Clergy Wellness: An Assessment of Perceived Barriers to Achieving Healthier Lifestyles

This study sought to obtain a better understanding of how clergy view their health and to investigate their self-reported health status. Additionally, this study sought to explore personal and professional barriers among clergy to living a healthier life. An electronic 32-item survey was sent to all practicing clergy in Kansas East and West conferences of United Methodist church by the Kansas Area Office of the United Methodist Church. Survey items included participants’ demographic information and health conditions (e.g., diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol). The self-reported general health, mental health, and physical health data were also collected to compare to the general population in Kansas. Clergy were also asked to identify perceived barriers to health. A total of 150 clergy participated in the survey. The majority (93.7 %) self-reported their health as good, very good, or excellent. Participating clergy self-reported a higher prevalence of chronic diseases (diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol) than the Kansas general population, but those differences were not statistically significant. More than three-fourths (77.4 %) of the participating clergy reported weights and heights that classified them as either overweight or obese. Lack of family time was the most frequently reported personal barrier to achieving a healthier lifestyle. An unpredictable work schedule was reported as the most frequent professional barrier to achieving a healthier lifestyle. This study suggests that Kansas clergy generally view their overall health status favorably despite being overweight or obese. Clergy also self-reported higher prevalence of chronic diseases than the general Kansas population, though the prevalence was not statistically different. This study provides additional insight into clergy health and offers suggestions to address the barriers preventing clergy from working toward better health.     

Making Disciples: Obstacles and Opportunities in Urban Congregations

This article looks at the current theological understanding and practice of evangelism in the United Methodist Church. In the early 2000s, the denomination crafted and adopted the mission statement “Make Disciples of Jesus Christ for the Transformation of the World.” As someone who has worked at both the local church and denominational levels of the United Methodist Church, I have seen a gap between the denomination's stated mission and the actual ministry of local churches due to two primary obstacles. Congregations are unsure of what it entails to make disciples and do not understand that the purpose is for the transformation of the world. Through interviews and the study of local congregations, impediments to fulfilling this statement emerged. The article concludes by offering an example of an outlier congregation that is effectively engaged in life‐affirming evangelism in an urban setting.     

Searching for salvation: An analysis of US religious searching on the World Wide Web

Ministerial itinerancy is characteristic of, although not exclusive to, the British Methodist Church. Rational choice theorists Finke and Starke have claimed that, historically, itinerancy has served to promote and reinforce instrumental commitment to the local church. This article develops and assesses a rational choice analysis of the effects of ministerial itinerancy on the organisational commitment of Methodist congregations and their ministers. It concludes that rational choice theory can only offer a partial analysis and fails to take into account less instrumental forms of organisational commitment. The article surveys the current debate within the Methodist Church about the future of ministerial itinerancy and suggests that the Church may be in the process of recognising that ‘moving ministers’ is not necessarily good at ‘moving congregations’ to embrace the national Church's priorities. The article predicts that itinerancy will remain an important feature, but not a defining characteristic, of the Methodist ministry and will no longer tend to ‘go with the job’.     

Working with potentially dangerous persons: What clergy need to know

This article addresses the increasing involvement of clergy in dangerous situations, particularly family violence. It provides a quick reference guide to assist clergy in assessing for the risk of potential violence with suggested interventions. In a society that is marked by unprecedented levels of violence and a shortage of mental health services, clergy are increasingly being confronted by dangerous situations that require expert crisis intervention skills. This article provides specific, concrete guidelines for clergy confronted by violence in ministry.The Earth is full of violence.Genesis 6:13This article is dedicated to the memory of The Reverend Harold M. Eads of Topeka, Kansas who was stabbed to death in his apartment on December 17, 1978 in East Harlem, New York where he served the poor and disinherited as a United Methodist minister.     

First look: what brings clergy candidates into ministry and what happens when they don't get it

This article reports on a retrospective examination of all candidates for ordained ministry in Alabama-West Florida Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church from September 1995 to 1998. The results showed, contrary to expectations, that clergy in this annual conference are significantly more likely than the general population to become physically ill when placed under stress. One of the major stressors identified in this study was the likelihood that the clergy persons will not receive the high levels of affirmation and reinforcement they look for. The author presents some conclusions and suggestions both for action to change the predictions and for further research.     

