Race and Ethnicity

Five things clergy of color want to see from their denomination

Providing widespread training for congregations on receiving historically marginalized pastors is just one recommendation from a new report on calling, ordination, and ministry experiences of clergy of color.

Read Our Report

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.

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.

Research Summaries

Rates of Adverse Childhood Experiences Among Seminarians

More than 7 in 10 students enter divinity school with at least one Adverse Childhood Experience. Read more on why the upstream factors of mental health matter for theological education.

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.

Reports & Briefs

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
Holleman, A., Johnston, E. F., & Mischke, K. (2025). Walking the Tightrope: How White United Methodist Clergy Approach Race and Racial Justice. Sociological Focus, 58(3), 430–449. https://doi.org/10.1080/00380237.2025.2514009

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

2018
Case, A.D., Eagle, D.E., Yao, J., & Proeschold-Bell, R.J. (2018). Disentangling race and socioeconomic status in health disparities research: An examination of black and white clergy. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 5(5), 1014-1022. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-017-0449-7