Clergy stress: not so bad after all?

Stress is not new to religious professionals. There is truth to the saying that "the more times change, the more things remain the same." John Oberlin, a well-known nineteenth-century European clergyman, wrote about his duties: "The pastor of Walderbach, if he tries to be what he ought to be in this vast and most burdensome parish . . . , is a poor dog, a beast of burden, a cart horse. He must do everything, watch everything, answer for every thing. From early morning until bedtime I am occupied, hurried, crushed, without being able to do half or a tenth part of what ought to be done. A decent leisure, which others can enjoy, has long been unknown to me. Who cares? Everything rests upon the pastor who meets every where nothing but hindrances, obstacles, delays, and red tape: and not being able to please everybody or satisfy those who disagree with each other must fight constantly against malevolence." ¹

Oberlin's comments make it plain that what many consider to be only a modern malady was characteristic of clergy life long ago as well.

A recent survey reported studies showing that 75 percent of clergy experienced periods of major stress, 33 percent seriously thought of leaving what they had conceived to be their lifework, and that among professionals, clergy ranked third in the number of divorces granted each year. ² Clergy also appear to be peculiarly susceptible to burnout. So professional ministry seems to be hazardous to one's well-being.

But while there seems to be wide agreement that ministry is stressful, the empirical evidence for this assumption has been limited. Jud, Mills, and Burch's study entitled Ex-pastors is more than two decades old. More recent studies of ministerial burnout by D. York³ and D. G. Congo⁴ were suggestive, but based on narrow samples.

In an effort to remedy this lack of understanding of the dynamics of these issues, a group of us embarked on a program of study relating occupational role strain and personal resources to clergy stress. In a 1983 study, Rayburn, Richmond, and Rogers surveyed 15 nuns, 14 female seminarians, 28 priests and Brothers, and 12 male seminarians on their perceptions of the occupational environment in which they worked, the kinds of personal strain they experienced, and the resources they felt they possessed. On scales designed to measure these dimensions, future and present clergy reported less than average stress. Although the ratio was not significantly different, they were slightly higher on perceived role overload, but significantly lower in stresses caused by perceived role insufficiency, role ambiguity, role boundary questions, and problems brought on by their physical environment. In addition, they reported less overall personal strain in not only the vocational but the psychological, interpersonal, and physical areas as well. Furthermore, this group of future and present clergy saw themselves as having greater personal resources for coping with stress than the general population in all areas except recreation.

These results surprised us. They countered the common assumption that clergy experience greater stress than other persons. However, we felt that our sample was small and non-representative. In an effort to assess whether our results were a consequence of sampling bias, we surveyed 596 persons, including seminarians, priests, Brothers, Protestant clergy, and rabbis. The sample included 288 females. ⁵

These results basically confirmed the earlier findings that clergy experienced less on-the-job stress and personal strain, while feeling they had greater personal resources, than the general population. But the data did suggest that clergy experience greater role overload, role ambiguity, and role responsibility; greater interpersonal strain; and less recreational and rational-cognitive resources than most people.

If these results are applied to clergy in general, it appears that the job is not as overwhelming as it has been thought to be. Osipow and Spokane propose a model of vocational adjustment that includes a balancing among the dimensions of role demands, life stress, and personal resources. ⁶

While the data from the earlier study was tempered by the results of the more representative later study, overall it appears that clergy persons have more personal resources to handle problems and experience less life stress than other per sons. When these inner variables are coupled with the perception that their occupations are less demanding, then professional religious life is definitely less stressful than has been presumed. Although ministers do feel that their responsibilities are great, that their job definitions are ambiguous, and that they are overloaded with expectations, they nonetheless feel that the rewards out weigh the liabilities and that their ability to handle the strain is adequate.

Differences between men and women

Since the past several decades have witnessed a dramatic increase in the number of women in clergy positions, gender differences in these data seemed important to explore. In Rayburn, Richmond, and Rogers' 1983 study, more than half the participants were women, and the women experienced significantly greater personal strain than men. They felt under greater psychological, inter personal, and physical stress than men. Although men and women did not differ overall in terms of occupational stress, women did have a greater sense of role overload than men.

In the 1984 study with 596 participants, there was no overall difference be tween men and women in any of the three areas of occupational stress, personal strain, and personal resources. However, in this larger sample some specifics were reversed. Men experienced more role ambiguity and role boundary stress than women.

Whereas in the smaller sample women reported a greater sense of having too much to do (role overload), in this later investigation men reported greater difficulty in managing competing priorities and expectations (role ambiguity) and in managing conflicting demands and loyalties (role boundary) than women. Likewise, in this larger study men re ported greater physical, vocational, and interpersonal strain than did women. However, this study evidenced no gender differences in overall scores.

In 1984 R. A. Blackmon surveyed 300 active ministers among Presbyterian, United Methodist, Assembly of God, and Episcopal churches in southern California. Although his investigation did not parallel the Rayburn et al. model, some of the results are comparable. While these ministers reported little conflict with their congregations, they did report a significant amount of difference between what they and their members expected them to be doing. ⁷

Although previous research had suggested that ministerial salaries were low, ministers in this survey reported their salaries to be adequate or better. The majority also reported that they had happy marriages and that the ministry was a benefit to their family life. One stress they did note was the "fishbowl" atmosphere in which they lived. They felt that they were expected to exemplify ideal family interactions.

Fewer than 10 percent in Blackmon's study were divorced, but 13 percent reported they had had sexual intercourse with a church member other than their spouse. The fact that this percentage is almost double what has been reported for other helping professionals suggests that ministers are particularly vulnerable in this area.

The ministers tended to report only occasional feelings of deep discouragement, but Blackmon suggested that this could be because they might tend to hide depression.

Denominational differences were few, although Assembly of God pastors did seem to differ in ways that could be explained in terms of a more conservative theological persuasion.

In general Blackmon's research tends to confirm the Rayburn et al. conclusion that ministry is not as stressful as had been presumed.

Although all these studies suffer in part from sampling limitations and differing methodologies, their conclusions are noteworthy. Wider surveys following consistent approaches need to be under taken to further validate these results and to help us design interventions to further increase our understanding of the pas tor's ability to cope with the stress of ministry.