Valerie Ling 0:00

So we've been going for about three weeks now and the podcast is really getting out there . If you're listening to this for the first time , welcome . So it started a little bit like this . I sat at home and had this kind of idea that went like , hey , wouldn't it be great to do a podcast based on some research findings that I had come across from my own assignment for a Masters of Leadership degree , and knowing very little , almost to nothing , about podcast recording , I just launched into it , not thinking too much about how to do it , what to do about it and what it was all going to be about . And hey presto , we have the clergy well-being down under podcast and it turns out that we have been able to record up to 12 episodes . Now , you know , I really only intended to do it for a very short time . It was just something that popped into my head and I thought let's just do it . But the interviews keep coming . So here's a bit of a heads up .

Valerie Ling 1:10

The podcast will constitute interviews of all kinds of different people from all around the world . Mainly , these are people who are either researchers in the well-being for pastors space , they might be practitioners , as in they have lived experience of being in ministry . Maybe they've written a book about well-being in ministry or even that topic called burnout , but it also could be from the wider Christian community who really want to see the gospel going out and for gospel workers to be healthy and thriving . So you might even hear from some people from the missions scene . Beyond that , I have no idea who else will come on .

Valerie Ling 1:56

Sometimes it'll be good news , as in some positive things about ministry well-being , and sometimes , probably most of the time , it will be about the challenges and difficulties that we experience . And that is largely because that's what my research is about and that's what my interest is about being a clinical psychologist in the space . Most of the time I am seeing that percentage of people in ministry who are struggling . But I do hope that it will provide a taste , a bit of empathy , for what it is like for some of us who are in ministry , where it is a hard slog and it is not always easy , and that it might provide a degree of compassion and empathy and a voice to say , hey , let's encourage one another , let's not assume that we're all having the same experiences . So I'm really excited for you to tune in for the next few episodes . They're going to be more lived experiences . Stay tuned , catch you later .