In recent years, record numbers of pastors have seriously considered resigning and expressed dissatisfaction with their jobs, but in general they are doing better than the general population health-wise, which is why the pandemic has affected their congregations. This is revealed in a new report from a study titled Exploring the Impact of
Data from the report, “Challenges Are Opportunities”: Exploring Clergy Health and Wellness Amidst Post-Pandemic Malaise, includes a total of 1,677 Christian clergy leaders from more than 40 denominations in fall 2023. Contains survey responses collected from respondents.
“This study shows that the vast majority of clergy are in very good health,” said researchers at the Hartford Institute of Religion at the Hartford College of International Religion and Peace, who conducted the study with funding from the Lilly Endowment. explained. “Even considering the level of pastoral dissatisfaction revealed in our previous report, the overall level of health and wellness exhibited by clergy is impressive.”
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In this study, researchers used 11 questions and six additional items from a slightly modified version of the Harvard Thrive Study to examine various health and wellness measures on a scale of 0 to 10 . Items covered areas such as financial health and mental health. health, and general job satisfaction. Clergy were reported to perform better than the general public on all but one of his measures: relationship satisfaction.
Lay pastors have a much keener sense of their life’s purpose than the average person.
“Compared to averages for a national sample of Americans in the summer of 2022, clergy appear to perform better than the general public on most measures compared,” the researchers said.
“Clergy have higher average scores in all but one item, and in most items clerics are healthier by 0.5 points or more. “Understanding the purpose of life,” the average score for clergy was 8.6 out of 10, while the average score for ordinary people was 6.8 (a difference of 1.8 points).
“The only statement on which clergy leaders can be said to be lower than the general public is “My relationships are as satisfying as I would like them to be,” but clergy leaders are only 0.1 points lower than the general public. The overall overall health score on 11 measures of flourishing was 0.7 higher for clergy than for the general population. Based on these comparisons, the clergy in our study had a He seems to be very healthy both emotionally and emotionally.”
Data shows, for example, that the proportion of pastors taking weekly vacations increased from 2020 to 2023, which researchers say indirectly helps improve their health.
“When we asked clergy about their weekly vacation-taking habits, we found that it has increased since 2020. In 2023, 68% to 74% of clergy will take vacation. , there was statistically no difference between health and wellness ‘in the number of people who took a day off and those who didn’t take a day off,’ the researchers said.
“This may be due to the fact that most clergy take vacations. Undoubtedly, this practice indirectly contributes to a better working environment and relationship with the congregation, thus the quote below proves and improve well-being, but research data does not show significant improvements in health.”
According to the researchers, American pastors are more likely to be white (80%), male (80%), employed full-time (75%), and function as sole leaders (60%) rather than as part of a leadership team. It is said to be expensive. About 31% of pastors do the same.
A new report from Barna Research finds that on key measures of well-being, including physical, mental, emotional and overall health, pastors have significantly improved over the past seven years, especially when it comes to having true friends. is experiencing a significant decline.
Barna Research, an evangelical polling organization, cited data collected for its “Resilient Pastors” survey from 2015 to 2022, which assesses how pastors feel, ranging from excellent to good to average. When asked to rank them as average, below average, poor, or worse, they indicated that they had suffered significant declines in all areas of well-being. I do not understand.
The 2015 data was collected between April and December of that year and was based on 901 interviews with senior Protestant pastors in the United States. The 2022 data was collected from September 6 to 16, 2022, and was based on 585 online interviews with senior Protestant pastors in the United States.America
When it comes to having true friends, 20% of pastors in 2022 rated themselves below average in that area, compared to 10% of pastors in 2015, according to the data. A further 7% rated themselves poorly when it came to having friends. In 2015, it was just 2%; in 2022, it was just 2%. In 2015, 34% of pastors rated themselves as excellent at having true friends. That percentage dropped to 17% in 2022.
The pastors also suggested that their physical health deteriorated significantly from 2015 to 2022. In 2015, only 7% of pastors ranked their physical health as below average or poor. Seven years later, in 2022, that number has more than tripled to his 22%, with about 18% reporting their condition to be below average. Only 9% of pastors reported being in good physical health in 2022, compared to 24% in 2015.
The percentage of pastors who report their mental and emotional health is below average has increased from 3% in 2015 to 10% in 2022. The percentage of pastors reporting good mental and emotional health also decreased from 39% in 2015 to just 11% in 2022. .
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