Aging Anglican Clergy and Effectiveness in Urban Ministry

ABSTRACT

This study employs path analysis to examine the relationship between clergy age and certain quantitative indices of church life in a sample of 983 urban churches. The data indicate that clergy aged sixty or over have contact with fewer children on a typical Sunday, generate fewer adult confirmation candidates and are less actively involved in promoting adult house groups. These findings are discussed in the light of a growing body of research concerned with clergy aging. It is suggested that older clergy may perform better in suburban parishes than in either rural or urban ministry.