Author: Jim Hayes

June 2017 – A reflection by Jim Hayes, Executive Director, Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center

*

I have spent a good bit of my life exploring the notion of vocation. Think of this as your answer to the question, “What should I do with my life.” A book that I have found helpful along the way is Brian Mahan’s, Forgetting Ourselves on Purpose: Vocation and the Ethics of Ambition.  Among the author’s many findings in the succinct composition is that giving our time to others enlivens us—draws us closer to the experience of being fully alive.

In other words, volunteering is good for us on many levels.

Many of you involved in the work of the Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center already know this. People offer countless hours to our organization and other worthwhile causes and organizations. I encounter these generous spirits almost daily. Board members who give of their time to make sure we have what we need to fulfill our mission. Staff who offer time to one another to study cases in order to continually improve as clinicians. Donors who attend events or enter into conversations with others to promote the importance of our work. Most recently, witnessing the commitment of the Women Helping Women Committee devote hours of energy to achieve record breaking resources to help us serve our clients most in need. If you could have been a fly on the wall of those committee meetings, you would have seen a group of people fully alive.

Volunteering at the Center is tricky business. We want to respect the privacy of the many clients were serve as we go about our daily work. Thus, we don’t have as many direct service opportunities as, say a food pantry. I have asked others to explore with me how we can imagine possibilities for volunteerism at the Center—for a number of reasons:

• Volunteering is good for you, and we’re all about hope and healing for all. Thinking of others and giving of our time for others helps to diminish some of our daily concerns.
• We are a non-profit, so often struggling for the resources necessary for daily operations
• Some of our corporate partners from whom we seek sponsorships require volunteer opportunities for their employees at the non-profits with whom they partner as those employers also recognize the value of volunteerism and community engagement
• Volunteers tend to be more deeply committed to the organizations they serve
• A community of volunteers is just that—a community. Gathering volunteers occasionally will build up our sense of community at the Center.

Conversations about this topic have generated some great ideas on how we might expand appropriate volunteer opportunities at the Center. If this list of examples sparks other ideas for you, please send them my way.

• A volunteer coordinator to help organize and recognize volunteers at the Center
• Data entry
• Volunteer receptionists who can cover for short periods of time in order to free up our excellent administrative staff to do training or other needs that might take them away from their very important “front of house” duties
• Simple maintenance jobs around the Center
• Landscape work. As we continue to grow into our building, our landscape plan matures and is often in need of tender loving care. We would love to have some folks “adopt a garden.” We need immediate help in this area. We’re also exploring spring and fall clean up days as events to bring people together to celebrate and support our work
• Board subcommittees. We have many needs on these committees which require expertise. Examples are finance, human resources, fund development and community engagement
• Board of Directors

These are just a few examples. We’ll continue to provide such examples and are certainly open to other opportunities or gifts. Send me your ideas, or even better, let me know which of these opportunities are of interest.

Some of these needs can be met through capital campaigns and fund development. We shall continue to work hard on that. I am of the conviction that it is not only the sharing of treasure that makes us stronger, but in the sharing of our time and talents that we find our way to the fullness of life—by forgetting ourselves on purpose.

We celebrate and are grateful for the many ways people help us to serve others in our mission to bring hope and healing through counseling and education.

Jim

*

Read more from Jim’s blog: dmpcc.org/Jim

April 2017 – A reflection by Jim Hayes, Executive Director, Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center

*

6 April 1972. Ring a bell?

That date, 45 years ago, was when the Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center was formally incorporated. How do I know this? One of the first things Ellery Duke (executive director 1976 – 2016) provided me when I arrived in December 2016 was a faded and only slightly tattered copy of the board of directors’ minutes of the first four years of the Center.

It’s a great read, thanks to Glenna Evans, who was the secretary for all those meetings. She has a distinctive voice and wry wit as she captures some of the drama of our first years. The document begins with a thematic “This is Your Life” summary, based on the popular TV show of the day.

I often think of Glenna, of Dr. Ray Martin, our Founder and all the others who have made this mission possible—and vibrant. Reflecting on their efforts inspires gratitude. We had cupcakes at our April staff meeting to commemorate the 45^th.  As our 50^th anniversary arises on the horizon of our consciousness, I hope that we can put together a quality history of the many great stories of hope and healing that occurred over the decades. We’ll also need to have an appropriate celebration on or around 6 April 2022. Pencil it in!

Until then, thank you again for the many ways you support us and inspire our mission.

Jim

*

Read more from Jim’s blog: dmpcc.org/Jim

“Start where you are, with what you have. Make something of it and never be satisfied.” -George Washington Carver

January 2017 – I am so grateful to begin work here at the Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center. I thank those I have already met for the many ways you have welcomed me to this talented place. One of my first steps in taking on my new role is to listen to the wisdom of the community. I am meeting with staff, board members, donors and various constituencies in the community who have a stake in our success. I have also been privileged to have a good bit of time with Ellery before his official retirement.

All of these rich conversations reminded me of the above Carver quote. He is near the top of my pantheon of influences for a number of reasons. First, he attended Simpson College and Iowa State University, my most recent places of employment. Next, his steadfast hope in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles, which was based in a vision of potential and opportunity rather than despair. Finally, he was a person of action. In another famous quote, he states: “No individual has any right to come into the world and go out of it without leaving behind him distinct and legitimate reasons for having passed through it.”

As we begin the next chapter of the inspiring history of the Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center, my heart is filled with gratitude. Let me borrow Carver’s quote to explain why:

Start where you are…

The Center began in April, 1972—nearly 45 years ago. The leadership and commitment of all involved in this work is truly inspiring. What began as a simple idea at First United Methodist Church and the vision of Dr. Ray Martin, has blossomed into this wonderful organization that brings hope and healing into the lives of so many. I have the privilege of following a man of many gifts, Ellery Duke. As the board put it in the search process, it’s a vibrant organization, so don’t break it! No pressure.

with what you have.

My life has been filled with blessings and generous people, beginning with my family. My retired parents passed along the gifts of faith and core values which have served me well. Dad was a mechanic and Mom a school teacher. They taught us the value of hard work and the potential for education to make for a fulfilled life. I took that to heart in my studies. As my dean at Simpson once said, “Jim has more degrees than a thermometer.” I am most proud of the instilled value to serve others and seek justice. It is one of the reasons I made the move to the Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center. I am inspired by the commitment made at all levels of this institution to make sure that quality services are available to anyone seeking hope and healing.

Make something of it and never be satisfied.

I look forward to meeting folks throughout our service region to better understand how the Center is already in a position of strength, but also to think strategically about how to marshal our resources in such a way that we can make an even bigger impact on the people and places touched by brokenness or despair. Healing and hope are as needed today as they have ever been. George Washington Carver understood that. I am excited to take on my new role at DMPCC to join all of you in sharing in this important mission.

Jim

*

James E. Hayes, D.Min., M.Div.,  is the Executive Director of the Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center. For his bio and links to his posts, please see dmpcc.org/Jim