Married with children: the experience of women ministers of word and sacrament in the United Reformed Church

The experience of women being admitted to full ministry has a much longer history within the Free Churches than in the Anglican Church, although from the way in which the Church of England debate on women priests and bishops has been reported this is often not acknowledged. The United Reformed Church (URC) has given equal access for men and women to ministry from the date of the union in 1972 between the Congregational Church and the Presbyterian Church. Both denominations have a long history of women in ministry. This paper examines the experience of 50 URC clergywomen who combine marriage, children and ministry to explore their experience of ministry, marriage and motherhood. The findings demonstrate that, overall, the women’s experience is mixed, although the general expectation among congregations and moderators is that women are the primary care‐givers within the family. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Children of the parsonage

This article reports on a retreat and survey done with twenty-three youth, all of whom were children of clergy in the Louisville Annual Conference, the United Methodist Church. It explores their opinions and attitudes toward various facets of parsonage life, including general satisfaction, parsonage moves, family and church expectations, etc. It discusses the need for increased study of parsonage children and outlines common features of their experience.Robert M. Stevenson received his Ph.D. in Theology and Personality from the School of Theology at Claremont. He is the Director of Pastoral Care and Counseling for the Louisville Conference, the United Methodist Church. Reprint requests should be addressed to him at 134 Chestnut St., Bowling Green, KY 42101.     

The Life of Leaders: An Intensive Health Program for Clergy

Clergy suffer from chronic disease rates that are higher than those of non-clergy. Health interventions for clergy are needed, and some exist, although none to date have been described in the literature. Life of Leaders is a clergy health intervention designed with particular attention to the lifestyle and beliefs of United Methodist clergy, directed by Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare Center of Excellence in Faith and Health. It consists of a two-day retreat of a comprehensive executive physical and leadership development process. Its guiding principles include a focus on personal assets, multi-disciplinary, integrated care, and an emphasis on the contexts of ministry for the poor and community leadership. Consistent with calls to intervene on clergy health across multiple ecological levels, Life of Leaders intervenes at the individual and interpersonal levels, with potential for congregational and religious denominational change. Persons wishing to improve the health of clergy may wish to implement Life of Leaders or borrow from its guiding principles.     

Volunteering,social ministry and ethical-behavioural attitudes in post-Soviet Russian Orthodox Christianity

This article explores the principles of volunteer mobilisation in social ministry and diaconal practices in contemporary Russian Orthodoxy. I focus on the main types of faith-based volunteer associations, assistance organisations and official Orthodox centres of social ministry that recruit volunteers. While analysing the mechanisms of attracting volunteers and the types of motivations, I identified two main models of organising communities and social groups: an authoritarian-mystical model and a socially open one. Ethical-behavioural preferences and attitudes determine the motivation of volunteers, as do gender, confessional and ideological-political factors. The analysis is based on both empirical data obtained through interviews with parish priests, organisers of church-based assistance organisations and volunteer associations, and homiletic theological and moral-didactic literature produced within Russian Orthodox Church circles and in official Church documents. I also consider the motivation of volunteers and their ethical-behavioural attitudes in the Russian Orthodox theological context. The article also analyses theological approaches in Russian Orthodoxy, inspired by modern developments in psychology, including self-determination theory and psychological autonomy, as well as ‘humanitarian-anthropological theology’.     

Catholic health care: rationale for ministry.

This essay attempts to describe contemporary Catholic sponsored health care in the United States and to describe the purpose and structure of these particular Christian charitable organizations within the broader society. As health care has become more complex, critics claim that there is not a need for Catholic sponsored health care any longer. The author attempts to evaluate critically whether Catholic health care has a place in contemporary society. He reviews some salient biblical, ecclesial, and justice teachings of the Church to demonstrate why religious institutional presence is still needed. The author reviews contemporary health care structures to show how this is accomplished. He also uncovers additional issues which need to be addressed in order for these charitable institutions to carry on the ministry of the Church, to shape social structures, and to proclaim the reign of God.     

What Makes Good Ministry Good? Women in Ministry

Abstract

What are the special ethical issues faced by women in ministry? In this article conventional assumptions about ethics in ministry, taken from the work of Gaylord Noyce, are compared with the experiences, attitudes and expectations of ordered and lay members of the Anglican Church of Canada and the United Church of Canada in two Canadian regions. The similarities and differences are then explored in conjunction with more contemporary theories. Conventional approaches to pastoral ethics and women in ministry limit concern to issues of discrimination in wages, employment and advancement. This article concludes that while such discrimination exists, it is not nearly as great a concern for women as the fear of sexual harassment. This fear is not only great but well founded. The research supports the claim that for a woman to be engaged in good ministry, she is required to do it differently from men.     

