Our Why
Clergy Termination - Job LossClergy 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
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.