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Introducing The Center and its Programs

More than 7,000 persons have consulted with the Center for Ministry since its founding in Oakland in 1970. Originally established to serve church professionals, the program has been broadened to include seminarians and professionals from many occupations.

Career Counseling is a process designed to help you shape the direction of your life and career, given your own capabilities and potential. At key points in your life (early career, mid-career, nearing retirement), career counseling can help you take charge of your life in a firmer, more focused way.

 

Click Here to Read What Clients Say About Their Experience at the Center for Ministry

Group Programs

Center staff members provide leadership to regional conferences and retreats, facilitate multiple staff conferences, lead seminars and workshops on topics related to pastoral care, and do crisis intervention with church leaders. They frequently conduct candidates' workshops for those seeking ordination through their denominations.

At the Center or at other locations, staff members are available to conduct group programs on such themes as career exploration, consultations with church leaders on management styles, marriage enrichment programs, clergy couple labs, pre-retirement planning, and outplacement services.

Click here for more information on these special programs (this will open a separate browser).

The Staff's View

The heart of the entire process is the quality of dialogue that takes place between you and your counselor, strengthened by the interpretation of carefully selected testing instruments and input from the clinical psychologist.

Rigorous confidentiality is absolutely insured. No information about you will be released to any other person or agency without your written permission.

The Center Staff

Counselors hold graduate degrees in theology and psychology or counseling. Their experience includes parish ministry, career counseling, pastoral counseling, clinical psychology, and education. All are licensed by the State of California.

 

The Center staff custom-designs programs that will help participants:

Analyze abilities and most satisfying achievements.

Identify personality characteristics leading to a better "fit" in work situations. If a major transition looms, career counseling can help persons maintain perspective and avoid panic.

Develop a unique profile of strengths, weaknesses, motivations, values, and other factors that provide clues for career directions.

Organize career goals and lay plans for the future, including continuing education or study leaves, techniques to deal with stress management and burnout, other ways to improve life and health, possible career changes, or pre-retirement planning.

These factors critically affect the level of satisfaction everyone feels in their chosen careers.

How the Program Works

The basic Two-Day Program focuses intensively on one person. The Three-Day Program involves your spouse or partner, with joint career evaluation where dual careers are involved. For couples, the Center staff feels that involving both spouses is so crucially important that this option is made available at less than the actual cost. Click here for more information on the Two-and Three-Day Programs.

Candidates for church vocations may participate in one of several different Center programs, depending upon the requirements of their committees. All include advance work. Click here for more information on programs for candidates.

All clients work with one counselor who has reviewed preliminary materials (detailed autobiography, testing, medical reports, and references). The Two-Day and Three-Day Programs may sometimes include an interview with one of the Center's consulting clinical psychologists to explore personal needs. The testing tools assess interests, personality, and values as they relate to ministry or other occupations.

Retirement Planning will help you anticipate, plan, and shape your own retirement. For couples, participation together is very helpful and strongly advised. Although retirement planning can begin at any age, for clergy it usually begins in their early fifties. The fee for this professional church leader two-day individual program is $2,095. For the three-day couples program, the fee is $2,795.

Transitions is a program for persons in ministry who need to find other work but are confused about what to do and how to best find a job.

2008 fees

 

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