Clergy Intervention Program Reduces Health Risk Factors - Improvements found in weight, cholesterol and blood pressure that were sustained over 24 months

Fit for ministry: Addressing the crisis in clergy health. Is there a way for pastors to be both physically and spiritually healthy? What would enable clergy to become physically healthier? What effect does physical health have on spiritual well-being, if any? The Clergy Health Initiative is trying to find out the answers to these questions.

Worship workout: Atlantans combine faith and fitness. They say the body is a temple, and some people certainly treat the gym like a church, following the workout of the day like it’s one of the Ten Commandments. But these days, some Christian church­goers are doing more to combine faith and fitness, placing a premium on the health of the body as well as the soul.

Sacrificing the Body. Too many pastors are neglecting their physical health—and it's killing them.

Fitness programs help campus rabbis shape up. Trainer of Dartmouth College’s Rabbi Moshe Gray was inspired after seeing too many photos of overweight rabbis.

Durham Churches to Launch Congregational Wellness Challenge. Pastors, lay leaders and 12 members from each congregation will engage in a 40-day effort to inspire holistic health within their churches and across the community.

Wellness push nourishes bodies, souls

Preaching A Healthy Lifestyle To Pastors. A pastor's job is to tend to the needs of the flock, but sometimes that comes with a cost, especially when it comes to health-related issues.

The Fitness-Driven Church. Across the country, congregations are whipping members into shape with highly marketed, faith-based health programs. What's right—and troubling—about the trend.

Divine Intervention: Helping Clergy Help Themselves

The Duke Endowment Gives $5.74 Million for Clergy Health Research at Duke. Gift extends initial $12 million investment into health interventions for clergy.

Weight loss is ministry's gain. At one time, Pastor Eldrick Davis couldn’t preach without a portable oxygen tank. Last year, he lost more than 100 pounds with the support of his congregation and a Duke program to help pastors lose weight and improve their health.

Addressing the needs of the clergy

Clergy Health: Who Cares for the Caregivers? Pastors more likely to suffer chronic conditions, less likely to seek help

Study Shows Ministers Sacrifice Their Own Health To Serve. A Duke study shows how ministering to others can take a toll on a pastor’s health, but researchers also find ways to help ministers get healthier.

Clergy find joy, but plates runneth over. Studies point to both happiness and heaviness. "If I could send a message to my congregation, it would be: Think fruit basket," said the Rev. Peter Geisendorfer-Lindgren of Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Maple Grove (pictured). 

Duke study finds pastors outweigh parishioners — in an unhealthy way

Looking for a growth industry? Be a personal trainer

Body and soul. United Methodist clergy in North Carolina have significantly higher rates of chronic disease than other state residents, according to new research by the Clergy Health Initiative at Duke Divinity School. The findings could be illuminating for others in ministry as well.

Some clergy may have higher obesity and chronic disease rates than their congregations. Being a member of the clergy has its responsibilities, but the demands of the job may take a bigger toll than most people think. A new study found that some clergy members had higher rates of obesity and chronic diseases than their non-clergy counterparts.

Worshippers may love their doughnuts on Sunday mornings and meat loaf, mashed potatoes and gravy at church suppers. But does church life encourage obesity -- or help combat it? Take our quiz to find out.

Study shows high obesity rate for clergy

When Serving the Lord, Ministers Are Often Found to Neglect Themselves