Frequently Asked Questions

Healthy Church Workers.org was put into Jim Otremba's heart while in prayer early in the morning. The idea was to have an online space for the spiritual, mental, physical, and relational health of lay and ordained church workers. The website contains free assessments and online resources to address a variety of issues that often plague ministers. The first online “Naming and Taming Compassion Fatigue." Lord willing, more classes and assesment will follow in the future.

“Naming and Taming Compassion Fatigue” uses a clinically accepted assessment tool call the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL) that reveals the people’s level of compassion fatigue. Ministers may then address their fatigue by receiving emails from Jim (for free) for 3 weeks, or by purchasing the online classes from the comfort of their own home. At the end of classes the person will be asked to take the assessment again. With the Holy Spirit’s blessing, the assessment score will be lower, compassion fatigue will be reduced, and most importantly, a measure of joy and peace in the ministry will be returned to them.

The assessment tool takes five to six minutes to complete. Following that, there are six online classes designed to enhance health and well-being. Each class features a 30-minute PowerPoint by Jim and a corresponding PDF document that can be printed out so the participant may better integrate the information into life. Once you take a class you are encouraged to work on the assignments for that week. Once seven days have gone by, the next class will be available to watch. Classes must be watched in sequence, a person can’t skip ahead. As stated above, people may work at their own pace.

When you click on “take the assessments” you will need to set up a username and password. It is an easy process and only takes about 50 seconds and ensures that the data you enter in can be recorded so that you can see your progress through the upcoming months.

Jim Otremba has been married to his best friend, Maureen, since 1995, and has been a part-time stay-at-home dad since 1999. Along with Maureen, he is a frequent presenter of retreats and workshops for ministers around the U.S. Jim holds an M.Div, a Masters degree in Applied Psychology and is finishing his Doctoral degree in Psychology. Jim has been licensed in Minnesota to provide therapy since 1997 and owns and stewards a mental health center in St. Cloud, MN: www.thecenterforfamilycounseling.com

He received his coaching training in 2001 and has worked as a coach and therapist with ordained and lay Church workers from the MN North, South District (as well as other Districts) since 2010. When he is not creating, teaching, or researching, he loves spending time with his family hiking, kayaking, hanging out, simply enjoying the outdoors, or watching good movies. He and Maureen are parents of seven children in heaven and three young adult children on earth and know the joys and challenges of special needs parenting.

If you want to purchase the Naming and Taming Compassion Fatigue and Negative Stress class alone it costs $19.95. If you want to have your parish sign up for a monthly subscription that is also available at $29.95 per month. With a monthly subscription, up to 30 staff of your parish can access the assessments and course any time they want and work on lowering their compassion fatigue and negative stress from the comfort of their homes.