404-687-4577 mtm@ctsnet.edu

Our Why

Clergy Termination - Job Loss

Clergy termination is generally the orchestration of a few, not the church.

 

In their study, Barfoot, Winston, and Wickman found 87% percent of those forced out through the pressure of a small faction indicate that this group was made up of ten people or less, 26% said five or less.  (Barefoot, DS, Winston, BE, Wickman, C, (2005). Forced Pastoral Exists: An Exploratory Study.) In the experience of MTM, clergy reports a group of three or less. Ministering to Ministers attempts to help clergy recognize and address the problems of pathological personalities and dysfunction in family systems, while not overgeneralizing to the church or all churches.

Those who go through the crucible of job loss are not alone.

A pastor is fired or forced out every six minutes in the United States. (Rediger, G. L., (1997). Clergy Killers: Guidance for pastors and congregations under attack. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.) A 2012 study found that 28 percent of Christian ministers surveyed had experienced a forced termination. Other surveys put the figure at anywhere from 19 percent of all ministers to 41 percent in some denominations. (Marcus N. Tanner, “Forced Termination Among Clergy: A Study of Experiences, Processes and Effects & Their Connection to Stress & Well- Being Outcomes,” Texas Tech Ph.D. Dissertation, 2011, p. 24.). Clergy, however, who do contact Ministering to Ministers find this revelation eye-opening and crisis clarifying to know they are not alone.