American Clergy Research Articles

Depression in African American Clergy

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Secondary Traumatic Stress, Religious Coping, and Medical Mistrust among African American Clergy and Religious Leaders

Previous research has investigated the prevalence and impact of secondary traumatic stress (STS) among those working as helping professionals. However, limited studies have provided clear and coherent information about STS among clergy, pastors, and other religious leaders, despite their status as helping professionals who are implicated in times of crisis. STS is particularly salient to African American religious leaders due to cultural factors that position African American churches as trusted institutions linking local communities of color with various social services. Results from a sample of African American religious leaders confirmed the prevalence of STS along with other mental health challenges. Moreover, STS was associated with negative interactions within the church. Finally, negative religious coping and medical mistrust significantly moderated the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and PTSD. These findings bear significant implications, emphasizing the need for greater collaboration and trust-building between mental health professionals and clergy.

Justifying Revolution: The American Clergy’s Argument for Political Resistance, 1750–1776 by Gary L. Steward (review)

Justifying Revolution: The American Clergy’s Argument for Political Resistance, 1750–1776 by Gary L. Steward (review)

"It's Taboo to Talk About It": Korean American Clergy Members' Views of Mental Health.

Korean Americans are more likely to seek guidance from church leaders than to use traditional mental health services. Through semistructured key informant interviews with 16 Christian clergy members serving later-generation Korean Americans, the authors explored clergy members' perceptions of the mental health needs of their congregants. Insights from the study suggested that communication and collaboration between mental health professionals and church leaders may be helpful in addressing the Korean American community's emotional and mental health needs.

Justifying Revolution: The American Clergy’s Argument for Political Resistance, 1750–1776. By Gary L. Steward

The role of colonial American clergy in furthering the cause and course of the American Revolution, especially in the deeply religious culture of New England, has been a matter of scholarly discussion and dispute since the nineteenth century. Because the place of Christianity in the founding of the American republic has been central to the debate over whether the United States was established as a so-called “Christian nation,” an academic question has also become a significant political controversy. In Justifying Revolution, Gary Steward largely eschews the latter, focusing very single-mindedly on clerical thought, particularly with regard to political resistance and how and why so many came to support it. Yet in making his case, Steward further seeks to counter the arguments of major historians, including Bernard Bailyn, Mark Noll, Nathan Hatch, and George Marsden, who have emphasized the role of “real Whig” and republican thought in shaping and escalating a radical resistance ideology that led to revolution.

Justifying Revolution: The American Clergy’s Argument for Political Resistance, 1750–1776, by Gary L. Steward

Jonathan Mayhew was not a popular man among the clergy of Boston in the 1750s and 1760s. The British clergyman who most clearly articulated a Protestant justification for political resistance—one heralded by John Adams as of ‘great influence on the commencement of the Revolution’, and ‘read by everyone’—was excluded from the community of Boston pastors for his heterodox views on core Calvinist tenets (p. 9). In truth, both his politics and his theology were controversial in significant circles; why and for whom depends on what is under examination. Mayhew’s complex example is one of many. The uncomfortable fact that clerical political positions on the dispute between the British Parliament and their American colonists did not map neatly onto either theological perspectives or community boundaries has long bedevilled scholars who wish to outline the connections between political theology and the American Revolution. The messiness of the historical record has made it possible, over literally hundreds of years, for historians to argue that the religious spirit of the revolution was animated by Enlightenment thought, by various sub-strains of Enlightenment thought, by the spirit of the awakening movement later associated with evangelicalism, by the thought of transatlantic British religious dissent, or by feuds between dissenters and their Anglican counterparts. The most successful such works place many of these strands in conversation, and thus account for both the divisiveness of the political moment and the choices people and communities made during the conflict.

