ABSTRACT
The clergyman's sacred functions are usually considered the core of his role. The more supportive counseling function is, in this view, an instrument through which the individual is helped to achieve his human potential and hence to receive the greatest benefit from religion. Social workers and social scientists sometimes consider the clergyman "too judgmental" to be a successful counselor, but their objection seems ill-founded. Clergymen, on the whole, are the most approachable of all regulative agents. The majority of clergymen referred clients who had difficult role failure problems and problems that required specialized expertise, such as illness or unwed motherhood. The most popular target services were medical, followed by counseling and income maintenance services, especially the Welfare Department. From his front-line position in the regulative system, the clergyman offered a diffuse, supportive service, but not without suffering from strains inherent in his role.
