wfn.org | Research shows pressure on British Church Leaders

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October 8, 2000
Adventist Press Service (APD)
Christian B. Schaeffler, Editor-in-chief
Fax +41-61-261 61 18
APD@stanet.ch
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CH-4003 Basel, Switzerland

New Research shows pressure on British Church Leaders

London, United Kingdom - The key findings from new 
research released end of September shows that 53 per cent 
of clergy and other Church Leaders have considered 
leaving the ministry at some point because the pressure 
gets so great.  38 per cent of clergy feel overwhelmed by 
the complexity of pastoral care demands they face each 
day. Yet at the same time most score high on job 
satisfaction and many want to receive more training 
relevant to the needs they perceive in their local 
community.

In association with the Centre for Ministry Studies at 
the University of Wales, Bangor, CWR / Waverley Christian 
Counselling commissioned leading researchers Rev 
Professor Leslie J Francis and Rev Dr William K Kay to 
conduct a comprehensive study into perceptions of 
pastoral care among clergy in evangelical churches in 
Great Britain.

Stress has been identified by two out of every three 
clergy as the most common pastoral issue they are called 
to deal with.  This is followed by marriage guidance, 
bereavement, loneliness and depression.  Francis 
suggests: "These figures invite reflection on how well 
pastors are trained to deal with psychological problems 
like depression and stress.  Many pastors are seeking 
better training and continuing professional support to 
maintain the delivery of effective pastoral care in such 
crucial areas."

Debt counselling, marriage preparation, family 
counselling, terminal illness and divorce are also high 
on the list of issues clergy are dealing with.  Such 
diversity is the cause of extreme pressure among leaders, 
sometimes resulting in burn-out.

Surprisingly, bullying, eating disorders, rape, and the 
abuse of the elderly are all identified as low priority 
pastoral issues.  Francis comments: "This might suggest 
pastors may not be listening carefully enough to some of 
the issues of pastoral concern which are of growing 
importance in today's society".

Sean Gubb, General Manager of Ministry at CWR / Waverley 
Christian Counselling and project manager for the 
research said: "It is essential the church invests in 
training leaders to deal with the pastoral issues they 
actually face today.  We hope this research will allow 
CWR, as well as Bible Colleges and other organisations, 
to develop more relevant in-service training for leaders 
and better pre-ordination training for the leaders of the 
church of tomorrow."

The study investigates the personal profile of the 
pastors and their perceptions of the pastoral needs in 
their community, along with their actual involvement.  It 
also studies leaders' contact with other organisations 
and their own priorities in ministry.  The study provides 
a valuable perspective on the pastoral provision made by 
churches and how personality type influences the 
perception and practice of ministry.

The research was conducted in association with the 
Evangelical Alliance using a comprehensive 27-page survey 
that was distributed to 2,570 leaders of Evangelical 
Alliance affiliated churches.  The results are based on 
the first 754 replies from all main Christian 
denominations. Of those that replied the majority were 
from Baptist leaders (28 per cent); Anglican (21 per 
cent) and New Churches (20 per cent).

The findings have been released on 25th September in 
Regent Hall, London and are published by CWR as Pastoral 
Care Today - Practice, Problems, and Priorities in 
Churches Today (GBP/,15.00 - ISBN 1 85345 169X). 
(288/2000)