Examining Generational Differences, Sociocultural Variables, and Clergy-mental Health Professional Collaboration in Korean American Clergy Response to Intimate Partner Violence

Examining Generational Differences, Sociocultural Variables, and Clergy-mental Health Professional Collaboration in Korean American Clergy Response to Intimate Partner Violence

Justifying Revolution: The American Clergy's Argument for Political Resistance, 1750–1776. By Gary L. Steward. New York: Oxford University Press, 2021. 232 pp. $74.00 cloth.

Justifying Revolution: The American Clergy's Argument for Political Resistance, 1750–1776. By Gary L. Steward. New York: Oxford University Press, 2021. 232 pp. $74.00 cloth.

A Survey of Covid-19 Deaths Among American Clergy

This research aims to discover the number of clergy deaths in the United States that resulted from complications associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19). The FaithX Project, in association with researchers from the Global Center for Religious Research (GCRR), conducted a survey of sixteen major Christian denominations in the United States. The methodology for this study was to contact leaders in these denominations (via email and phone) who oversaw specific church judicatories. The research took place from January to June of 2021. There was an average response rate of 23.12% across the sixteen Christian denominations contacted. 169 judicatories responded to the survey and a total of 118 clergy deaths were reported, with the Catholic Church recording the most: 43 deaths. The average overall death rate for these denominations was 0.23%, with the highest rate being the Catholic Church at 0.73%. Utilizing this information, it can be estimated that somewhere between 1,008 and 1,099 total clergy in the United States died from Covid-19.

The Politics of 130,000 American Religious Leaders: A New Methodological Approach

AbstractWe compile an original database of 130,000 American clergy across 40 denominations, which we link to public voter registration data. We then link these data to mass surveys and a survey of pastors' own churches. This paper has two purposes. First, it introduces a new methodology for learning about religious communities by scraping information from denominational find‐a‐church websites . Second, the paper presents several short analyses that focus on the political affiliations of pastors and how they relate to congregants. We demonstrate that denominational affiliation is highly informative of a pastor's party registration but not a congregant's. Yet, the weak relationship for congregants masks a stronger underlying relationship between denominational affiliation and issue positions. We also demonstrate that many congregants, particularly in conservative churches, are politically unaligned with their pastor.

African American Clergy Recommendations to Enhance the Federal Plan to End the HIV Epidemic: A Qualitative Study.

African Americans in the southern United States continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV. Although faith-based organizations (FBOs) play important roles in the social fabric of African American communities, few HIV screening, care, and PrEP promotion efforts harness the power of FBOs. We conducted 11 focus groups among 57 prominent African American clergy from Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama. We explored clergy knowledge about the Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America (EHE); normative recommendations for how clergy can contribute to EHE; and how clergy can enhance the HIV care continua and PrEP. We explored how clergy have responded to the COVID-19 crisis, and lessons learned from pandemic experiences that are relevant for HIV programs. Clergy reported a moral obligation to participate in the response to the HIV epidemic and were willing to support efforts to expand HIV screening, treatment, PrEP and HIV care. Few clergy were familiar with EHE, U = U and TasP. Many suggested developing culturally tailored messages and were willing to lend their voices to social marketing efforts to destigmatize HIV and promote uptake of biomedical interventions. Nearly all clergy believed technical assistance with biomedical HIV prevention and care interventions would enhance their ability to create partnerships with local community health centers. Partnering with FBOs presents important and unique opportunities to reduce HIV disparities. Clergy want to participate in the EHE movement and need federal resources and technical assistance to support their efforts to bridge community activities with biomedical prevention and care programs related to HIV. The COVID-19 pandemic presents opportunities to build important infrastructure related to these goals.

Sermons to Address Obesity in Partnership With African American and Latino Churches

Sermons to Address Obesity in Partnership With African American and Latino Churches

Engaging African American Clergy and Community Members to Increase Access to Evidence-Based Practices for Depression.

