January '24 Newsletter: Six-Week Conversation Guide for New Year
Welcome to the Serve Well newsletter, a collaborative resource from the Duke Clergy Health Initiative and Duke Religion and Social Change Lab. Every month, we'll be sharing trends in ministry formation and flourishing so that however you serve—seminarian, clergy, researcher, educator, or administrator—you can serve well.
The new year offers a new opportunity to ask, How then shall we live?—both individually and collectively. To help, this month we’re sharing trends in ministry related to vocational discernment.
Trends in Ministry Formation
Nearly Half of Seminary Students Say Someone Else Suggested Ministry Before They Seriously Considered It
Drawing from 36 in-depth interviews with first-year Master of Divinity students, we explored how other people facilitated a sense of calling for students before starting seminary. Notably, 47% of students mentioned first experiencing a horizontal call (i.e. God's call coming through other people) rather than a vertical call (i.e. God's call coming directly to an individual), suggesting the importance of community tributaries for ministry. Download our research summary to explore more, including the six types of people who showed up most often in students’ call narratives.
Trends in Ministry Flourishing
The literature on clergy attrition is peppered with claims of alarmingly high rates of departure; however, contrary to popular conceptions, there is little evidence to support them. When clergy do discern a vocational shift, among Protestants the most common factor named is conflict with the congregation or denominational system; a smaller number leave to pursue personal goals or to care for family. For more on the vocational factors impacting attrition, dive into our journal article.
Your Serve Well Resource
Keeping lines of communication open is essential for healthy pastors and congregations—and essential for communal vocational discernment. Keeping the Faith: Conversations to Strengthen the Bond Between Pastors and Church Leaders is a six-week curriculum that offers tools to help P/SPRC committees and their pastors come together for important conversations and learn skills needed to live together in community.
The Duke Clergy & Religion Research Collaborative (CRRC) is a partnership between the Duke Clergy Health Initiative (CHI) and Duke Religion and Social Change Lab (RaSCL). CHI focuses on providing pastors with tools to improve their physical, emotional, and spiritual health, while RaSCL focuses on helping current and future faith leaders adapt to evolving times. Together, we serve those who want to serve well. Our work is made possible thanks to the generous time of our research participants and generous funding from The Duke Endowment. To stay informed of our latest research in ministry formation and flourishing, sign up to get our monthly Serve Well newsletter directly in your inbox.