and Converge/Baptist General Conference). The questions that were settled on were as follows:
(1) How would you describe the pastoral transition you went through in summary terms (What marked the beginning, who initiated it, what was the reason given, and when was it completed)? (2) What factors in the transition seemed to create the most anxiety or stress for you (and your spouse)? How did you both react or interact? (3) How did you seek to keep or regain your sense of equilibrium, balance or spiritual wellbeing through the transition? What spiritual disciplines helped you most? (4) Did you sense any deeper issues in the transition that affected you or others- for example, (a) family-of-origin patterns in you (how you interacted with parents and siblings); dysfunctional patterns in the people who communicated with you; or any sense of blaming or scapegoating that went on? (5) Do you feel you were able to gain a sense of closure with the ministry and people that you served, and did you receive any sense of blessing for your next chapter of ministry? (6) Did the transition trigger for you deeper reflection on your ministry calling- were there any "echoes of eternity" that seemed to surface during or after the transition?

Questions #1 through 3 and 5 were fairly easy for each pastor to respond to, with #4 and 6 requiring some explanation in almost every case, both the "deeper issues" that seemed to surface during the transition and the "echoes of eternity" that may have become manifested upon reflecting theologically on events, feelings and decisions.
ANALYSIS OF INTERVIEWS
After transcribing the five interviews, which varied from 5 to 10 pages, all text, names and church references were coded (1 to 5 in order that they were done) and two strategies were used for analysis, basically following what is known as "Grounded Theory" methodology. This method allows for analysis of (inductive) data, such as interviews, by coding for key concepts that may be related to a theory- in this case provided by the Bowen FST concepts- and explored through integration and deductive observations and conclusions. This interviewer thus expanded Family Systems Theory into twelve basic concepts (noting some biblical equivalency), identified and coded those into the interviews, and made a list of other significant issues that seemed to surface in the pastoral transition (beyond the FST concepts). Here are the twelve FST codes that were used:
(1) the nuclear and extended family field or system; family-of-origin issues were included in this code, with biblical equivalent in Israel's tribe or clan or the New Testament house churches; (2) the nature of a human system to have emotionality with equivalency of relationship, connection or fellowship in a biblical context; (3) homeostasis or tendency of any system to seek balance or symmetry, with covenantal rest and peace, and a sense of blessing (or cursing) its biblical analog; (4) stress or anxiety in the system creating dysfunction, with the theme of anxiety, conflict, sin and violence traced in the biblical record; (5) the tendency toward diagnosis of an identified patient in a (dysfunctional) system, with easy documentation of this as "scapegoating" biblically; (6) the frequent formation of emotional triangles in the system due to anxiety with the parallel phenomena in the Scripture record, from the Garden of Eden to the Book of Revelation, as evidenced by the problem of gossip; (7) dysfunction producing emotional cutoff within a system or between generations, and this family rejection or excommunication very much a part of the biblical record; (8) healthy functioning leading to a differentiation of self for system leaders and members, with the sense of care and maturity seen in many biblical figures after they had walked by faith in covenant relationship with God for an extended period; (9) sibling position in the system having an impact on influence and leadership, with some evidence that position in family has a significant role in terms of the biblical plot; (10) a family projection process for transmitting emotionality or stress, or for preserving homeostasis, in family or human systems, and quite evident in the blaming and shaming that is part of the Patriarchal family record; (11) the activity of a multigenerational transmission process for passing this down in time or across generations, with the biblical record documenting generational change, often associated with a covenant blessing (or curse) given during key marker events such as naming, marriage or death; and (12) the extension of these dynamics to a societal emotional process as patterns of behavior expand out in ever-larger circles and come to characterize a society or culture, with the clear link between individual character and social welfare implied by biblical corporate solidarity.

