A salve for clergy burnout - collaboration
By Phil Haslanger
Collaboration Project Story Team
First, the concerning news.
A survey of clergy in Wisconsin found that 25 percent of them have seriously considered resigning or retiring as a result of the stress they face doing ministry in the midst of this pandemic.
Then the hopeful news.
One of the possible responses that could help: regular collaboration among clergy to reduce their sense of isolation.
In the early days of the pandemic and the shut-downs - mid-to-late March - it was natural for clergy and congregations to turn inward and figure out how to adapt to a world that drastically limited in-person connections. Many found themselves in silos for survival. Then there was exhaustion. Now the need is there to find ways to sustain ministry in an extended period of limitations.
The survey was done in July by the Wisconsin Council of Churches. Here’s a link to the complete report. Some 434 people responded representing 17 different faith traditions, with the largest number of responses coming from Lutherans, United Church of Christ folks and Methodists. Of those who indicated a location, 8% were from the greater Milwaukee area, 5% from the Madison area and 72% from elsewhere in the state.
“There is a great deal of grief and strain out there,” said Rev. Kerri Parker, the executive director of the Wisconsin Council of Churches, during a webinar on Aug. 27.
Wisconsin is one of the most politically polarized states and since responses to pandemic often intersect with political views, that is one source of the pressure on clergy. So is the grief among members of congregations that their worship and social lives have been disrupted. Funerals and weddings take on wholly new - and not always welcome - forms. Government guidance keeps shifting. Clergy reported a deterioration in their mental and spiritual health.
“It takes twice as long to do half as much in parish ministry,” one pastor wrote in response to the survey. “We have to change our expectations or we will all be exhausted.”
“I feel like I am disconnected from my flock,” wrote another. “I feel I am making decisions based more on my intuitions than on actual knowledge of the wants and needs of the congregation.”
And a third wrote: “I think now more than ever, clergy are hungry for supportive appreciative feedback and time-off - respite care.”
There is a lot of detail in the survey about how congregations are handling worship and meetings, about the large percentage still engaged in ministries to the wider community.
But it is looking at ways to move forward that offers hope. And high up on that list is encouraging clergy and congregations to find ways to collaborate so the burden of all the adaptations going on can be shared as well as the pressure in making decisions.
In part, Parker noted, this means clergy being willing to “break down the norm that I am responsible for this thing.” It means working together so clergy can take breaks - perhaps by drawing on retired ministers to step in to preach for a Sunday or congregations sharing services and programs. Denominational organizations could generate worship and education resources for this time.
Of course, some of these innovations could have long-term benefits as congregations begin to navigate into that time when the pandemic fades into history.
“Will we allow this exile to reshape us or just pretend that nothing has happened?” Parker asked. In the report, there is this urgent note: “If the Church does not attend urgently to changes in her ministry models, we face a profound leadership crisis.”
That leaves us with the concerning finding in the survey - a quarter of today’s clergy thinking of leaving the ministry - and with the hopeful note that collaboration may be one way forward in this difficult time.
We see healthy and connected pastors/clergy as foundational to collaboration between churches.
Collaboration Project’s mission is to foster collaboration between churches for the good of our community to the glory of God so that all may flourish.
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