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April '25 Newsletter: Which Emotional Styles Might Help You Mitigate Burnout?
Hello!
Welcome to the Serve Well newsletter, a collaborative resource from the Duke Clergy Health Initiative and Duke Religion and Social Change Lab. Every month, we'll be sharing trends in ministry formation and flourishing so that however you serve—seminarian, clergy, researcher, educator, or administrator—you can serve well.
A change in context is both hard and hopeful, isn’t it? Endings and beginnings, grief and growth, pain and possibilities—they’re all part of transitions. This month, we invite you to consider how you’re adapting to changing contexts in ministry and how research like ours can help place you on a collective map of experience. Because you're not alone in this place.
Trends in Ministry Formation
Most Seminarians Come from Large Churches, but Most Clergy Jobs Are in Small Ones
Clergy in America, a new report from our colleagues at the National Survey of Religious Leaders, highlights the mismatch between where most seminarians come from and where most ministry jobs are likely to be. Explore the entire report to learn more about trends in clergy’s work settings, careers, and jobs—as well as a whole range of topics from their religious beliefs to their attitudes about depression, from their involvement with politics to the challenges of pastoring amidst declining institutional commitment. Theological educators might read with a particular eye on where more seminary training is needed.
Trends in Ministry Flourishing
Certain Emotional Styles May Mitigate Clergy Burnout, Allowing for Greater Adaptability in Ministry
New research from the Clergy Health Initiative finds that certain emotional styles, like Outlook (the ability to sustain positive emotions over time), Resilience (the ability to recenter after a negative emotion), and Attention (the ability to focus on what matters and ignore what doesn't), may help clergy manage burnout and stress—especially during those mid-career years which the data show can be particularly challenging. Read the journal article below for the full scoop on skills you can cultivate to adapt to whatever context you find yourself in next.
Your Serve Well Resource
Pastor & Parish
Combining videos, workbook content, guided discussion and complementary readings, Pastor & Parish is a six-session series for United Methodist Staff-Parish Relations Committees that can be used at important times of transitions. Pastors who complete the curriculum with their SPRCs form important bonds, discover a new language for working with one another, and create a covenant to guide their work as a ministry of the church. The result? We know from interview data that of the pastors who piloted the program, all reported feeling less stressed one year later.
About Us
The Duke Clergy & Religion Research Collaborative (CRRC) is a partnership between the Duke Clergy Health Initiative (CHI) and Duke Religion and Social Change Lab (RaSCL). CHI focuses on providing pastors with tools to improve their physical, emotional, and spiritual health, while RaSCL focuses on helping current and future faith leaders adapt to evolving times. Together, we serve those who want to serve well. Our work is made possible thanks to the generous time of our clergy and seminarian research partners and generous funding from The Duke Endowment. To stay informed of our latest research in ministry formation and flourishing, sign up to get our monthly Serve Well newsletter directly in your inbox.