The second set of codes were issues that occurred to this interviewer as he reflected on each dialog, sensing that it may have a bearing on the goal of this research or be related to the FST concepts. Some of these related directly back to the first twelve, while others were just curious points that seemed to be significant, and twenty four were identified and will be noted in the final write-up. They are as follows:
(1) Cowardice, or passive/aggressive resistance, holding secret meetings, lack of self-awareness; (2) Leadership problem, authoritarian style, democratic style, toxic environment, or the "dark-side" of leadership, a shadow leadership that opposes official leadership of a pastor; (3) Spiritual warfare or reference to the devil, temptation; (4) Change in behavior from inside out, divine influence, visitation or forgiveness; (5) Spousal trauma and isolation, or distance, loss of connection; (6) Self-doubt about ministry calling, or affirmation of that calling or gifting and identity as a pastor; (7) Ethical challenges for the Pastor, conflict of interest of a Board member; (8) A "Gag Order" given by one or more parties in the church; (9) Other life transitions, or rites of passage, going on at the same time as the transition, to include certain male developmental issues before midlife; (10) Developmental or growth issues for a church or organization; (11) Generational Cohorts and how they differ in characteristics, with expectations of the Old guard and the new leaders, or interaction between generations; (12) Matthew 18 policy on conflict, either practiced or denied; (13) Anxiety can induce a condition (Meyers-Briggs) in which a leader is "in the grip" of behaviors that increase the anxiety and conflict, a kind of vicious circle; (14) Intentional (or unintentional) exclusion of a Pastor's family from serving and ministry in his church; (15) Generativity, re-producing oneself in others, spiritual mentoring; (16) Cultural bias or prejudice; (17) The ego and competitiveness of Denominationalism; (18) Ageism; (19) One traumatic church transition that may leave a shadow on the next transition; (20) A call for outside help for the church; (21) "Cutoff "of a pastor leading to a diaspora of sorts; (22) Pressure by leaders for their pastor to just "go away quietly"; (23) A "Dark Night of the Soul" experience during the transition; and (24) New hope, a new direction, a new turn in the road, as a result of the transition.

SUMMARY AND SYNTHESIS OF INTERVIEWS
Illustration #8 is a table summarizing the FST concepts and the frequency with which they showed up in all five interviews. While frequency is not necessarily evidence of importance, since the questions themselves are designed to point to important aspects of transition (in light of these concepts), still this does point toward the conclusions of Edwin Friedman, that Family Systems Theory may offer us a new paradigm for ministry that is both more real, practical and biblical, than the typical Western assumptions about ministry.

Illustration #8- Pastoral Responses on Family Systems Theory Concepts (12)

This summary will treat each of the twelve coded concepts, with a significant quote or example from one of the interviews and some synthesis which will aim to speak to the thesis or hypothesis of this paper. Then the 24 issues identified will be mentioned under one or more of the concepts, for fit. Illustration #9 offers a bar graph visualizing the frequency of these concepts.

Illustration #9- Special Issues Raised in the 5 Pastoral Interviews (24 Issues)

Concept 1 of Family Systems Theory has to do with the nuclear or extended family field, viewed as a relationship system (coded 15 times in all 5 interviews). Pastor 1's transition involved a church conflict which triggered Family-of-Origin issues for him and his spouse, who "started having flashbacks to her childhood that were extremely troubling to her." He observed, too, that the stress of the situation seemed to stir old patterns for a broad spectrum of people who began to "react in really unhealthy ways which I saw all over the place and no one could hide it." Pastor 5 discussed a very critical upbringing in his Family-of-Origin, with grandfather and mother hinting he would be a "colossal failure" without proper ambition, feelings that definitely resurfaced during his transition: "So here I was almost feeling some of those old vibes inside, oh wow, I am a colossal failure." The ideal of Christian fellowship was mentioned in all of the interviews as a spiritual quest, with Family-of-Origin issues that surfaced in multiple ways, and which seemed to be transmitted to the present during heightened anxiety and conflict.
Concept 2 states that these family fields we all live in are charged with emotion (coded 16 times, 7 by Pastor 2). Pastor 2 discusses this in terms of "explosions" or the constant threat thereof, concluding that "we were all involved in a toxic environment…that was really draining, it was really sapping." Pastor 3 mentions his battle with fear and the anger directed at him as the conflict came out into the open, with the creation of a new word and the metaphor of the iceberg:
I think one of the problems of the younger leadership was lack of personal authenticity and transparency or even self-awareness, I call it emotional "scentions"- self-awareness, becoming a student of your own issues, things that most people don't look at in their life or even see…you know, there's that iceberg illustration which talks about what motivating factors are and what we see ourselves as only a small piece of the iceberg, for mostly our motivation is in the subconscious which is a combination of how God has wired us, our life experiences both positive and negative, our current issues of dissatisfaction and fear, all of these things creating a knee- jerk emotional response.

