Abstract
The number of American churches has been declining at a rate of about 1 to 2% per year, but this statistic hides the reality that in liberal, moderate denominations the number of churches that close is nearly three or four times the number that open. Despite this trend of decline, no one has studied how closing churches affects the pastor. What challenges does the pastor face when closing a church, and how do these challenges affect the pastor’s level of stress and well-being? The study draws on structural and identity theories to further our understanding of pastoral identity threats and ways that congregational and denominational support may ease a pastor’s burden. This research used a mail survey to explore the experiences of pastors who have experienced the closing of a church in any of five Protestant denominations (Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, and United Church of Christ). The research adds to our understanding of the context of ministry by highlighting not only the effects of clergy age and experience but also the congregational context and middle administrative body (judicatory) respect and support in the challenge and in the affirmation of pastoral identity through the process of closure and church death.
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Notes
No systematic studies of clergy have demonstrated gender differences in stress or burnout (Doolittle 2010; Wells 2013). One national study found that Presbyterian women clergy were more likely to leave ministry than men but that women did not report more conflicts in ministry than men (Hoge and Wenger 2005). A study of women clergy found clergy self-concept related to growth or decline of membership, apathy of church members, conflict with church members, and the congregation’s financial jeopardy (or security) (Zikmund et al. 1998). Unfortunately, many studies have focused on only one gender of clergy (Robbins and Francis 2014; Turton and Francis 2007; Zikmund et al. 1998).
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Acknowledgements
I am indebted to pastors who participated in this research and to national denominational staff who provided data, especially, in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Adam DeHoek and Marty Smith; in the Presbyterian Church (USA), Deborah Coe, Ida Smith, and Cynthia Woolever; in the Episcopal Church, Kirk Hadaway and Matthew Price; in the United Methodist Church, Lauren Arieux, Laura Chambers, and Whitney Washington; and in the United Church of Christ, Kristina Lizardi-Hajbi. I extend thanks to Boston University’s School of Theology faculty: Nancy Ammerman, Susan Hassinger, Mary Elizabeth Moore, and Bryan Stone, as well as staff in ITHelp and the Department of Mathematics.
This research was financially supported in part by 2013 and 2014 Continuing Education Grants from the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California and also by a 2015 Louisville Institute Project Grant for Researchers for “The Last Pastor: Adaptive Challenges and Well-Being among Protestant Clergy Closing their Churches.”
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Cafferata, G. Respect, Challenges, and Stress among Protestant Pastors Closing a Church: Structural and Identity Theory Perspectives. Pastoral Psychol 66, 311–333 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-016-0751-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-016-0751-z
Keywords
- Clergy
- Congregations
- Identity theory
- Stress
- Church decline