Body Anatomy & Church Health Development

Clergy Health Research and Reports
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The Musculoskeletal and Internal Organs Systems
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Dealing with "Trojan Horse" Transfers
The Nervous System
Seven Steps to Strengthening the Church's Nervous System
Healthy and Unhealthy Models of Pastoral Leadership
Healthy Pastoral Moves
Pastor-Church Relationships from a Biblical & Systems Perspective
Praying for Clergy and Their Families
Ministry Women
Clergy Appreciation
Power in Leadership & Martial Arts
A Resolution on the Evaluation of Ministry
The Circulatory System
Godliness and Cleanliness for Healthy Church Bodies
Christian Discipleship and Martial Arts
Balancing Grace and Truth
Practical Self-Defense for the Congregation
Does this map describe your church territory?
A Cyberspace view of Church Health
Seven Important Questions and Answers.
Diagnosis
A Sick Body
Church, Inc. Crushes Hurt People
The Family Secret
Prognoses
Healing the Body
Equipping the Abused Church for Healing
Church Health Education
Seven Dynamics of Preaching for Healthier Churches
Heralds of Truth for Healing.
Waking Up the Body
An example of the Doctrinal Challenge of Church Health
Prescriptions for the Epidemic
A Parson and Parsonage Family's 5 Priorities
The Axis of Christian Ministry
Motivation, Meaning and Ministry
The Wounds of Jesus and Our Wounds
Jesus and Clergy Health
Happy, Healthy, Shiny, Satisfied Clergy?
Mental Health Needs of Clergy
DEAR CHURCH! WE QUIT!
Depression
Obesity
Sleep Apnea
Osteoporosis
Work Performance
Brother Martin or Pastor Superstar?
Self-Denial and Self-Care
Soul Care And The Caregiver's Soul
Timing Chains And Hearts: How Is Yours?
Books on Boundaries
A Second Life, A Second Calling, A Second Ministry
First Year Pastor Humor
Mental Health Ministry
Mental Health Worship Aids for May, July, October, and December.
The Overlooked and the Forgotten
The Church's Ministry to Families of the Mentally Ill.
Interdenominational and Interfaith Mental Health Ministries and Resources.
What faith based communities are doing in Mental Health Ministries.
Luther on Depression
Wesley on Depression
A Church's Ministry with a mental health consumer and family.
The stigma churches sometimes have to bear, overcome, and why.
Church Based Advocacy
Fighting the Stigma of Mental Illness
Suggestions for a clergy mental health packet.
Concerning the United Methodist Church and Mental Illness
NAMI and Faith Based Ministries
Borderline Personality Disorder, Narcissism, Bipolar, and Schizophrenia
Humor from a Cancer Survivor
Journey Through Tragic Pain
Prayer and Tragedy
October 31 & The Reformation
Seminarians
Director

updated

6/22/2010

I.  Various surveys have produced the image that clergy health and pastoral satisfaction are in a crisis state.

Many of the clergy crisis ministries either quote from one of these studies of clergy
The listed studies include:
1991 Fuller Institute of Church Growth
George Barna, What Americans Believe
Blackmon & Hart, Clergy Assessment & Career Development
Malony & Hunt, The Psychology of Clergy
Leadership, Fall 1992 Marriage Problems Pastors Face
Current Thoughts & Trends, May 1992
Leadership, Fall 1992
Current Thoughts & Trends, December 1992
Duane Alleman, Theology News & Notes, Fuller Seminary
Ministries Today, Nov / Dec 1992
Focus on the Family Survey
Current Thoughts & Trends, July 1992

These statistics came from across denomination lines, and have been gleaned from various reliable sources such as Pastor to Pastor, Focus on the Family, Ministries Today, Charisma Magazine, TNT Ministries, Campus Crusade for Christ and the Global Pastors Network.

1.  Protestant Pastoral Ministry at the Beginning of the New Millennium  by Jackson W. Carroll, Duke Divinity School

 

His article gives some reasons for not accepting overly positive reports about clergy satisfaction.

2.  Job Satisfaction and Role Ambiguity Experienced by Protestant Clergy: Investigation of Possible Predictors of Vocational Longevity and Clinical Depression

Part of Duke Divinity School's Pulpit & the Pew research was this dissertation by Kenneth Jones

Dr. Jackson W. Carroll, Duke Divinity School, mentions this dissertation in his article “Protestant Pastoral Ministry at the Beginning of the New Millennium” page 7, footnote 3.

As is stated on the Dr. Carroll’s above mentioned article.

One of the dissertations that we are funding as part of our Pastoral Leadership Project (Jones, forthcoming) is exploring this matter in some detail. In responses to a mailed questionnaire, he has found that a majority of clergy check responses saying that they are very or moderately satisfied with their jobs. However, when given opportunity to write in comments, a significant portion of these same clergy express considerable dissatisfaction with their jobs. How to interpret the discrepancy is an interesting problem.

