Clergy divorce and remarriage

The incidence of clergy divorce and remarriage requires a rethinking of the church's position when the divine intent for marriage is not fulfilled. A ministry to clergy couples and families marked by truth and grace can lead to a restoration of persons and an effecting of constructive ministries for clergy who have themselves been restored.Dr. Brown is Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary, CN 821, Princeton, New Jersey 08540. She is currently serving as the Chairperson of the Theological and Social Concerns Committee of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors.     

Knowledge of Aging Among Clergy

A standard Facts on Aging Quiz was administered to 140 ordained ministers representing five Protestant denominations as well as Catholics and Jews. Their mean score reflected an accuracy rate of 66 percent, while a subscore indicated a high pro-aging bias. A comparison reveals clergy's level of knowledge of aging is no better than that of a criterion group of undergraduates. There is a suggestion clergy's high pro-aging bias may be unrealistic and thus militate against effective intervention on behalf of the elderly.     

Clergy wives of the new generation

This article describes the changes that are occurring in the lives of wives of ministers, the difficulties and satisfactions they are experiencing, the issues they are confronting. It presents the thesis that the crucial change in the past 15 years for wives of ministers is that they no longer derive their primary identity from being ministers' wives, and therefore they are less involved in their husbands' ministries and more focused on their own issues and careers.Dr. Niswander is a pastoral counselor and senior staff member of the Pastoral Psychotherapy Institute, 1580 N. Northwest Highway, Park Ridge, Illinois 60068. She has been the wife of a United Methodist minister for 27 years and was recently ordained by that denomination as an elder herself. She has led retreats, workshops and study groups for wives of ministers as well as counseling them professionally.     

Clergy Burnout: Two Different Measures

A modified form of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was used alongside the Francis Burnout Inventory’s two scales—the Scale of Emotional Exhaustion in Ministry (SEEM) and the Satisfaction in Ministry Scale (SIMS)—and the shorter form of Eysenck’s Revised Personality Questionnaire. The respondents were Anglican clergy in England and Wales in their seventh year in ministry. SEEM and SIMS were shown to map onto the same personality constructs as the MBI. This suggests that the Francis Burnout Inventory can be used satisfactorily to measure clergy burnout.     

Clergy-Congregation Mismatches and Clergy Job Satisfaction

Clergy are sometimes matched with congregations that are not as liberal or conservative as they are. We develop two arguments that predict different effects of clergy-congregation mismatches in theological conservatism/liberalism on clergy job satisfaction. One argument predicts no effect of a mismatch on job satisfaction because clergy have been socialized to expect challenges and frustrations in their ministry. The other argument predicts a reduction in clergy job satisfaction because of the clergy-congregation conflict produced by the theology mismatch. National data ( N = 2,467) from two Protestant denominations are used to test these two hypotheses. We find support for the conflict argument: theology mismatches do produce clergy job dissatisfaction, net of numerous other factors. However, this happens only when the minister is more liberal (not more conservative) than the congregation. Additional analysis also showed that these mismatched clergy are more likely to intend to leave their current churches.     

Black Clergy in the 2000 Elections

Using survey data collected on African Methodist Episcopal and Church of God in Christ clergy, this article finds that black clergy are strongly supportive of their roles as community leaders. However, there are differences along denominational lines in terms of how they interpret their role, in their policy preferences, and in their activities both in and out of the pulpit. In total, this study reveals that there is diversity in black clergy attitudes and activities and that there is a need to examine further how these differences affect black political attitudes and activism.     

Changing Issue Agendas of Women Clergy

Using data from separate studies conducted in 1988–89 and 1998, we explore changes in the issue agendas of women clergy. Rosenstone and Hansen (1993) argue persuasively that mobilization often occurs due to a commitment to a particular political issue. Our data allow us to test three separate hypotheses about the evolution of women clergy's issue agendas over the course of a decade that saw an unprecedented number of women enter the ministry. Shifts in the issue agendas of women clergy suggest a model of issue agenda evolution including four possible explanations for change: public agenda shifts, changes resulting from the growing number of women clergy, or ideological stability.     