This emotionality showed up in very significant ways in all five of the interviews, with a wide variety of nouns, adjectives and verbs, but with an intensity that surprised everyone as anxiety peaked.
Concept 3 is "homeostasis" defined as "a property of cells, tissues, and organisms that allow the maintenance and regulation of the stability and constancy needed to function properly." This was coded 10 times, 5 in Interview 2, where this Pastor felt himself in a bind between "just doing everything to make everyone happy" and "trying to maintain the peace and not create any stress." Pastor 2 notes that in his new ministry, after the transition, he and his spouse truly do experience a sense of peace and blessing that they feel is the outgrowth of a healthy Christian community. Pastor 1 mentioned true Christian community with peace between brethren as a lifelong quest, the desire of his heart, what he hopes to be part of before he is done.
Concept 4 figured as the second most frequent in the interviews (coded 41 times)- the anxiety or stress that rises in a relationship system (family or church) that is conflicted or dysfunctional. It was also related to a wide variety of factors and issues. Pastor 3 described this anxiety in multiple ways in his conflict, in terms of the feelings of the old guard who expected him to be a caring shepherd versus the newer leaders who expected him also to act as a CEO in a church that had grown well beyond the 100 person threshold; of an Associate viewed as "victimized" by some lay leaders; of the frustrations, building stress, and mixed expectations that made the transition "very messy"; and of the resulting "character assault" that became for him "personal and devastating". He concluded: "So basically my validity as a pastor, a teacher or a leader was questioned and that was crushing." Special Issue 3, spiritual warfare or reference to temptation or the devil, could probably be placed under a number of the FST Concepts, but from this researcher's experience, when a relationship system has high levels of anxiety that seems to foster high levels of spiritual warfare, too, coded in the interviews 5 times, with most of them noted as Pastor 4 contrasted a parachurch mission focus with church competitiveness: "With churches it gets crazier when you get budgets and building…pastors compete with one another, as much as we don't want to admit it, we do look over our shoulders to see how the other church is doing and there is a competitiveness that I think is hellish and it's the devil's work." Denominationalism, associated with this competitiveness, was also noted as Issue 17. Another cause of anxiety for church leaders as noted in the Lit Review had to do with growth issues for a church, with certain thresholds (e.g., growing beyond 150 people) calling for major changes in role for a pastoral leader as noted by Pastor 3, and coded as Issue 10, which was really the trigger for Pastor 3's transition and resignation. Then it was evident for Pastor 1 and his spouse that their church transition coincided with midlife transition, a key rite of passage, which seemed to deepen or magnify the anxiety experienced. This was tagged as Issue 9, and is of special interest to this writer, since his most difficult church transition coincided with midlife transition, almost doubling or tripling the intensity. Issue 13 was raised in the interview with Pastor 3, who noted the following: "Anxiety can induce a condition according to Meyers-Briggs in which we are 'in the grip' of behaviors that increase the anxiety and conflict, a kind of vicious circle" (Pastor 3), with pessimism, resisting, blaming and shut-down likely reactions to stress. Pastor 3 mentioned another issue unique to male development, which he identified as one of the key anxiety-producers in his whole transition, and ultimately the reason for his resignation (and "firing"). Richard Rohr traces male development from a "Heroic Journey" (ages 1-32) through a "Crisis of Limitation" involving self-identify (ages 35-50) to two possibilities in later life- the "Embittering Journey" if he continues to seek power and control outside the Cross, or alternatively the "Wisdom Journey" if he experiences some crisis confronting him with the Cross, learning his own limits (as well as the paradox and mystery of grace), gaining in self-differentiation and yet letting go of the self for others. The lay leaders who were behind the push for Pastor 3 to leave were men in middle management positions who resisted efforts at opening up and being vulnerable about sin issues all carry, nor had they had a "crisis of limitation" also defined as a "dark night of the senses" that allowed real honesty or humility (and empathy) to emerge. This has led Pastor 3 to a revolution in his thinking about selection and training of future church leaders, which will be touched on in the conclusion to this paper.
Which leads to Concept 5 in FST- the tendency of a family unit to diagnose one member as an "identified patient" and the cause of all the anxiety- coded 9 times, 6 of them in interview 5, where the Pastor was blamed for "a lack of vision, a lack of administration and a lack of leadership," and thus was "pressured by board leaders to just 'go away quietly,'" which is this studies Issue #10 coded in 4 of the 5 interviews. There seems to be irony here, since Pastor 5 had commissioned a study of the church and region aimed at contextualizing and changing the vision to reach the younger generational cohorts and the many immigrant groups in their region. While Pastor 5 conceded lack of administrative gifts, he stated: "You know everywhere else people were valuing the research that I'd done but it fell dead, it fell on deaf ears on the board, and so it makes me think that there was trouble brewing before that, and so a very personal issue." Interestingly, a consultant invited in by the board who never did survey the congregation also identified the Pastor as the problem, and recommended he step down; however, the church discipline the Pastor had exercised on a morally errant board member several years before raises the question of "pay-back" (see Concept 7, emotional cut-off), and whether there was not some secret "deal" between the board and the consultant, for this lack of transparency with the congregation during the process led to a "diaspora" of members to other churches. Several board members later admitted to him:
They didn't have the answers and I didn't have the answers so therefore I was on the chopping block and they felt like they needed new senior leadership and so I sensed I was the sacrificial lamb and so I ended up taking the blame for the declining revenues, attendance and morale in their minds.

