Clergy Warm Line

The COVID-19 Pandemic, along with its disproportionate illness and death in communities of color, national economic instability, and our country’s reckoning with systemic racism and oppression, all converge to make pastoral ministry an immense challenge today. As well, if you are both clergy and a parent responsible for your child’s remote learning and care, these challenges must seem even more difficult; perhaps even overwhelming to navigate.

Many clergy report feelings of fatigue, worry, stress and all the anxiety which comes from uncertainty. Many feel the agitations of mind, spirit and emotions in performing the tasks of ministry in so many new ways: from wrestling with technology to the helplessness that comes when we can’t minister to others as we feel called to do. Still other clergy report feelings of outright depression, hopelessness, and despair.

talk to a trained and experienced counselor

These are challenging times for clergy. You may be experiencing stress, anxiety, worry and fatigue. You are not alone. Confidential help & support is available through the Clergy Warm Line.

Find out more

Accessing the Warm-Line

Call to speak with a counselor

We offer the opportunity to talk to a trained, licensed and experienced counselor who can listen to you, accompany you, support you, and also refer you to additional help, if indicated. Simply call the telephone number below, and you will be directed to a caring, competent, experienced and wise counselor to offer you help and referrals. You can speak to the person on the phone, but can also switch over to a video call.

Our Counselors

Our counselors are Psychologists, Social Workers and Licensed Professional Counselors. Some, in addition to being counselors, are also clergy. All counselors will let you know this when you call. You can also check our calendar below to see which counselor is staffing the Warm Line on a particular day.

Our Counselors who are not clergy:

Kasi LeGrand, MSW, LCSW

Our Counselors who are also clergy:

Kathleen Bishop, PhD, MFT

Gregory Wilson, LCSW

How to reach us

To speak with a counselor, please call us during our regular hours of operation at ‪609-365-WARM (9276‬). Calls received outside of these times will be returned on the next day that we have regular hours.

Regular Hours of Operation:

Wednesdays 10 am- 12 noon

Fridays 4 pm - 6pm

If you are experiencing a mental health emergency, please call 911 or contact the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.

Confidentiality

We value you privacy so that you can feel comfortable discussing whatever is on your mind with the Warm Line counselor. Here is information about Warm Line confidentiality:

Although we are a Ministry of the Dioceses of Newark & New Jersey, neither the Dioceses nor the Bishops have access to information about your call - that you had called or what you discussed.
Information you share is only kept in the individual private practice files of the specific counselor you speak with and is protected by the privacy laws of the State of New Jersey. Counselors do NOT have access to other counselors' records and Warm Line does not keep a list of callers or caller records.
Counselors who are also clergy, however, are bound by canon to report Title IV violations - this is NOT true for lay counselors. You have the option to to speak with a counselor who is not clergy, where this canon would NOT apply (see list of non-clergy/lay counselors above).
If you share with your counselor (lay or clergy) that you are suicidal; homicidal; or abusing children, the elderly, or a disabled person; the clinician is required by NJ law to report this to the proper authority.