Episcopal Clergy Families Studied In Depth
Episcopal News Service. June 9, 1988 [88129]
Betty Gray, Episcopal Family Network
NEW YORK (DPS, June 9) -- A majority of Episcopal clergy and their spouses who participated in a new research project view their professional and personal lives with a sense of accomplishment, but three-fifths of them have at least one serious problem, according to the study, "Episcopal Clergy Families in Eighties."
The study was prepared by the Episcopal Family Network, an agency of the Division for Social Welfare of the Episcopal Church.
The three-year study, begun in 1985, addresses the concerns of the parochial clergy and their spouses. Although the study identifies problems of the clergy families, it seeks to avoid crisis intervention. Instead the goal is to identify the "wellness" factors that characterize "healthy" clergy families, and to encourage diocesan committees to use this information in assessing current clergy support programs or in establishing such programs.
Consultants to the Clergy Family Project made the assumption that by strengthening clergy families -- those professional families most closely identified with the church -- all church families will benefit. The research analysis addresses five areas: the health and well-being of clergy and clergy spouses, the perception that clergy families are "different" from other families of professionals, personal and family systems, interpersonal support for clergy and clergy spouses, and financial management.
The study defines a healthy priest and spouse as one functioning well physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The healthy priest usually feels joy and satisfaction from work in the Church, is healthy and energetic, spiritually whole, and growing in spiritual depth. This individual has a sense of accomplishment in ministry and finds people in the congregation understand the need for private time. Such priests do not feel lonely or isolated or think seriously about leaving the parish ministry.
Two clusters of dioceses provide the bases for research. One, the Northeast Cluster, including Connecticut, Maryland, and Massachusetts, provides the perspective of the large, urban-impacted diocese. The other, the Southeast Cluster, including the dioceses of Alabama, Central Florida, and Tennessee, provides a more rural setting in a less heavily populated area.
Researchers began with an assumption that clergy and their families are dissimilar in different parts of the country, but no significant differences were found, though spouses in the southeast reported they did have enough time to do the things expected of them while those in the northeast said they did not. Seventy-two percent of the spouses in the northeast are employed while fifty-nine percent are employed in the southeast.
In the six dioceses, 613 parochial clergy and 424 spouses responded to the survey, representing a seventy-one percent response, an unusually high return.
Individuals were given overall health scores based on their answers to question in the areas mentioned above. Twenty-three percent of the clergy were found to be very healthy while less than ten percent were very unhealthy. Comparable ratings for spouses were twenty-seven percent and fifteen percent.
One indication of importance is that spouses who sacrifice time alone for themselves do so at a heavy cost to their overall health and ability to function well either in their families or in their congregations. And it is this time that is typically sacrificed.
Another problem of great trauma is divorce among parochial clergy. Dealing with the continuation of the clergy assignment poses complicated problems. In addition, it appears that former spouses have continuing emotional and financial problems. When coupled with the information that divorced women priests have the lowest income in the Church, and often have children to support, a concern arises for the Church's responsibility for the well-being of women and children.
Ninety percent of those reporting had some feeling that clergy families are different from other professional families. This resulted from the perception that clergy are "on call" twenty-four hours a day. There were also reported feelings of pressure from being thought of as a model family
To the degree this was felt, it tended to intensify such feelings and to engender resentment among both clergy and spouses usually because more free time was wanted for family and personal pursuits, and because there was a perceived need to conceal true thoughts and opinions in the interest of congregational harmony.
Clergy families tend to turn to spiritual and psychological resources regularly. Private prayer and meditation, the favored form of spiritual exercise, led to more occasions of family prayer, although the clergy tend not to worship together with their families, according to the study. Therapy is used frequently, though more often by the priest than by the spouse. Clergy in the southeast cluster expressed more trust in the bishop in such matters than did those in the northeast.
A table giving the range of family income reveals that most clergy and spouses expect to live comfortably both before and after retirement. However, the perception of living comfortably is directly related to the feeling of success in daily performance. Those feeling successful also felt financially secure.
Board members of the Episcopal Family Network are eager to complete the profile of the Church by continuing the research in additional dioceses selected demographically. To stimulate that support, copies of the study and the synopsis have been mailed to General Convention deputies, bishops, seminary deans, Executive Council members, and others.
The report contains a monograph by Dr. Adair Lummis of Hartford Seminary and descriptive action reports by committee members in each participating diocese. The Rev. William J. Winterrowd, rector of the Church of St. James the Less in Scarsdale, NY, is president of EFN.
Christine Folwell of Winter Park, Fla., is vice president. She was coordinator of the Southeast Cluster while Roberta Walmsley served the Northeast Cluster. Marcia L. Newcombe, officer for Social Welfare at the Episcopal Church Center, is a consultant.
The Episcopal Family Network is seeking funds to extend the study to fifteen dioceses. The work thus far has been supported by the Church Pension Fund, Trinity Grants Board, and the Episcopal Church Foundation.
Copies of the complete report at $15.00 each plus postage, and of the synopsis at $5.00 each plus postage, may be ordered from the Episcopal Family Network, c/o the Rev. William J. Winterrowd, Church of St. James the Less, Church Lane, Scarsdale NY, 10583. Telephone: (914) 723-6100.