One of the issues noted in all the interviews was an experience of a "dark night of the soul" (Issue 23) which became part of the spiritual disciplines needed in the transition. This experience was triggered by being scapegoated by others as "the problem", by being the invisible part of an emotional triangle, or by the very real cutoff by church leaders.
Concept 6 states that the anxiety in a relational system is bound to produce emotional triangles or three-way communication links that isolate one person in the triangle, avoiding direct and honest resolution of a conflict by going around that third person. In the Christian tradition this is usually called gossip. All five Pastors found themselves blindsided by a wide variety of these triangles (with 19 coded in the interviews), often which became key factors in their transition and contributors to their departure. Several of the pastors mentioned the dire need for Peacemaker training for all leaders in the church, to try to prevent this unhealthy communication pattern. Parishioners in one of the churches tried to enlist the District Minister in their complaints about Pastor 1, without his knowledge, and leaders met secretly to talk about the fact that Pastor 1's wife was in family counseling (in their view disqualifying him from bring their pastor)- actually three unhealthy triangles. Pastor 2 found himself in a complex series of triangles between the Senior Minister and members of the elder board, none of which he was able to "fix", though that was a key reason he was hired. Pastor 3 had an Associate, who triangulated about him to key lay leaders, portraying himself as a victim and sowing discord that raised anxiety for him, let to secret meetings, and facilitated his departure. In each case triangulation hindered healthy communication and frustrated the peacemaking involved in a practice of Matthew 18. It is noted in this study that the existence of triangulation trumped the practice of Matthew 18 policies in all five situations. Several leadership issues were associated with the unhealthy communication patterns of triangles, Issue 1 cropped up in three interviews, in secret meetings held without the pastor- a definite violation of ethical standards created by organizational constitutions and bylaws (Issue 7), and which also followed a passive-aggressive pattern (Issue 1). Then an authoritarian style and toxic environment were mentioned in more than one transition, with a "shadow leadership" opposed to the official leadership of the publicly called pastor (Issue 2).
Concept 7 introduces another result of high relational anxiety, and that is emotional cutoff, coded 26 times and in all 5 of the Interviews, and in 4 of them associated with some type of gag order (Issue 8). For example, after Pastor 2 made the decision to leave, he was "cutoff" by the senior Pastor:
He stayed in contact initially because of some of the transition issues they were going through and he just called to warn me, literally, he called to say, "You may not speak to anyone or any elders that call you and ask you about any issue, you are not permitted to talk to them,"…That is sort of how that ended and I never heard from the senior minister again after that.

And while there was some very healthy closure on an individual basis in most of the transitions, it did not represent any official action to thank the Pastor for his ministry at that church or send him with a blessing to his next assignment. This was raised in the Lit Review as a key to healthy engagement in the next place of ministry, which has to raise questions! A special concern with cutoff has to do with Issue (#5), which this writer labeled "spousal trauma and isolation, or distance, loss of connection." While cutoff was experienced by all of the Pastors in this study, their spouses often experienced it doubly. One spouse who listened in on the interview, came in and wept profusely for 5 minutes, at the pain the interview re-opened, and was only comforted by the three of us praying together. Pastor 5 commented on this issue insightfully:
I think that God just does that or it is our psychological makeup or both but at the same time I think that she suffered more than I did and I was mystified by this because I was a punching bag, I was the one taking the blows and I wasn't even telling her the whole story in order to protect her and yet she was suffering more than me and whether that has to do with gender makeup or whatever you know my identity was really bruised through this but I learned through this something that Richard Rohr articulates- he's a Franciscan Priest- and that is that our wife's identity is attached to ours, so her identity as the pastor's wife, as my supporter, was getting beat down at the same time that mine was and she was actually suffering, I think greater than me.

