A South Carolina pastor who wrote a doctoral thesis on clergy stress says utilizing coping strategies can help mediate the worst effects of stress.
Bill WestaferBill Westafer, pastor of Cowpens First Baptist Church, conducted a study of pastors from different denominations to understand how they managed stress in their work. He concluded that a pastor’s length of ministry and quality of life depend on how he learns to ameliorate stress.
Westafer’s research revealed six major stressors for pastors: change, leadership, dissonance, crises, expectation and loneliness.
“Several participants reported incidents where change they attempted to introduce was met with resistance by individuals or factions,” Westafer said. “Others struggled for the reigns of leadership.
“Some encountered toxic congregants who seemingly were bent on undermining or discrediting the minister. Loneliness or isolation as a direct result of the vocation was expressed implicitly by a number of participants.”
Westafer’s study uncovered some common coping strategies that pastors employed to help manage stress. The five most frequently mentioned included: call to the ministry, family support, prayer, relationships (both within and outside the congregation) and retreats. Other coping strategies included reading Scripture, recreational reading, seeing a counselor, exercise, taking a regular day off, and leadership development.
He said pastors with the longest tenures at their churches employed at least nine coping strategies and appeared better equipped to handle the stress of the job.
One pastor in the study drove home the importance of dealing effectively with stress: “Self-care is absolutely paramount. If I don’t take care of me, no one’s going to take care of me. And if I’m not in good shape, then what good am I to anybody?”
– Editor’s note: To read Westafer’s study, which includes a real-life account of a Southern Baptist pastor’s lonely struggle with job-related stress, click here.