Rev. Dr. Frederick (Jerry) Streets has a distinguished career as a parish minister and faculty member in graduate theological and social work education. A pastoral counselor, licensed clinical social worker, and member of the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma, Dr. Streets has worked with the clergy, primary care and mental health professionals delivering pastoral care and clinical social work services in the United States, Bosnia, Italy, Dominica, and South Africa.
Dr. Streets is the former Chaplain of Yale University and Senior Fulbright Scholar in the Department of Practical Theology and the Department of Social Work and Criminology at the University of Pretoria in Pretoria, South Africa. His parish ministry spans 43 years of service respectively as Senior Pastor of the Mount Aery Baptist Church in Bridgeport, CT, the Church of Christ in Yale University and the Dixwell Avenue Congregational United Church of Christ in New Haven, CT. He is now Professor of Divinity and Social Work at Yale University Divinity School.
COVID-19 forced clergy to attend to the needs of their congregations in new ways. But it also encouraged them to look again at how they attended to their own needs. Self-awareness and self-care are often imperative for clergy well-being, which in turn affects the well-being of their congregations. During the pandemic, clergy gained new insight into how they were “being”—how they might access internal and external resources that allowed them to thrive not only as pastors but also beyond their professional role.
This book is based on multifaceted surveys of clergy personal responses to the pandemic. It encourages readers to consider the importance of an ethic of clergy well-being. Its practical examples and self-care protocol for clergy are intended to foster discussion within individual contexts. This is an important read for clergy, lay leaders, denominational stewards, and seminary and divinity school students and faculty as they engage in discerning the future needs of leaders of the church.
Read the article “Multiple commitments, one calling: The ministry life of Jerry Streets” by Justin Harmon, published July 21, 2021 on the Yale Divinity School website
Again ©
Rev. Dr. Frederick J. Streets
frederick.streets@yale.edu
www.jerrystreets.org
We will laugh again, without caution.
We will smile again, without constraint.
We will embrace again, without defense.
We will speak again, without muted sounds.
We will, again, side by side, look at the stars.
Again, we will gather in places and spaces unsoiled by our anxiety and fear.
We will freely breathe deeply, again.
We will dance again with our cheeks close enough to hear our whispering to one another.
We will mourn again, openly.
We will greet each other again closely, without suspicion.
Children will hug us again.
And we will hug children, again.
We will invite solitude, again.
We will imagine again without desperation.
We will again feel the joy that hope brings.
We will play together again.
We will sing together again.
We will cheer together again.
We will pray together again.
We will feel each other’s hands and arms,
Again, tomorrow.
Tomorrow, again.
Articles & News
Community-based participatory research with Black people and Black scientists: the power and the promise
The Lancet Psychiatry Volume 11, Issue 1, January 2024, Pages 75–80, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(23)00338-3
Alfiee Breland-Noble, Frederick J Streets, and Ayana Jordan
Clergy Wellbeing survey interview, on Soundcloud and Apple Podcasts
– https://soundcloud.com/yaleuniversity/clergy-wellbeing-preventing-burnout-and-promoting-self-care?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
– https://podcasts.apple.com/ae/podcast/yale-religion/id341654959
Faith Matters: Protect the hope that is within us
https://www.nhregister.com/religion/article/Faith-Matters-Protect-the-hope-that-is-within-us-15397074.php
Video: Mental Health Needs of College Students: https://www.dropbox.com/s/kt7rfred1yfn8hc/Mental%20Health%20Matters%20Final%20Video.mp4?dl=0
Article: The complex care of a torture survivor in the United States:
The case of “Joshua” in Torture, Volume 30, Number 1, 2020.
Voices of the Civil Rights Movement: Rev. Dr. Frederick Jerome Streets
https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/community/voices-of-the-civil-rights-movement-rev-dr-frederick-jerome-streets/2223239/?_osource=db_npd_nbc_wvit_eml_shr
In times of crisis, Keep close eye on children
https://www.ctinsider.com/opinion/nhregister/article/In-time-of-crisis-keep-close-eye-on-children-14283906.php
If not forgiveness, then compassion
https://www.nhregister.com/opinion/article/Forum-If-not-forgiveness-then-compassion-13670684.php
Faith Matters: The grace of God
https://www.nhregister.com/opinion/article/Faith-Matters-The-grace-of-God-13637817.php
New Podcast:January, 2019: Howard Thurman: Universal Love
http://blog.sutra.co/2019/01/14/jerry-streets-on-universal-love-in-practice/
Forum: The Spiritual Child. New Haven Register. Tuesday, May 18, 2017.
https://www.nhregister.com/columns/article/Forum-The-Spiritual-Child-11312404.php
Faith Matters: Hope. New Haven Register. Saturday, April 22, 2017
https://www.nhregister.com/columns/article/Faith-Matters-Hope-is-what-faith-in-God-generates-11309694.php
Starting An Urgent Conversation. Reflections: A Magazine of Theological and Ethical Inquiry. Yale University Divinity School.
Norwalk Community College. Norwalk, Ct.
The Rev. Dr. Frederick J. Streets has been invited to teach an introductory course on African American history at Norwalk Community College. This is the first time such a course has been offered at NCC.
December 4, 2011
The Rev. Dr. Frederick J. Streets is the Senior Pastor of the historic Dixwell Avenue Congregational United Church of Christ in New Haven, Connecticut.
October 4, 2011
New Book Chapter Publication; E-Book
“Religion, Spirituality and Faith,” in Global Mental Health and Recovery: A companion Guide For Field and Clinical Care of Traumatized People Worldwide. Dr. Richard Mollica, Editor. Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma. Available by Lulu.com
June 2009
Trusting yourself is important in taking care of yourself!
June 2009
Blog now available on blogspot.com