Congregational and Social Supports

Research indicates that feeling “loved and cared for” by congregants is strongly associated with better clergy mental health

Want to support your pastor well? Our new resource offers practical strategies for lay leaders to show love and care for their pastor, thereby deepening feelings of mutuality.

Read our latest resource

Resources

Loved and Cared For: A Handy Guide for P/SPRCs Who Want to Support Their Pastor Well

This guide is intended to help P/SPRCs engage in practices which support their pastor feeling loved and cared for. The ideas in this guide can be explored in more detail as a committee through the resource Keeping the Faith.

Fully Alive: A Resource to Guide Clergy Towards Four Behaviors of Flourishing

A comprehensive resource for clergy and faith leaders that defines Christian flourishing, guides clergy to assess their current well-being, distills four identified behaviors of flourishing into actionable steps, and creates room for reflection.

Keeping the Faith: Conversations to Strengthen the Bond Between Pastors and Church Leaders

Addressing tough topics is essential for healthy churches & pastors. This guide offers tools to help P/SPRC committees and their pastors come together for difficult conversations and offers skills needed to live together in healthy community.

Pastor & Parish: A Learning Resource for Staff/Pastor-Parish Relations Committees

Combining videos, workbook content, guided discussion and complementary readings, this six-session series for United Methodist staff-parish relations committees offers guidance on how to create a covenant to guide their work as a ministry.

Supporting Congregants Through a Robust Referral System

Proactively reduce clergy stress by creating a set of referral sources to share with congregants in their time of need. This self-guided training includes videos, worksheets, and guides designed in collaboration with Partners in Health and Wholeness.

Research Summaries

Hope After Division

The past few years have been challenging yet hopeful for clergy in North Carolina's United Methodist Church, who have navigated significant cultural shifts. Read interesting findings based on the 2023 Clergy Health Initiative Survey.

Key Findings from Our Disaffiliation Report

Based on NC-UMC clergy’s assessments of their own congregations, 57% of churches remaining after disaffiliation were purple, 25% were red, and 18% were blue. Read up on other key findings from our 2024 report in this summary.

Social Influences on the Call to Ministry

47% of seminary students say someone else suggested ministry before they considered it for themselves. Learn about the six types of people who showed up most often in call stories, as well as how men and women narrated the influence of others differently.

Reports & Briefs

Seeking and Giving Social Support among UMC Clergy in NC

The relationship between support ties among clergy and their well-being is more complex than it appears. This report highlights key findings on social support ties and outlines future research questions.

Witnessing the Wounds: BIPOC Clergy in the United Methodist Church Reflect on Their Callings, Careers, and Pastoral Experiences

Amid clergy burnout and civil unrest, a group of seventeen Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) clergy were asked questions regarding their call stories, ordination experiences, and careers in the North Carolina United Methodist Church.

Disaffiliation from the United Church Methodist in North Carolina: Challenges and Opportunities

With partisan conflict at an all-time high, this report suggests a timely opportunity for the denomination to embrace its “Big Tent” roots and seed communities where plurality without division can thrive.

Unequal Careers of Black and White Pastors in the United Methodist Church in North and South Carolina

A decade-long research journey uncovers racial disparities in salaries and working environments among Carolina UMC clergy. Inequalities are unintentionally perpetuated by denomination policies and appointment processes, sparking critical conversations.

Journal Articles

2025
Tice, L., Salgado, G., Johnston, E., Nascimento, B., Lee Bo-Hyeong, J., Proeschold-Bell, R. J., & Eagle, D. (2025). The weight of the yoke: a qualitative analysis of the stressors for clergy across a mental health continuum. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/13674676.2025.2536533

2023
Holleman, A. (2023). "Programming Provided by Religious Congregations in the United States to Address Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorder." Journal of Religion & Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-023-01804-9

Johnston, E.F., Eagle, D.E., & Headley, J. (2023). “Pastoring in a Pandemic: Sources and Types of Social Support Used by United Methodist Clergy in the Early Period of the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Journal of Psychology and Theology. https://doi.org/10.1177/00916471231182737

Upenieks, L. and Eagle, D.E. (2023). “Divine Struggles Among Those Doing God’s Work: A Longitudinal Assessment Predicting Depression and Burnout and the Role of Social Support in United Methodist Clergy.” Sociology of Religion. https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/srad014

2022
Eagle, D.E. & Mueller, C.W. (2022). “Reproducing inequality in a formally anti-racist organization: The case of racialized career pathways in the United Methodist Church.” American Journal of Sociology, 127(5): 1507–1550. https://doi.org/10.1086/719391

Johnston, E.F. & Eagle, D.E. (2022). “Expanding the Horizontal Call: A Typology of Social Influences on the Call to Ministry.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 62:68–88. https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12816

2021
Eagle, D.E., Johnston E.F., Headley, J., & Holleman, A. (2021). “The financial impacts of COVID-19 on United Methodist Churches in North Carolina: A qualitative study of pastors’ perspectives and strategies.” Review of Religious Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13644-021-00474-x

2019
Lutz, J., & Eagle, D. E. (2019). Social networks, support, and depressive symptoms: Gender differences among clergy. Socius, 5, https://doi.org/10.1177/237802311987382

2018
Eagle, D., Hybels, C., & Proeschold-Bell, R.J. (2018). Perceived social support, received social support, and depression among clergy. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 36(7) 2055-2073. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407518776134

2013
Miles, A., & Proeschold-Bell, R.J. (2013). Overcoming the challenges of pastoral work? Peer support groups and psychological distress among United Methodist Church clergy. Sociology of Religion: A Quarterly Review, 74(2). https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/srs055

2012
Miles, A., & Proeschold-Bell, R.J. (2012). Are rural clergy worse off?: An examination of occupational conditions and pastoral experiences in a sample of United Methodist clergy. Sociology of Religion: A Quarterly Review, 73(1), 23-45. https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/srr025