(Editor's note: The following was a statement released by the Pastoral Care and Counseling Committee regarding changes in staff)
SPRINGFIELD -- On July 31, Shauna Summers will finish her part-time position as the PCC Transitional Coordinator for IGRC. Her part-time duties (since Nov. 1, 2020) have mainly been managing the Clergy Assistance Program. On August 1, Rev. Dr. Curt Keller will begin managing this Clergy Assistance Program.
Managing the CAP includes working with SupportLinc to oversee how the program is being used. Keller will also act as a liaison between SupportLinc and our clergy and their families who are using the program in case there are any issues. SupportLinc provides six free sessions of counseling per person, per issue, per year.
Curt Keller currently serves Hudson UMC as their pastor. Keller retired from being a licensed marriage and family therapist in January after seeing clients for 30 years. If you have questions about your benefits from SupportLinc, you can reach Curt at ckeller58@hotmail.com or 309-202-2496. (Keller has been serving on the PCC committee for several years and is on the PCC executive team as an officer.)
SupportLinc is not meant to provide free long-term therapy or counseling. It is for short-term assistance. However, sometimes an individual may decide to continue seeing the same counselor he/she found through SupportLinc. When you call SupportLinc for assistance, they will try to find you a counselor who accepts your insurance in case you decide later to continue seeing that provider. For more information, go to https://www.supportlinc.com/ or call 888-881-LINC (5462).
The PCC committee wishes to thank Shauna Summers for her years of service to the clergy and their families in our conference. She began as a part-time employee of IGRC, and a couple of years later became full-time which eventually gave her the opportunity for more one-on-one time with clergy who needed to talk or desired to do counseling with her. Shauna resigned her IGRC position as of October 31, 2020 to go into private practice as a licensed counselor. She offered to continue part-time for nine months.
A new PCC Coordinator has not been hired because the new IGRC staff position, Director of Ministerial Excellence, approved at the 2021 Annual Conference will likely include some aspects of what the PCC Coordinator formerly did. Currently, the chair of the PCC committee is Judy Vidakovich (retired clergy). Other members of PCC are listed here https://www.igrc.org/pcc-committee with some pictured and the ex officio members listed at the bottom.