FEATURE SIDEBAR: The stresses that lead to clergy burnout

c. 1999 Religion News Service UNDATED _ Regardless of doctrinal differences, most members of the clergy _ across faith and denominational lines _ struggle to strike a balance between their profound and prosaic responsibilities. But some of those stresses may differ.”They hire me, and it’s my privilege to be present when someone’s ill or when […]

c. 1999 Religion News Service

UNDATED _ Regardless of doctrinal differences, most members of the clergy _ across faith and denominational lines _ struggle to strike a balance between their profound and prosaic responsibilities. But some of those stresses may differ.”They hire me, and it’s my privilege to be present when someone’s ill or when somebody’s born. … That’s why I became a clergyperson _ because it’s an honor to be invited in,”said Rabbi Sandra Cohen of Temple Micah in Denver.”But there are certainly moments when you think, `Now? You had to call me now?'” In Denver, rabbis may find themselves acutely overextended, serving as many as 1,000 families who observe a calendar of religious holidays that’s different from their Christian neighbors, Cohen said.

Rabbis also are expected to be leaders in Jewish community politics and ambassadors of their faith to the non-Jewish community.


Black pastors also fill multiple roles, said the Rev. Alvin Yeary of Deliverance Tabernacle in Colorado Springs, Colo.”The clergy(person) in the black community is the activist. … Then he has the race issues that he deals with all the time, where the white clergy only addresses that when it’s blatantly obvious to them that it’s a problem. …”A pastor has to be aware of everything in the community, and the congregation holds him accountable for that.” Black pastors also face financial stresses their white counterparts don’t; many work at another job to pay the bills at home.”We don’t have eight bankers sitting on our board,”Yeary said.”What we have to deal with is passion for the work.” While some black pastors don’t receive the same collegial support they give one another from white clergy, Jim Burns feels a different kind of alienation.

Burns is pastor of Denver’s Metropolitan Community Church of the Rockies, which caters to gay and lesbian Christians. Their needs place unique demands on their shepherd.

Unlike other Christians, gays often are ostracized by fellow believers.

Some rejection is relatively mild; SonScape Re-Creation Ministries, for instance, views homosexuality as a sin and does not welcome openly gay pastors to its sessions for worn-out clergy.

Other sentiment is vitriolic. At the October funeral of openly gay University of Wyoming student Matt Shepard, members of a Topeka, Kan., church proclaimed their belief that”God hates fags,”in the words of the group’s leader, a Baptist preacher.”No one grew up in our church,”Burns says.”All of our members left another church and came to us having had a bad experience. So (being their minister) might be like doing couples counseling for people who have all been divorced and are on their second marriage.”

DEA END TERWILLIGER

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