This part of the Pulpit and the Pew Pastoral Leadership Project raises two theological issues. We clergy are no longer great examples of health. Today’s clergy have more stress and less support than the previous pastors who had more support and less resources. Thus, whole church must regain a theology of the stewardship of one’s personal health.

 

The whole church must experience a theological renewal concerning the incarnation of Christ which carries with it a much more positive view of the body. Today’s unbiblical view of the body comes from mixing Neo-Plantonism with Christian doctrine among some in the very early years of the Church. Neo-Plantonism teaches a false dichotomy of the body as bad and the spirit as good. This led people back then and today to substitute brave faithfulness to the Gospel for living a life of dying to the self and living for God and others to the degree of not caring for their own health.

               5.  According to the Ministering to Ministers Foundation...

  • Over 1600 pastors in the U.S. are forced out of their positions each month.

  • Nearly 1 in 4 pastors experience a forced termination at least once during their ministry.

  •Only 54% of pastors go back into full-time church related positions.

II. Important Links to Other Research.

A. Clergy Health — A Mixed Portrait


B. Church Systems Task Force on Clergy Health Multi-Phase Research Update


C. Faith and Health Connection Pastors page Clergy health could be one of the most vital issues we have in the world. The greater the level of individual clergy health, the more effective pastors and clergy will be able to serve their congregations and communities with the message of hope, grace and love.


D. Forced Pastoral Exists: An Exploratory Study

This is research report about exited pastors is based on information from Pastors in Residence Survey.

The Adobe Acrobat Reader is needed to view this document.


E. Hundreds of Pastors Leave Their Ministry Each Month


F. Mental Health Issues Among Clergy And Other Religious Professionals


G. Ministerial Health and Wellness, 2002 Evangelical Lutheran Church.
           It is no longer available online.  

      H.  How Healthy Is Your Congregation's Pastor?

      I. Study Examines Health of Clergy and Lay Workers in Denominations Across the U.S. by Craig This

      J.  National Clergy Research Project


     K.  Clergy Struggling With Identity and Feelings of Loneliness

     L.  Study Shows High Obesity Rate for Clergy

     M.  Body and Soul

    N.  Some Clergy May Have Higher Obesity and Chronic Disease Rates
            Than Their Congregations. 


    O.  The Anglican Church of Canada: Wellness in Ministry

    P.  The Anglican Church of Canada's Bishop’s Commission on Clergy 
         Wellness - An Update - March 2005  

   Q.  Evangelical Church in America Ministerial Health & Wellness

   R.  Duke Clergy Health Initiative
 

           In July 2007, The Duke Endowment generously funded the Clergy Health Initiative, a $12 million, seven-year program intended to improve the health and well being of the 1,600 United Methodist elders and local pastors serving churches in North Carolina. 

III. Links to Other Important Articles.

A.  A collaboration for clergy health and wellness

The physical and mental health of Clergy in North

America has reached a crisis point.

B.  A Sick Body A report of the Health of the Church

in North America. by John M. Crowe



    C. 
American Baptists focus on clergy health

D.  Brother Martin or Pastor Superstar?

by John M. Crowe

E.  DEAR CHURCH! WE QUIT! Marriage and Ministry

    Depression by Dr. Paddy Ducklow

F.  Disabilities and Clergy. Clergy use an enormous

amounts of mental health services.

G.  Facing Emotional Terrorists in the Church from the

Cottage on Coronado Island  Newsletter February 2005. 

VOLUME 12, NUMBER 1 (no longer online)

H.  Life Way executive addresses churches' 'dirty little secret'

by Charles Willis.

I.  Lutheran’s Ask How Healthy Are Our Pastors?

J.  Many Pastors’ Wives Are Not Happy Campers

K.  Southern Baptists address depression in Clergy     

    "Wounded Heroes "

L.  Strike the Shepherd - Losing Pastors in the Church

by Ken Sande, President of Peacemaker Ministries

M.  The Family Secret (The Church Scandal that does not

 make the news.) by John M. Crowe

N.  The pastor's well-being often reflects a church's

health and happiness by Tony Headley

O.  Time Magazine Article about Pastors’ Wives 

    P. 
The Angriest People
         "One counselor, who sees a large number of clergy and clergy spouses in his practice, says that United Methodist clergy-wives are the angriest people he sees"

   Q. 
Form of Selfishness Too Common Among Pastors
         Over Availability

   R. 
Clergy spiritually exhausted, stressed out: a new report shows Canadian ministry is 'in crisis'.

   S. 
Clergy struggling with identity and feelings of loneliness, exhaustion.

IV.  The Clergy Satisfaction Report.

A.  Job Satisfaction in the United States Tom W. Smith NORC/University of Chicago

 

B.  Workers in the Kingdom— Courtney Wilder

V.  A Reasonable Response to the Clergy Job Satasfaction Study.

Happy, Healthy, Shiny, Satisfied Clergy? by John M. Crowe

VI.  New Clergy Health Programs  and Blogs.

A.  The Connection, the blog of C.H.I. (the Duke Clergy Health Initiative)

 

B.  Go Out Into The World 

 


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