A new study from the Duke Divinity School’s Clergy Health Initiative indicates that American clergy are among the most overworked workers in the country. Some of this exertion is due to the demands of the pandemic, while some of it is a paradox of caring for parishioners while feeling as though they cannot take advantage of mental health services themselves.
In 2023, the Hartford Institute for Religion Research conducted a study examining the factors that led clergy to become discontent with their occupations. The study notes that the further from the Covid-19 pandemic you move, the more clergy are willing to admit that they are thinking about either an alternative to their vocation or congregation.
As USA Today reported, the pandemic is not the only thing that has led some clergy to feel like there is a heavy weight on their shoulders, in addition to the weight that comes with being a minister. Roland Stringfellow, the senior pastor of Ferndale, Michigan’s Metropolitan Community Church of Detroit, told the outlet that the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor weighed heavily on him.
“So many congregations have not recovered from that period of time. How do you deal with those and care for a congregation?” said Stringfellow. “How can you be there when everyone is afraid – and you have those same emotions?”
Adrian Crawford, the lead pastor at Tallahassee, Florida’s Engage Church, described other factors to the outlet that led ministers to feel burnt out.
“Pastors were left with more work and limited resources,” Crawford said. “You had people really hurting, and a lot of pastors didn’t realize what was going on inside of themselves. Their wives and children were going through the same struggles, so the pastor was leading the people but also trying to be there for his family. Those emotions have got to go somewhere.”
The Hartford study also notes that clergy who are part of a team are less likely to think about exiting the ministry completely, “Additionally, clergy who are solo pastors are much more likely to have increased
thoughts of exiting the ministry as compared to clergy who are part of a ministry team (co-leaders or a senior leader with associates). Being a part of a staff of ministers usually implies employment in a larger church. Indeed, size is strongly correlated with ministerial discontent.”The study continued, “The larger the church, the fewer thoughts of leaving the pastoral ministry one has. Therefore, a pastor is less likely to consider leaving the ministry in a larger congregation – a position possibly with a better salary, a built-in network of relationships, a distributed workload, and the support of additional staff.”
Tracey Karcher, a former Methodist pastor, now the proprietor of a general store in Sand Springs, Montana, told USA Today
that some of the anxieties of clergy are rooted in a desire not to alienate their congregations. Karcher said that these tensions are most acutely felt in rural areas. “Toxic and biased congregations are the rule these days, especially in more rural communities,” Karcher said. “Incoming pastors and ministers need to be equipped to handle these challenges, and they need the support of their higher-ups and supervisors.”