A Presentation

On March 18, 2021 the Illinois and Wisconsin District hosted a workshop focused on the data from the survey. The intent of the workshop was to provide insight into the joys and challenges of pastors, and to motivate congregations to cultivate mutual systems of support with their leaders.

Survey Background

Within weeks of Covid-19 physical distancing precautions being put in place, in the face of increasing concern for racial justice, and amidst election year tensions, I have been reaching out to pastor friends and colleagues. Those informal conversations of interest and support, coupled with a pair of recent meetings with a group of pastors from the Church of the Brethren’s Southern Ohio and Kentucky District, led to the development of this survey.

It is no secret that the challenges facing pastors and congregations are complex and changing rapidly. A number of articles circulating on the internet outlined many of those realities. I began to wonder how pastors I know, in the denomination I serve, and in networks that extend informally across many denominations, are REALLY doing.

So I thought I’d ask. Thus this survey was initiated.

The Method

I am not a researcher, although I do have experience developing practical surveys and using them to assess congregations and leadership practices. Thanks to some early feedback from pastors Debbie Eisenbise, Janice King, and Lee Saylor, the questions were devised with little prior agenda. Of the survey’s 23 primary questions, five were forced into a scale. The remaining 18 were open narrative responses.

The results of this particular survey are not by any statistical means “accurate.” From an interpretive perspective, it’s definitely more complicated and less scientific to have so many mini essays to reflect on, but the richness of the responses cannot be understated.

With a spirit of discernment, good listening practices, and the grace-filled breath of the Holy Spirit, the insights gained through this process may prove invaluable to those churches and congregational leaders who want to support their pastors and faithfully navigate this unique season together.

The Participants

THANK YOU to all the pastors who took time to complete the survey!!

Overall, 110 pastors responded to the survey, distributed primarily through word-of-mouth on Facebook during a two week period. Of the respondents, half were female and half were male, with a couple respondents identifying beyond binary descriptions. 94.5% identified as white, a product of both our own denomination’s homogeneity and the limits of survey distribution channels. A few participants have been in ministry less than a year, and then a handful of pastors for every decade increment, including well-earned wisdom from over 40 years of ministry experience.

Three-quarters of respondents were from my tradition, the Church of the Brethren (COB), but we also had input from pastors serving in the United Church of Christ (UCC), United Methodist Church (UMC), Presbyterian Church U.S.A. (PCUSA), Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Southern Baptist, Anglican Church of Canada, Christian Church Disciples of Christ, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), American Baptist, the New Thought movement, and Episcopal Church.