A Time to Heal
July 1, 1999
Standing at the Denver airport, Peter and Barbara Jensen decided to splurge and rent a convertible. Their next stop was Wal-Mart, where they bought a John Denver tape. With the car top down, they popped in the cassette and headed into the Rockies to let the wind, the mountains, and Marble Retreat bring some healing. Barbara, the talker of the two, could hardly wait to get to Marble, a center "for ministers in crisis." She knew she had a number of issues to work through, and she was anxious to "get fixed." Peter didn't know what to expect. "I wasn't apprehensive," said Peter in a recent interview. "I didn't know what was going to happen, but based on what little I knew, I wasn't fearful." Peter is unusual. For many exhausted, struggling, strung-out pastors, the idea of going to a retreat center for pastors is even more stress producing: What exactly goes on at those places? Will it help someone like me? Is it the touchy-feely sort of thing that makes me so uncomfortable? LEADERSHIP often features articles by specialists in ministry to pastors, as well as periodically listing some of the leading clergy-care ministries (see here). Here we go deeper and accompany one couple through the experience. The Jensen's story is not "typical." Each pastoral couple is unique. Still, hearing one couple's story (identifying details have been changed to protect their privacy) at one retreat center (here details have not been changed) will let you know what to expect. This case: a slow betrayal
When I interviewed the Jensens, Peter had just moved to a new church six months earlier. What had prompted them to go to Marble? It wasn't adultery or embezzlement or a dramatic scandal. It was a common case of a church betraying its pastor. At Peter's previous ...
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