African American clergy provide informal counseling for community members with depression. Through a qualitative case study with two African American clergy and 25 community members in New York City, the authors explored perspectives on training clergy in interpersonal counseling (IPC). Data were analyzed by using thematic analysis. Results were grouped into three themes: mistrust of institutions, depression stigma, and feasibility of training clergy in IPC. Clergy members wanted IPC training but did not want to counsel more people. Thus, training clergy may be insufficient to reduce racial disparities in access to evidence-based depression services.

Factors Associated with Burnout, Marital Conflict, and Life Satisfaction among Chinese American Church Leaders

Clergy and church leaders experience unique pressure and stressors associated with ministry. In this study, we examined protective and risk factors related to burnout, life satisfaction, and marital conflict in a sample of 124 Chinese American church leaders. We examined the role of self-compassion, self-criticism, and bicultural identity. Ministry leaders (i.e., full-time or part-time pastors, deacons, elders, ministers) aged 25 to 68 years from Chinese American churches in the United States completed surveys online. In the overall structural equation model, self-compassion and bicultural identity were associated with lower levels of burnout; both were not related to life satisfaction or marital conflict. In contrast, self-criticism was related to higher rates of marital conflict and lower levels of life satisfaction; it was not associated with ministry burnout. Self-compassion was inversely related to self-criticism. Our findings suggest that self-compassion and self-criticism have distinct implications for psychological functioning among Chinese American church leaders. Specifically, whereas self-compassion was a protective factor against ministry burnout, self-criticism was a risk factor for marital relationships and life satisfaction. Bicultural identity integration protected against ministry burnout and may be particularly helpful when working with diverse Chinese American churches. Practical implications for Chinese American clergy and ministry leaders were discussed.

African American and European American Clergy's Counseling of Older Adults

This study examines factors associated with the amount of time African American and European American clergy spend counseling older adults for emotional problems. We used a cross sectional survey design with data gathered through the use of a brief, two page, mailed survey, the implementation of which was rooted in Dillman's Tailored Design Method. The study is based in a mental health literacy framework. This study was completed in a Midwestern metropolitan area with African American and European American, Christian clergy. We used ordinary least squares regression analysis to compare variables' relationships with the amount of time that clergy spent counseling older people. Findings indicate that clergy who are African American, clergy who have more training specific to mental illness, and clergy who are Roman Catholic spend greater percentages of their time counseling older people. Discussion centers on an explanation of results and how best to support clergy in their role as front line providers of supportive counseling services.

A Phenomenological Study: Black Clergy Leaders’ Response to Violence against Women

Violence against women and religious participation are two phenomena that are pervasive across many African American communities. African American women experience intimate partner violence at a rate higher than the majority of racial groups in the United States. Although many African American women highly depend on their faith and church to navigate their experiences with intimate partner violence, scant attention has been given to the role that Black clergy leaders have in responding to intimate partner violence against women. The current study utilized phenomenological methodology to understand better Black American clergy leaders’ responses to intimate partner violence against women. Findings from clergy leaders’ narratives suggested that they serve primarily four roles when responding to intimate partner violence against women: spiritual advisor, pastoral care/counselor, compassionate leaders, and uninformed responders. Overall, these themes indicate that although African American clergy acknowledge the prevalence of intimate partner violence within their communities, and are trained in pastoral counseling, they lack knowledge and training to respond to intimate partner violence. Discussion centers on the need for clergy to be trained in the area of intimate partner violence response given their position within the church. The results in this study can help clergy leaders understand the basics of intimate partner violence and identify gaps in their practices with abused women.

African American Clergy Perspectives About the HIV Care Continuum: Results From a Qualitative Study in Jackson, Mississippi.