Several additional issues that definitely relate to cutoff were referred to in Interviews 4 and 5, where cultural bias played some role (Issue 16), and the "cutoff" of a pastoral candidate due to Ageism (Issue 18), prevented consideration of the candidacy of Pastor 4 (an associate aspiring to a senior pastor role). Another Issue (# 14) that may also have to do with emotional cutoff has to do with the intentional exclusion of members of the Pastor's family from serving and ministering freely, as occurred with Pastor 3.
Concept 8 speaks to influences of healthy interaction in a relational system, such as a family or a church, and is called in FST "differentiation of self", and this proved to be the most frequent of the codes in the interviews (51 times and in all interviews), partly because this was the specific focus of one of the Interview Questions, "How did you seek to keep or regain your sense of equilibrium, balance or spiritual wellbeing through the transition? What spiritual disciplines helped you most?" Decisions, practices or factors that helped the Pastors with spiritual balance (and differentiation) in a high-anxiety situation were the following: A firm decision to rejoice and forgive (mentioned in two interviews), godly influence of a District Superintendent, prayer with my spouse (3), meeting with spiritual mentors (4), journaling (2), a personal retreat (with solitude) (2), professional counseling, personal confession of sin, being in a healthy Christian community again (2), a supportive praying group for my spouse (2), professional advice on my gifting and calling (2), key books about Scripture and Christ (4), time at a Pastors Renewal ministry, review of a Meyers-Briggs assessment, training in peacemaking skills, affirmation of my divine call (4), intensive prayer times (2), deep reflection on Scripture (3), being in a supportive Pastors group (2), affirmation by people who believed in me and my call, a determination to be honest in all communications, reflecting on my true significance in Christ, networking in the Body of Christ, and restoring broken relationships wherever possible (3). These practices, many of which are included in the classic Christian disciplines, enabled each Pastor to come through his transition with some degree of differentiation, so that he could both engage with other people, even those who had hurt him, and yet gain some needed distance from the anxiety (and trianguling) of those around him. As noted above, this was not always the case, with the spouses! A quote from Pastor 1 links together this Concept with several important Issues:
During the first personal retreat that I went on where it was a very mild winter with very little snow I was able to walk in the woods and I walked for hours believe it or not in the cold of February and God really talked to me at that time- He didn't tell me what I wanted to hear which was should I stay at Church 1 or should I leave. He said first of all that "I love you!" This washed over me in so many ways prompting me to remember my history, memories and He showed me over and over again how much He loves me and so I just knew and I was reminded of how much He loved me and then He said "I have called you to ministry…to pastoral ministry"…He spoke that very clearly and I felt completely affirmed that, not that I should stay but that I was doing what He wanted me to do.
The divine "I love you" showed up in most of the transitions, as change was brought from the inside-out, through some divine visitation, forgiveness or affirmation (Issue 4) and that change often led directly to new hope, a new direction, or a new door opening as a result of the transition (Issue 24). All five of the Pastors interviewed doubted their calling as a result of the conflicted situation they were in (Issue 18), some to the point of walking away from it; however, the exercise of the spiritual disciplines or the presence of a supportive mentor or Pastors group carried them through. The renewal of call experienced by Pastor 1 is typical of what each experienced during or as a result of their transition. Interestingly, outside help from a Denomination, consultant, or other source (Issue 20) are mentioned in all of the interviews (and stated related to Matthew 18 in their bylaws) with one intervention helping significantly, others coming too late, and a final one that may have been compromised by triangulation, as evidenced by the church exodus when the congregation became aware of how their pastor was treated.
Concept 9 was really not included in any of the Interview Questions, but did show up with Pastor 2 who as the oldest child in his Family-of-Origin saw that as a key factor in his proactive leadership style, as FST predicts. This was also noted in key biblical passages, where birth order either seemed to be significant in the customs of Israel, often set aside by the God of Israel who would choose the second born or youngest to receive the birthright of the first born. Wider research would have to be added to probe this issue important in FST.
Concept 10 is called a "family projection process" and it refers to the means whereby health or dysfunction and stress get passed from one member of the relational system to another. In the biblical Genogram discussed earlier, the unhealthy pattern was transmitted by jealousy and envy, blame, shame or scapegoating, which was so great in the case of Jacob's favorite son Joseph with his jealous brothers that he only averted being killed by them when a trading caravan happened by, and they decided to sell him into slavery and lie to their father about his death. This actually showed up 14 times in three of the interviews. After the triangulating became known, Pastor 1 discovered that leaders were scapegoating his spouse to get to him. Pastor 3 said that "in the end what they all found in common was frustration with me, and stress built up." And Pastor 5 was ironically blamed for the decline in attendance, revenue and morale, which he had tried to head off earlier by shaping and offering a new vision and mission for the church. It may be noted, too, that health or strength can also be spread in a relationship system, as noted by the long list of practices that helped all five Pastors seek balance, integrity and homeostasis…and avoid leaving the ministry, not a small concern as noted in the Lit Review.
Concept 11 is the "multigenerational transmission process" that passes the healthy or dysfunctional pattern down from one generation to the next, repeating it with differing players and circumstances, but reproducing it in new family systems. In a biblical sense this was touched on earlier in two of the provisions of the ancient covenant form called the blessing and the curse. This was coded in the Interviews 16 times, with Pastors 1, 4 and 5. Pastor 1 observed that the origin of the pattern of triangulation and the multiple conflicts he discovered shortly after arrival, was the tenure two pastors previous of "a very autocratic leader who because he was a very strong personality and a visionary leader, he just created a lot of good things, which people thought were good at the church, but he also ruled with an iron fist and said it was his way or the highway." The Family-of-Origin issues mentioned in Concept 1, play a key role here, too, as the pattern of one tenure or generation gets played out in a future tenure, or becomes a multi-generational pattern. Both Pastor 1 and his wife were aware of how these early life experiences in their nuclear families were surfacing and affecting their behavior and reactions as the conflicts and anxiety increased in their church, triggering their transition and departure. Flashbacks were mentioned for Spouse 1, while he noted "the family I grew up in and why I sometimes stubbornly hold on and refuse to make decisions that are hard so I did some processing about all of that and dealt with myself first, and on these personal retreats the Lord really began to dig deep." Pastor 4 became painfully aware of the influence of a notable previous pastor "whose shadow loomed large over the church," shaping the expectations of the board chairperson in a new era and a very differing situation. And Pastor 5 recalls a fourth generation member of his church who said affirmatively, "There they go, running another pastor out!" This Concept worked in a different way for Pastor 4 who went through one traumatic church transition which then left a clear shadow on how he and his spouse reacted to the next transition covered in his interview (Issue 19). The other concern raised here is that of some healthy closure, mentioned in the Lit Review. Another issue that was raised in 4 of the 5 interviews relates to generational cohorts and their differences, with the existence of anxiety between the old guard and new members, with the challenge to the Baby Boomer cohort to mentor and prepare to pass the baton to the Gen X (and Millennial) cohort, or even to make this next generation feel welcome (Issue11). Pastor 3 brought this up in terms of facing the reality of aging and a limited time left to make an impact for God, and hence the need to missionally welcome these next cohorts, but also to re-produce himself in others through spiritual mentoring (Issue 15): "I love the idea of continuing to grow myself and to be that for other young men and women and were it not for this idea of pouring ourselves into the lives of other people, this stage in my life would be kind of depressing." Another word for this is "generativity", mentioned in the Lit Review. Pastor 5 made the observation that as long as members of the Silent Generation were on his board, with their high respect for a pastor, they kept the younger ones in line; but as soon as they retired and passed the baton to the Baby boomers, who came of age in the 1960's when authority of all kinds was questioned, his job got much much tougher! Could this explain the high (and increased) rate of pastoral transitions (read "firings") in the US in the last ten years?
Cohort Groupings
Dates
Marker Events
Characteristics
Silent Generation
1922-1945
Great depression & WWII
Loyalty, hard work, sacrifice
Baby Boomers
1946-1964
Assassinations, Viet Nam
Protest, exercise, wealth
Generation X
1965-1980
Watergate, divorce, MTV
Balance, diversity, self-reliance
Millennial Generation
1981-2000
Cold war, technology
Globalism, environment, health
Illustration #10- Defining Characteristics of Generational Cohorts

