From ELO-
In early August, New York Times religion writer Paul Vitello touched an ecclesial nerve when he launched a story, "Taking a Break From the Lord's Work," and raised a range of important questions on clergy wellness. His reporting, based on studies of clergy health, cut across the interfaith spectrum and resonates with lay professionals in the church, as well. It concluded that self-care, sabbatical rest and time for re-creation help church leaders lean into rising levels of stress, depression and fatigue.
A week later, Jeffrey MacDonald opined in the Times in "Congregations Gone Wild" on the same clergy propensity for physical and spiritual burnout, yet his conclusions shifted the debate in a different direction. MacDonald nodded to "several new studies" on clergy burnout and offered seemingly anecdotal evidence that demeans the laity as entertainment hounds who hunger for little more than "comforting, amusing fare" and render the clergy the "spiritual equivalents of concierges."
Based upon relevant data gathered and addressed in 12 years of conducting research and hosting more than 200 conferences on wellness in the Episcopal Church, CREDO Institute Inc., an affiliate of the Church Pension Group, comes to a different conclusion.
Through analysis articulated in the Clergy Wellness Report (2006) and the initial findings of the Emotional Health of Clergy Report (2010), we have observed that there is more to the challenge of clergy stress than fickleness of congregations and the cultural pressures of increased consumerism among churchgoers.
More here with links to referenced articles.
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80050_124048_ENG_HTM.htm
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