Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Foreword by The Bishop of Shrewsbury, The Rt Revd Mark Rylands
- 1 Introduction: shaping rural theology
- PART 1 PERSPECTIVES FROM THE BIBLE
- PART 2 PERSPECTIVES FROM ORDINARY THEOLOGY
- PART 3 THEOLOGICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES
- PART 4 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES
- PART 5 LISTENING TO VISITORS
- PART 6 LISTENING TO THE COMMUNITY
- PART 7 LISTENING TO CHURCHGOERS
- PART 8 LISTENING TO CHURCH LEADERS
- PART 9 SATISFACTION AND STRESS IN MINISTRY
- 27 Burnout and the practice of ministry among rural clergy: looking for the hidden signs
- 28 How happy are rural Anglican clergy?
- 29 Perceptions of stress on those in rural ministry: listening to church leaders
- Contributors
- Sources
- Subject Index
- Name Index
29 - Perceptions of stress on those in rural ministry: listening to church leaders
from PART 9 - SATISFACTION AND STRESS IN MINISTRY
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Foreword by The Bishop of Shrewsbury, The Rt Revd Mark Rylands
- 1 Introduction: shaping rural theology
- PART 1 PERSPECTIVES FROM THE BIBLE
- PART 2 PERSPECTIVES FROM ORDINARY THEOLOGY
- PART 3 THEOLOGICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES
- PART 4 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES
- PART 5 LISTENING TO VISITORS
- PART 6 LISTENING TO THE COMMUNITY
- PART 7 LISTENING TO CHURCHGOERS
- PART 8 LISTENING TO CHURCH LEADERS
- PART 9 SATISFACTION AND STRESS IN MINISTRY
- 27 Burnout and the practice of ministry among rural clergy: looking for the hidden signs
- 28 How happy are rural Anglican clergy?
- 29 Perceptions of stress on those in rural ministry: listening to church leaders
- Contributors
- Sources
- Subject Index
- Name Index
Summary
Abstract – This article examines the perceptions of eleven senior church leaders on the nature and extent of stress among rural clergy. Analysis of the interview data from these church leaders reveals five key themes: first, the unreasonable expectations laid on ordained rural ministers; second, their difficulty in maintaining a work/life balance; third, the need to share the responsibility for stress management between the individual minister and the wider church; fourth, the particular insights of church leaders who had recently worked in a rural setting; and fifth, the need for further research, especially into the effective deployment of limited specialist resources to support ordained rural ministers when in stressful situations. The senior church leaders differed in their ‘location of responsibility’ for managing stress and the enhancement of psychological health in ordained rural ministers. The recommendation is then made for an integrated approach in which the responsibility is shared between the individual minister and the wider church. The article concludes with the need for a large-scale survey of senior church leaders in several denominations into the management of stress and the enhancement of the psychological health of ordained rural ministers.
Introduction
The study of clergy stress and burnout has become well established. An earlier study by Sanford (1982), writing from the perspective of an Anglican priest and Jungian analyst, identified eight characteristics of ministry that could generate burnout.
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- Chapter
- Information
- Rural Life and Rural ChurchTheological and Empirical Perspectives, pp. 337 - 346Publisher: Acumen PublishingPrint publication year: 2012