And Concept 12, called a "societal emotional process", was really not treated in this research, and did not show up in the five pastoral interviews, since this is that macro stage at which a smaller unit of people, such as a family or a founding group, in time pass their "DNA" on to the whole of society, the way a small amount of leaven causes a whole lump of dough to rise. Interestingly, the Blessing of Jacob (Gen. 48), whose twelve sons became the founding fathers of the nation of Israel, passed on their character flaws, traits and strengths to the tribes that formed that nation, all of them present in the Family-of-Origin, and mentioned in the Blessing of their father Jacob (renamed "Israel") at the time of his death.



















Chapter 5: Recommendations from Field Work
MAIN IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS
This study has confirmed that Family Systems Theory is a very helpful tool for analyzing and learning from pastoral leadership transitions, as unhealthy patterns are identified and healthy or best practices pointed out. FST, as a paradigm shift in counseling and ministry, coincides with an intentional shift from a Greek to a Hebrew paradigm for understanding Scripture, life and ministry. The FST Concepts were a powerful tool for examining the five pastoral transitions that were the focus for this study, with Differentiation (#8) behaviors or skills (spiritual formation practices) noted most frequently in the interviews (51x), followed by systemic Anxiety (#4) which was very present in each of the five transitions, noted 41 times; third was emotional Cutoff (#7) which seemed to be the only way out for four of the five pastors (26x); then dysfunctional Triangles (#6) which made communication and resolution of conflicts almost impossible (19x); sixth were high Emotionality (#2) and a multigenerational Transmission (#11) which were heightened in each transition (16x for each); family field and Family-of-Origin memories (#1) cropped up repeatedly (15x), with family Projection (#10) or scapegoating of the pastors by their boards noted 14x; eighth was Homeostasis (#3), noted 10x; ninth, the pastoral leader as the "Identified Patient" (#5) noted 9x. Concept 9- Sibling Order- was only noted in one interview, with #12, Societal Emotional Process, not showing up in these interviews. The narrative comments chosen for each of these FST concepts were often shared with great emotion and emphasis, and the box of Kleenex in each interview was utilized. FLT concepts were very effective for bringing out the guts, or heart and soul, of the pastors' stories.
The Issues identified in the interviews by this writer, fit very effectively under one or more of the FLT concepts, reinforcing the validity of the theory to the family system known as the Evangelical Congregation. These stories were not unlike the dynamics seen in the Genogram of the founding families of Israel, where God's covenant lovingkindness or hesed preserved members of a generational line that otherwise would have been split and disintegrated by sin, anxiety, conflict and worse. Ethical challenges (#7) showed up as most frequent in the five interviews (51x), showing the importance of a professional code of ethics for pastors (and the lay leaders who were notable for their lack of principled policies, such as setting aside Matthew 18 (#12), issuing gag orders to their leaders (#8), neglecting to call for outside help (#20), or pressuring a pastor to go away quietly (#22); every one of the transitions took place in a toxic environment, rife with Leadership problems (#2), which was second most noted (18x); third was self-doubt regarding their ministry calling (#6), noted in all the interviews (17x in all); then a passive-aggressive pattern (#1) which is not dissimilar to the first issue, and which manifested in three of the transitions as secret meetings not communicated to the pastor who was mandated by church bylaws to be at ever meeting of the board; fifth noted 13 references each to two issues, the negative impact of the transition on the pastors spouse (#5) and the developmental stage of the church (#10); definite divine influence (#4) bringing spiritual resources to bear were present in every case (10x); the factor of generational cohorts and their differences (#11) was also noted along with other developmental issues (#9), noted 6x. Each transition had aspects of a "dark night of the soul" (#23) and each of them referred in some way to generativity (#15), or the need for or desire to act as a mentor for others.
It has been noted that none of the pastors interviewed left the ministry as a result of their transitions, though self-doubt about their ministry calling was experienced by each. Each pastor had a set of spiritual formation practices or disciplines that kicked in almost immediately as the anxiety surged, and clearly this gave each the differentiation to remain as engaged as they could with their leaders and congregation, but to gain enough distance to turn to key sources for support and guidance- the latter included trusted mentors, pastors groups, a small group, a denominational head, to their spouse, a counselor, or vocational resource. Consistently they were pointed to the source of their spiritual journey, the Lord, with journaling, a retreat, prayer and Scripture prominent resources to enable differentiation in an emotionally toxic environment. Several pastors and their spouses just determined to praise the Lord and be thankful each day, a discipline that had very significant results in how those pastors dealt with leaders who often were pressuring them to "go away quietly". A "dark night of the soul" confronted each pastor, with the biblical metaphor of refining and the traditional purgative steps in the spiritual journey motif very present.