The Oswald Clergy Burnout Scale: Reliability, Factor Structure and Preliminary Application Among Australian Clergy

This study assesses the Oswald Clergy Burnout Scale (OCBI), the psychometric properties of which have not been previously described. Analysis of responses from a large number (N?=?3,012) of ministers in charge of Australian congregations showed that the scale’s internal reliability was satisfactory, and that the scale could be represented by two factors, identified, respectively, as the personal and social aspects of burnout. This structure was supported by confirmatory factor analysis. Several demographic and job-related variables that might relate to burnout were regressed on the total, personal and social factor scores. Age is the predominant (negative) predictor of burnout as measured by the total scale and the personal factor scores. All variables predict burnout as measured by the social factor. However, in all models, the predictor variables account for no more than 5% of the total variance. These findings suggest that demographic factors and working conditions are poor predictors of burnout among clergy.     

Influences on Clergy Attitudes Toward Aging

ABSTRACT

The attitudes of 289 clergy from three major denominations were measured using Kogan's Attitudes Toward Aging Scale. The scores reflected generally more positive attitudes than those of other reference groups. Significant relationships were found between attitudes toward aging and each of two variables: gerontological knowledge and denominational affiliation. Qualitative analysis of respondent comments provides evidence that attitudes toward aging are substantially influenced by the quality of contact with older persons.     

Pedagogies of Interpretation in Educating Clergy

Abstract. In this essay the authors describe how four seminary educators pedagogically engage students in practices of interpretation and explore how the variations in their teaching practices shape the critical thinking they seek to cultivate in their students. The piece is excerpted from an ethnographic study of Jewish and Christian seminary educator teaching practices sponsored by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (Educating Clergy: Teaching Practices and Pastoral Imagination, Jossey‐Bass Publishers, November 2005). The study explores how the classroom‐ and community‐based teaching practices of seminary educators prepare students to integrate professional knowledge and skill with moral integrity and religious commitment in professional practice. In addition to the pedagogies of interpretation explicated here, we observed pedagogies that engage students in practices of formation, contextualization, and performance. Attention is also given in the study to the influence of pedagogies embedded in the traditions of seminary education on student learning and to the cultivation of spiritual and professional practices beyond the classroom in community worship and through strategies of field education and small groups.     

The Clergy Occupational Distress Index (CODI): Background and Findings from Two Samples of Clergy

This study demonstrates the reliability and validity of the Clergy Occupational Distress Index (CODI). The five-item index allows researchers to measure the frequency that clergy, who traditionally have not been the subject of occupational health studies, experience occupational distress. We assess the reliability and validity of the index using two samples of clergy: a nationally representative sample of clergy and a sample of clergy from nine Protestant denominations. Exploratory factor analysis and Cronbach’s scores are generated. Construct validity is measured by examining the association between CODI scores and depressive symptoms while controlling for demographic, ministerial, and health variables. In both samples, the five items of the CODI load onto a single factor and the Cronbach’s alpha scores are robust. The regression model indicates that a high score on the CODI (i.e., more frequent occupational distress) is positively associated with having depressive symptoms within the last 4 weeks. The CODI can be used to identify clergy who frequently experience occupational distress and to understand how occupational distress affects clergy’s health, ministerial career, and the functioning of their congregation.     

Clergy and the Politics of Gender

Using data from a new survey of mainline Protestant clergy, we explore the extent to which a political gender gap exists between male and female mainline Protestant ministers. Analysis reveals major partisan, ideological, attitudinal, and participatory disparities among clergymen and clergywomen. Women are far more liberal than their male counterparts, and even though they face the constraint of being a professional minority, clergywomen tend to participate in politics at higher rates than clergymen.     

Impaired Clergy: Applications of Ethical Principles

Impaired clergy present problems for themselves, for those whom they serve, and for the profession itself. An ethical decision-making model is described to assist professionals in clarifying ethical issues and deciding on an appropriate course of action.     

Clergy Response to Domestic Violence: A Preliminary Survey of Clergy Members,Victims, and Batterers

Although the presence of both religious organizations and violence in American communities is pervasive, scant attention has focused on how to best enroll clergy and religiously oriented resources in the battle against family violence. Given that it is not uncommon for women or couples to seek counseling or advice from clergy before accessing community-based resources, the frequency, nature, and utility of these contacts were assessed in this exploratory study from the perspectives of 47 female victims and 70 male perpetrators of domestic violence. Forty-one clergy members from various denominations were also surveyed about their contacts with those seeking help for domestic violence. Results indicated that 43% of the victims and 20% of the perpetrators did seek help from clergy. Almost all of the victims who contacted clergy reported satisfaction with the counsel they received. All clergy respondents reported counseling people who had experienced domestic violence during their career, and 80% had violence-related contacts in the past year. The service-related implications of these clergy contacts from victim, perpetrator, and clergy perspectives are discussed.