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ORUM O n t h e M i n i s t r y to Y o u t h

A READER writes . . .

I have just finished devouring your December issue, which came yesterday. Each of the major articles and the edi- toi'ial has been helpful, and I have read each one at least twice! Though I had not realized it, this was one issue for which I had been waiting, and it has been of inestimable help to me in my thinking. I would say that this is es- pecially true of the articles by Le- Fevre, Snyder, Ritchie, and Kittlaus, and Dr. Hiltner's editorial. Thank you so much for planning this issue and for being willing to carry these plans into concrete results.

There is one area of the ministry to youth which your collective articles did not do justice, I was disappointed to find. I am especially conscious of this since I am giving most of my present service to the field--that of Christian camping. Of Course, Dodder men- tioned it (page 30) and Ritchie spoke several times about it (pages 35, 36, 39). I have the distinct feeling, how- ever, that these~men in each case were speaking of a summer conference and not of real :camping. I t is precisely be-

cause the churches have been doing so much conferencing under the title of camping that I am writing, because I believe that it is in real camping that so much of what was described as desired in relationships with young people can come about. That is to say, I believe that the churches have been missing much that is desirable by having the large group conferences instead of the small group camping, because it is here that the close personal relationships are more possible which better enable youth to move toward authenticity and spiritual maturity. We in the churches are now waking up to this and begin- ning to move into this kind of camp- ing, while still using much of the con- ference program and the very real val- ues still available in that kind of pro- gram.

If you would be at all interested in this, I would be willing t o work up some materialwhich would lead to an article dealing with the opportunities of youth's religio-psychicat growth through Christian camping experi- ences. My credentials are a B.S. from Davidson College and a B.D. and Th.M. from Union Theological Semi- nary in Richmond, Virginia. The lat- ter was taken Under William B. Ogles- by, Professor of Pastoral Counseling, in the field of personality de'celopment

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under the guidance of church and home. After this, I served as pastor of two small churches in Eastern North Carolina for four years before coming to this work in March of this year. I have long wanted to contribute some- thing to your magazine, and feel that it is in this field that I may be able to serve best my ministerial brethren by writing.

Again, let me express my apprecia- tion for your work in this and all is- sues, and continued good wishes to your ministry through this magazine.

--JACK STEVENSON Camp Calvin (The Atlanta Presbytery Camp and Conference Center) Hampton, Georgia

Preventive Measures for The Clergy

A R E A D E R in G r e a t B r i t a i n w r i t e s . . .

May I take this opportunity to ex- press my continued appreciation for the journal and for the excellent edi- torial handling of the materials. One would not be wise to state that he found himself in agreement with all of the ideas advanced therein, but I find no difficulty whatsoever in say- ing that I do agree with the approach the journal takes (in general) toward awakening and enlightening the clergy and kindred workers in the daily issue of vital consequence which confront all those interested in fostering better huntan relations.

At present I am engaged in com- pleting the requirements for the Ph.D. in the Psychology of Religion at the University of St. Andrews (Scotland). I have just completed a year of study, research, and clin~caI activity at the University of London and the Tavis- tock Clinic (London). Not only have

I derived much help and even inspira- tion from PASTORAL PSYCHOLOGY since undertaking this research, but I have also seen how up-to-date much of its content is even from the clinical (psy- choanalytic psychiatry) standpoint. I do feel, however, that the journal could give some more attention to preventive measures which the clergy and allied workers could utilize. I refer particu- larly to the matter of child develop- ment and the related aspect of preven- tive mental health. As I see it, the clergyman in particular stands on a frontier where his role is most impor- tant in terms of making a definite con- tribution toward fostering the healthy personality development of the children and youth who are born into and continue to live as part of the families which constitute the given parish he serves. This is not to deny the vital place the clergyman fills in some ther- apeutic and supportive measures which are his particular specialty. Even as he deals with adults and sees them expe- rience more and more the abundant life, he is giving himself to preventive acts, in that healthy adults (emotion- ally) will be more likely the parents of healthy children. It has been well said that to "train up a child in the way he should go" one must first have gone that way himself.

--EvERE~T V. RENEER St. Marys College St. Andrews, Scotland