The study surfaced one great need, and that concerned the effect of the transition on the spouse, a neglected issue for the church, and one needing real focus. One of the pastors interviewed plans to revamp how he enlists and trains leaders, incorporating some real content from the Lit Review on the spiritual journey, to help leaders with openness, transparency, and humility. Several mentioned the dire need to bring Peacemaker training to the church and especially its leaders, to avoid the temptation to treat the pastor as the cause of all church anxiety, resort to communication triangles and pastoral cutoff. The statistics cited in the Lit Review indicate there is real hemorrhaging going on in the American church in terms of its leaders. The advice cited in the Lit Review by Hoge and Wenger, offered by pastors who had left the ministry, is reinforced by this study. Seminaries do need to do more to prepare ministers for the practical side of ministry- along these lines, FST concepts, and especially the differentiation and family-of-origin concepts, could strengthen the leadership formation emphasis in a seminary. Denominations and churches should improve the calling process, which rose to very high importance in the five interviews and in the Lit Review material. Pastoral support of many kinds is needed, as this proved to be one of the keys to weathering transitions, and remaining in the ministry. Congregations and their leaders need to be much more genuine and forthcoming in expressing their needs, while being much more realistic about expectations. A church that dismissed one of the pastors interviewed had a job description that Jesus Christ could not fulfill. One of the pastoral couples who needed counseling to address their own issues, some of them related to Family-or-Origin, were actually turned on, and that need became one of the reasons for pressuring that pastor to resign- a condition that led to high anxiety and deep scars. Congregations need to provide relief from workloads when such a conflict or crisis is experienced.
This study helped this writer to take another look at the midlife church transition that he experienced, which was presented as part of the class associated with this project. Very similar insights emerged as those that have been noted for the five interviews, FST Concepts helping to bring new insight and suggest best practices in spiritual formation and leadership differentiation, which in that situation was lost in the heightened anxiety of the pastoral transition and the conflict that occurred, and was regained only through a personal retreat with his spouse, much prayer, Scripture focus, journaling and reading, regular meetings with three outside pastoral mentors, and taking a course at Seminary of the East. His church, at 350 to 400 in size, has lost its senior pastor, and he as the associate stayed, working with the elder board to provide leadership at a stressful time. One of the elders was appointed to preach and test a pastoral call under his mentorship during that transition, and that elder decided that he was being called to be the next pastor, despite the fact that the Search Committee had narrowed its search on one of two or three final candidates. Triangles developed between he, that elder, and members of the congregation, with communication totally breaking down. Emotional cutoff resulted. FST Concepts could have helped him to see the extreme danger signs that had arisen in his church family, call timeout, bring in outside help, and refer that elder immediately to the Search Committee for evaluation of his call to be their next pastor, without getting too personally enmeshed in the feelings that flamed in emotionality. FST thinking would have warned him and the elders not to undertake such an experiment in a stressed congregation, already going through a search for a new senior pastor; not to mention his own midlife transition, which was stressing him and his wife. Not having a policy for how to select a new minister added to the confusion and stress, and the inevitable breakdown. Interestingly this conflict led to a church split in two churches (that one and a later one that that elder attended), confirming the multigenerational transmission concept that is part of FST. FST Concepts can be used to diagnose when problems are rising and danger lies ahead, and these could have been of enormous help to this writer in that situation- warning him of what not to do, what to do, and how to advise lay leaders.
CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE FINAL DMIN PROJECT
What has emerged for this writer, as a result of this first course in his DMin project, is a concern with the statistic indicating that there is a leadership hemorrhaging going on in the church, as indicated by the phrase "Strike the Shepherd", a reference to Zechariah 13:7 and Matthew 26:31: "Then Jesus said to them, 'You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, "I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered."'" Is there something this servant of the Lord can do to turn around this trend? What is the cause of the supposed doubling of the hemorrhaging in the last 20 years? Is there an issue related to generational cohorts, a trait of the Baby boomer generation for example, that is contributing to this? The potential for working with the Seminary, Denomination, and Pastors already deployed in ministry in New England and beyond, to address this problem, seems to motivate this writer toward further work to help pastors with some spiritual formation plan that could give greater longevity to their ministry, help them through difficult transitions, or confirm and strengthen their divine call to be shepherds of God's flock. J. Robert Clinton's three categories were helpful, suggesting that such a plan might have three prongs, ministry formation, spiritual formation and strategic formation. Exploring ways that the covenant relationship reinforces healthy differentiation would be another helpful area for further study, with the turn toward a relational theology mentioned by Shults and Sandage:
This is why we may speak more properly of a theological re-turn to relationality, for late modern theology has been increasingly shaped by a retrieval of traditional emphases on relational categories. Recovering and refiguring traditional voices that have contributed to this new emphasis on relationality can help us open up to fresh articulation of the Christian understanding of spiritual transformation.

