I’m on vacation, so it shouldn’t be an issue. On the other hand, we’re moving, so it’s not much of a vacation. But the materials on clergy burnout I posted earlier continue to reverberate in the blogosphere. There have been a couple of interesting essays. One appeared on Huffington Post written by Anne Dilenschneider. She argues:

When examined more deeply, it turns out that the current emphasis on clergy effectiveness is due to a change in the role of pastors that occurred in the 1920s concomitant with the development of the assembly line and the adoption of the production efficiency methodology of Taylorism in corporate America. At that time, as Richard Niebuhr observed, clergy became “pastoral directors” who focused on the administrative tasks of managing and maintaining churches for the benefit of the denomination. And, as retired United Methodist bishop Richard Wilke has noted, by the 1960s, pastors were being evaluated on their “competency, acquired skills, and professional status.”

To put it succinctly, the pastorate went from being cura animarum (care of souls) to management. Now, I suppose there may be some truth in that argument. Still, what immediately comes to mind are those early modern parish priests and pastors, across Europe, who were in constant conflict with their parishes over finances, responsibilities and duties, and who wrote repeatedly about parishioners who wanted only to be baptized, married, and buried. Talk about burnout–especially when there was no possibility of advancement, and when the arm of the state tried to see to it that you forced attendance at services and catechism classes.

Carol Howard Merritt has a much more nuanced take on the issue. Pointing out that 50% of clergy leave the ministry after their first few years, she highlights all of the stresses on pastors, including expectations, finances, poor preparation, and for mainline denominations, the phenomenon of ongoing decline in membership.

I will be attending a CREDO conference this fall, which is a program of the Episcopal Church’s Church Pension Fund, to help clergy assess their physical, spiritual, and vocational well-being. Herb Gunn of CREDO offered this response to the article and op-ed in the Times:

This research points to an interesting conclusion—that differs slightly from the research Vitello noted. The only major lifestyle factor for which Episcopal clergy are at greater risk than the larger population is stress. Yet remarkably, work-related stress, which frequently leads the general population to employment dissatisfaction, job loss, or job change, exists alongside notably lower turnover intent for Episcopal clergy. Compared to the general population, Episcopal clergy report significant levels of well-being, self-efficacy, and finding meaning in one’s work.

You can read his letter here.