Members of clergy need support just like everyone else

For my contribution to this week’s column on keeping the faith during the pandemic, I want to focus on an issue that is of particular interest to me: clergy wellbeing and how clergy have been coping during these strange and changing times.

I write this as a member of an inter-church group called Care 4 Clergy (care4clergy.com, which links to our Facebook page and Youtube). As a group, our primary focus is promoting and supporting clergy health and wellbeing.

During the week, we as a group were greatly taken by an article written by a Baptist pastor called Jakob Topper, who serves in North Haven Baptist Church in a city 20 miles outside Oklahoma in the USA.

In his powerful but heartbreaking article, Too Many Pastors are Falling on Their Own Swords”, Topper writes about the experience of listening to some of his fellow pastors share their thoughts of suicide. (https://baptistnews.com/article/too-many-pastors-are-falling-on-their-own-swords/)

What makes the article so timely is that Topper describes the impact of Covid-19 on clergy and some of the experiences they have had to deal with over the last few months.

He gives examples of where clergy had to minister to congregations deeply divided over the issue of returning to their buildings, with some people wanting to go back and others not, and added into the mix were threats of congregants withholding their donations to the church.

Topper describes how one pastor came very close to suffering physical violence because of a sermon he had preached on the issue of race.

Most poignantly of all, several clergy had found the pressure they faced had become too much for them and they ended their lives.

In reading the article, I appreciated how Topper went on to make some suggestions to members of congregations as to how they could support their clergy.

His points about worshippers needing to recognise that their church is not “the Church” and that churches, including their leaders, are full of sinners saved by grace are as valid here as they are on the outskirts of Oklahoma.

I found it very poignant that the first thing Topper suggested when people wanted to pray for their pastor was his advice to pray for their mental health and then for the pastor’s family. It left me wondering how many people here pray for the mental health of their clergy.

Topper further developed this point by suggesting that members of churches should “advocate for your pastor’s mental health”. He offered this guidance: “Ask committees to use emergency funds to pay for your pastor to see a counsellor, get a spiritual director, or even just get out of town for a bit. Assure your pastor that, if she or he needs to take a leave of absence, or an extended vacation, they are empowered to do so. Their lives may depend on it.”

He also addressed the issue of the lack of support which bedevils clergy, where parishioners seldom compliment their church leaders but are very quick off the mark to criticise them.

His article finished with five very practical action points for pastors: 1. Get a counsellor. 2. Be honest with your primary care physician about anxiety and depression. 3. Do less. 4. Practise friendship. 5. Lean on your peers.

In conclusion, I invite members of churches, as well as clergy/pastors, to read Jakob Topper’s article prayerfully and consider what God might be saying to us as we do so.

Fr Martin Magill is parish priest of St John’s, Belfast