Now Available
How Are You “Being”? Clergy Wellness in a Time of Uncertainty
Clergy burnout is not a personal failure. It is a systemic crisis, and it has been building since long before the pandemic made it impossible to ignore.
This book is built on what clergy themselves said. Drawing on original multifaceted survey research, 326 measured responses from UCC clergy gathered during the COVID-19 pandemic, it offers a framework that goes beyond self-help platitudes to address the systemic, spiritual, and psychological roots of clergy exhaustion.
The question at its heart, shifting from “how are you doing” to “how are you being” is not a philosophical exercise. It is a survival framework for every pastor, lay leader, hospital chaplain, and seminary student who has watched ministry consume the whole person.
What you will find inside:
→ Survey findings on mindful self-care practices among spiritual care professionals
→ Focus group insights from clergy on post-pandemic ministry
→ A practical Clergy Self-Care Protocol developed from the research
→ Trauma-informed ministry frameworks grounded in clinical social work
→ Guidance for seminaries and denominations on building cultures of clergy wellness
→ Prayers and meditations written during the COVID-19 crisis
“A seminal work for every pastor, chaplain, and ministry leader navigating the realities of post-pandemic church life.” Anna Yusim, MD, Co-founder, Yale Mental Health & Spirituality Center
“Frederick Streets writes with the authority of one who has lived inside the tensions he describes.” Willie James Jennings, PhD, Yale Divinity School