Respect,Challenges, and Stress among Protestant Pastors Closing a Church: Structural and Identity Theory Perspectives

The number of American churches has been declining at a rate of about 1 to 2% per year, but this statistic hides the reality that in liberal, moderate denominations the number of churches that close is nearly three or four times the number that open. Despite this trend of decline, no one has studied how closing churches affects the pastor. What challenges does the pastor face when closing a church, and how do these challenges affect the pastor’s level of stress and well-being? The study draws on structural and identity theories to further our understanding of pastoral identity threats and ways that congregational and denominational support may ease a pastor’s burden. This research used a mail survey to explore the experiences of pastors who have experienced the closing of a church in any of five Protestant denominations (Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, and United Church of Christ). The research adds to our understanding of the context of ministry by highlighting not only the effects of clergy age and experience but also the congregational context and middle administrative body (judicatory) respect and support in the challenge and in the affirmation of pastoral identity through the process of closure and church death.     

Closeness to God Among Those Doing God’s Work: A Spiritual Well-Being Measure for Clergy

Measuring spiritual well-being among clergy is particularly important given the high relevance of God to their lives, and yet its measurement is prone to problems such as ceiling effects and conflating religious behaviors with spiritual well-being. To create a measure of closeness to God for Christian clergy, we tested survey items at two time points with 1,513 United Methodist Church clergy. The confirmatory factor analysis indicated support for two, six-item factors: Presence and Power of God in Daily Life, and Presence and Power of God in Ministry. The data supported the predictive and concurrent validity of the two factors and evidenced high reliabilities without ceiling effects. This Clergy Spiritual Well-being Scale may be useful to elucidate the relationship among dimensions of health and well-being in clergy populations.     

Reviving the Mainline: An Overview of Clergy Support for Evangelical Renewal Movements

Evangelical renewal movements (ERMs) are proliferating in the old Protestant mainline and they show few signs of splitting from their parent denominations. Ironically, the very theological pluralism that ERMs seek to eliminate has provided an opportunity for their entry and a barrier for their expulsion. This essay offers an introduction to the evangelical movements arising in the mainline and reports the initial findings from a survey of United Methodist clergy's involvement in ERMs. As expected, United Methodist clergy are predominantly older, white males leading small congregations. Surprisingly, however, fully 29 percent of the clergy do not have a seminary degree and more than half of those with seminary degrees did not attend United Methodist-affiliated schools—with 22 percent attending an evangelical seminary. The clergy involved in ERMs are younger, more likely to have attended evangelical seminaries (or no seminary at all), and hold more exclusive Christian beliefs. The survey also found that the once isolated evangelical clergy of the United Methodist Church are now embedded in evangelical associations and hold friendships with other evangelical clergy. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

A United Methodist approach to end-of-life decisions: intentional ambiguity or ambiguous intentions.

The position of the United Methodist Church on end-of-life decisions is best described as intentional ambiguity or ambiguous intentions or both. The paper analyzes the official position of the denomination and then considers the actions of a U.M.C. bishop who served as a foreman for a trial of Dr. Jack Kevorkian. In an effort to find some common ground within an increasingly divided denomination, the work concludes with a consideration of the work of John Wesley and his approach to human death.     

Gender and Sexuality in the Pastoral Encounter

Abstract

At the ‘Embodied Ministry: Gender, Sexuality and Formation’ conference at which the articles in this special issue were delivered, three people in active ministry in different denominations — United Reformed Church, Metropolitan Community Church and Roman Catholic — were invited to take part in a panel discussion on gender and sexuality in the pastoral encounter. Their remarks were originally delivered in this conversational context. Martin Pendergast chaired this panel discussion.     

Health counseling competencies needed by the minister

The purpose of this study was to characterize current health counseling practices of the Church of Christ minister and to identify areas of needed health counseling competencies which should be addressed during professional preparation of the minister. The subjects who made up the sample for this study came from the population of active local ministers of the Churches of Christ who resided in the states of Arkansas, California, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas.Specifically, it was found that the Church of Christ minister is most frequently called upon to offer counsel in the health-related areas of marital problems, patient counseling, death education, alcohol problems, drug use or abuse, and aging, respectively. It was also found that the majority of the ministers surveyed felt that their training for the ministry had not adequately prepared them to offer health counsel. The majority of the sample indicated that all health topics listed on the questionnaire should be required during initial preparation for the ministry. Other findings were also noted.     

Health care as an essential building block for a free society: the convergence of the Catholic and secular American imperative

As the twentieth century closes, marked by triumphal strides in medical advances, the American society has yet to ensure that each person has access to affordable health care. To correct this injustice, this article calls on the nation's political and corporate leaders, providers, and faith-based groups to join all Americans in a new national conversation on systemic health care reform. The Catholic faith tradition is one that compels both a proclamation to ministry values and a commitment to speak out against the challenges or threats to what are essential to the well-being of individuals and society. The Catholic health ministry must therefore be both a voice for the voiceless and an agent of transformation. The nation's goal should be to "reposition" health care from its status as an important, but ultimately optional building block to one that is essential.