404-687-4577 mtm@ctsnet.edu

Our Why

Ministry Is Hard

Ministry Is Hard

 

Ministry remains one of the last occupations where such a remarkably broad array of functions is demanded and, yet, utterly dependent on relationships with volunteers and their productivity in changing environments.

  • Southern California psychologist Richard Blackmon indicates “about 75% go through a period of stress so great that they consider quitting” (Dirmann, T. (1999, January 29). Pastoral pressures test faith; religion: Demands of spiritual leaders leave many suffering from ‘pastor burnout.’)
  • Clergy often abuse themselves with unrealistic expectations, schedules and differed self-care. Ninety percent of pastors report working between 55 to 75 hours per week, hardly the way to prepare for challenges and conflicts among persons in the church.
  • Forty percent of pastors report serious conflict with a parishioner at least once a month. (Cited in Ministry Missing Link, Statistics for Pastors, www.pastoralcareinc.com/statistics/).
  • Forcibly terminated ministers are more likely to experience negative marital and family satisfaction, have higher levels of stress and more physical and emotional health problems, and consider leaving ministry – than other ministers (MN Tanner, AM Zvonkovic. (2011). Forced to leave, Pastoral Psychology.).
  • Overall, clergy and their spouses scored high – and in some cases above the clinical cutoff on Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). These couples also scored themselves as having experienced mobbing – bullying tactics – prior to the forced termination. (Tanner, Wherry and Zvonkovic, 2012)

Ministering to Ministers provides realistic counsel regarding the challenges of ministry, meaningful response, support in crisis, and essential content for clergy training and continuing education in the hope of stable and durable ministries.