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Clergy often tend to those in their care not only spiritually but emotionally. They are often expected to be on call 24/7. On Feb. 17 in Hurst, Texas, clergy from across the Horizon Texas Conference gathered for Clergy Covenant Day 2026, an annual event dedicated to spiritual renewal, reunion and connection. 

This year’s theme, Renewed Daily, invited clergy to restore their covenant and renew their spirits for the year ahead. While the conference gathered in district locations through a shared simulcast experience, each site offered in-person fellowship, breakout conversations and shared meals. 

The Rev. Dr. Jean Stevenson-Moessner, professor of pastoral care and pastoral theology at º£½ÇÖ±²¥ Perkins School of Theology, represented the school as the guest speaker. Her presentation, “The Sermon I Never Heard,” offered theological reflection and pastoral invitation.  

Stevenson-Moessner shared insights from her presentation and her experience of the day.

A day for breath and pause

For Stevenson-Moessner, the weight clergy carry was evident, and so was the renewal that unfolded in the room. 

“Clergy can be some of the hardest-working people I know,” she said. “Those assigned to rural churches, in particular, may experience high demands and few resources.” 

Against that backdrop, Clergy Covenant Day served several purposes for attendees.  

“A renewal took place,” she reflected. “I felt it in the singing, the camaraderie at lunch, the voices of the praise team, the embraces of clergy who had not seen one another for a time. Clergy Covenant Day was a respite from church responsibilities, a slowing down, and evidence that no one must be alone in ministry.” 

She remembers the atmosphere vividly — reunions, hugs and the many expressions of happiness simply being together.  

For Stevenson-Moessner, the gathering stirred personal memories as well. Confirmed at Madison Heights Methodist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, she recalled formative figures and moments that shaped her faith. 

“It reminded me of my roots in the Methodist Church from birth to thirteen years of age,” she said. “There was Mrs. Proudfit, my Sunday School teacher, who taught me a love of the Scriptures in spite of our weekly memory verses and reciting of the names of all 66 books in the Bible. I first connected with God as Creator when my bean plant in a Dixie cup sprouted in the Sunday School window.” 

Most of all, she said, “I felt at home when a spirit of love and healthy abandon permeated the church.”

A third love

In her presentation, “The Sermon I Never Heard,” Stevenson-Moessner invited clergy to consider what she calls “the third mandate.” 

“I have heard many sermons on loving God and on loving neighbor,” she said. “To this day, I have never heard a sermon on loving myself. Yet the Bible makes it clear that there are three mandates, not two: ‘Love the Lord God with all your heart, mind, and soul, and your neighbor as yourself.’ There are three mandates, but I have never heard the third in any sermon.” 

Her concern is not theoretical. “Our ethics of caring are incomplete; many of us struggle with being loved, especially loving and caring for ourselves,” she said.  

Referencing research conducted in 1956 by theologians H. Richard Niebuhr, Daniel Day Williams and James Gustafson, she noted that the stated purpose of theological education centered on loving God and neighbor, but omitted the third dimension. 

“My core message was to claim that third mandate or commandment: loving ourselves,” she said. “This is certainly not to be confused with narcissism or selfishness. It is to begin to absorb the enormity of God’s extravagant and sacrificial love for me — even me. It is to bask in the gleam in the eyes of God for me — even me.” 

For clergy accustomed to self-giving service, that invitation can feel radical. Yet Stevenson-Moessner insists the three loves are inseparable.  

“This will result in a greater love of God and neighbor; the three loves are interconnected,” she said. 

Perkins present: A living legacy

Stevenson-Moessner’s presence at Clergy Covenant Day reflects Perkins School of Theology’s ongoing commitment to the church beyond the walls of the classroom. 

“Faculty at Perkins will most likely not have buildings named after them, or monuments or endowed chairs,” she said. “What we will have are living legacies in the lives and ministries of our former students.” 

In a vocation marked by constant giving, Clergy Covenant Day 2026 offered clergy a rare and sacred gift: time to pause, reconnect and remember that they, too, are beloved.