The focus on multiple generations in FST, with the notion of a blessing to be passed on, or a tribute to be given to the next generation, also is needed in the church. If a healthy affirmation is needed for a pastor who has served a church before moving on to a new assignment, there is significant need to focus on succession, tribute and blessing in terms of church and pastoral transitions. Use of a Genogram in Seminary training would be a helpful tool to move in that direction, with a good examination of one's Family-of-Origin. Overcoming the bias against the experiential or mystical writers on Spiritual Journey, can be of great help to spiritual leaders in transition or in the midst of a chapter of their ministry- these writings as summarized in the Lit Review could be of great help to emerging leaders. The observation that such a journey involves a dialectic of opposites is of great interest to this writer, inviting further study and research. For example. Shults and Sandage state:
The "knowing by unknowing" is beyond the dialectic between "knowing" and "not-knowing" that characterizes the human knowledge of finite things. Knowing the truly infinite God is an experience of being known that requires the negation of our own intellectual power to grasp and control objects of knowledge.

This observation about dialectic is one that this researcher would like to probe further.
And an examination of the word for "boundary", "limit" and "threshold" in Scripture and social science is another potential direction for study that will inspire this writer to think about the implications of how time and eternity meet or relate in this life. This paper will end with the words of another candidate in the DMin program who affirms the application of Scripture and FST Concepts to leadership and the church:
Dysfunctional leadership itself can be seen as a scapegoat reason for leaving a church. It is too easy for church members to sit back and expect their leaders to do all the functions of ministry, enjoy that arm-chair kind of faith walk that was quoted earlier, and yet employ a critical spirit when their expectations (based in homeostasis and complacency) are not met. Jesus uses the analogy of the Body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12 to remind us of our mutual dependence on each other. We all must work together to accomplish the purposes that God has prepared in advance for us to do (Eph 2:10). There is no room for complacency in the body of Christ.







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