Boundary Training for PPRCs

This series is designed as three 45-60 minute training sessions or they can be combined for a 3-hour training session for church leaders. Based on the book, Saying No to Say Yes: Everyday Boundaries and Pastoral Excellence by David Olsen and Nancy G. Devor, it is great for use with lay leadership and paid and unpaid church staff.

Conversation Guides

Instructional Videos

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Session 1

Session 1 spells out the role of boundaries in life and the role of clergy professional boundaries, ministry as profession, and the complicated nature of the role of pastor. Additionally, Dr. Olsen challenges us to think about reasonable expectations in a “Boundry-less” vocation.

Session 2

Session 2 offers a chance to discuss how boundaries in an age of new technology require us to establish good practices and policies around aspects of local church life in order to help protect the emotional, physical, psychological, and spiritual health and welfare of the local church. This video asks the question, "how can we help our clergy?"

Session 3

Session 3 helps reframe the conversation for Pastor Parish Relations Committees and their pastoral staff to better free their pastoral leader for his/her gifts that align with the church's vision.

Bonus Session

This bonus session deals with a common problem among local churches - acting out in highly anxious congregational settings.

Live from Eden Theological Seminary: Part 1

Part 1 of 2 (Run time: 50 minutes)
Does your local church push back every time you set a boundary? Is your congregation having trouble playing nice? Is there a tendency to scapegoat? Does triangulation or parking lot processing happen a lot in your church? How do we learn as clergy and lay leaders to recognize anxiety in our congregational systems and keep communication above ground?

This workshop led by Dr. David Olsen, author of Saying No to Say Yes: Everyday Boundaries and Pastoral Excellence, examines clergy/congregation dynamics through the lenses of both self-psychology and family systems theory—clarifying how some obstacles to effective boundary setting are caused by personality tendencies that are exacerbated by stressful church environments. A perfect storm can occur when clergy vulnerabilities and systemic congregational anxiety interact, leading to burn-out and boundary problems which hinder pastoral excellence. This workshop is intended for clergy and laity and would be perfectly suited for members of Pastor Parish Relations Committees.

Live from Eden Theological Seminary: Part 2

Part 2 of 2 (Run time: 1 hour and 13 minutes)
Does your local church push back every time you set a boundary? Is your congregation having trouble playing nice? Is there a tendency to scapegoat? Does triangulation or parking lot processing happen a lot in your church? How do we learn as clergy and lay leaders to recognize anxiety in our congregational systems and keep communication above ground?

About Dr. Olsen

Dr. David Olsen is co-author of Saying No to Say Yes: Everyday Boundaries and Pastoral Excellence. In this video he introduces himself and sets up the reasons for writing the book with Nancy G. Devor.