Mississippi has some of the most pronounced racial disparities in HIV infection in the country; African Americans comprised 37% of the Mississippi population but represented 80% of new HIV cases in 2015. Improving outcomes along the HIV care continuum, including linking and retaining more individuals and enhancing adherence to medication, may reduce the disparities faced by African Americans in Mississippi. Little is understood about clergy's views about the HIV care continuum. We assessed knowledge of African American pastors and ministers in Jackson, Mississippi about HIV and the HIV care continuum. We also assessed their willingness to promote HIV screening and biomedical prevention technologies as well as efforts to enhance linkage and retention in care with their congregations. Four focus groups were conducted with 19 African American clergy. Clergy noted pervasive stigma associated with HIV and believed they had a moral imperative to promote HIV awareness and testing; they provided recommendations on how to normalize conversations related to HIV testing and treatment. Overall, clergy were willing to promote and help assist with linking and retaining HIV positive individuals in care but knew little about how HIV treatment can enhance prevention or new biomedical technologies such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Clergy underscored the importance of building coalitions to promote a collective local response to the epidemic. The results of this study highlight important public health opportunities to engage African American clergy in the HIV care continuum in order to reduce racial disparities in HIV infection.

Korean clergy for healthy families: online intervention for preventing intimate partner violence.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) among immigrant women is a serious public health problem. Churches and clergy play a fundamental role in their lives, as a form of social organization and alternative to community services. To describe the implementation and evaluation of an intervention for Korean American faith leaders designed to increase knowledge about IPV and about resources to handle IPV, strengthen attitudes that do not support IPV, enhance self-efficacy to handle IPV, and increase prevention and intervention behaviors about IPV. Korean American faith leaders in a Southeastern state of the USA were invited to participate in the study (n = 55). Participants completed two online assessments: baseline and a 3-month follow-up. After the baseline assessment, participants were randomized to either the intervention (n = 27) or the control (n = 28) group. The intervention consisted of three online modules, each taking approximately 30-45 min to complete. Modules were developed based on the researchers' work with Korean American faith leaders. Assessments and interventions were available in Korean and English. Compared to the control group, the intervention group significantly improved their knowledge of resources and enhanced attitudes against IPV. The intervention group increased their self-efficacy and behaviors to prevent IPV more than the control group, but these changes were not statistically significant. The online training provided a safe and convenient environment for the Korean American clergy, for whom anonymity and convenient access were important. Results are promising, but highlight the need to include more specific training of skills, which could be incorporated into the online modules in the form of an avatar. This online training could serve as a template to be adapted for other immigrant groups.

Sex Workers, Psychics, and Numbers Runners: Black Women in New York City's Underground Economy

In Sex Workers, Psychics, and Numbers Runners LaShawn Harris has produced a superb work, arguing that African American women engaged in criminal activities not as victims but as conscious actors seeking social and economic advancement by carving out a distinct urban space in the nation's largest metropolis. Her extraordinarily well-balanced and well-researched work illustrates the trials and tribulations these women faced from dominant white society, the underworld, and their African American community. The thrust of this work is that African American women who pursued criminal activities rejected dominant gender and race values in a quest to devise “wage-generating strategies that stressed individual empowerment, self-sufficiency, and fiscal stability” (p. 206). They wanted to get ahead, and they were not necessarily concerned with how they did so. In an excellent chapter on the mob boss Stephanie St. Clair, Harris mentions that Harlem's “queen of policy” earned an estimated $200,000 per year during the Great Depression and resided in the fashionable Sugar Hill neighborhood. St. Clair also became an advocate for the African American community by supporting race advancement, black immigration, and political candidates, and by opposing public corruption and police brutality, illustrating that she, like other black women in the underground economy, saw herself as an equal participant in a society that rejected her occupational choice. Others appeared to agree, since, in their own quest for economic advancement, owners of nightclubs and other businesses and members of the African American clergy supported (or even worked with) the illegal feminine underworld.

Community engagement with African American clergy: faith-based model for culturally competent practice

ABSTRACTObjective: The intent of this exploratory qualitative study was to examine African American Baptist clergy's pastoral care to older congregants with mental disorders. Critical Race Theory was the guiding framework in this study.Method: A purposive sample of 18 African American clergy participated in one-on-one interviews.Results: Collectively, all participants were active in the provision of mental health to older congregants with mental disorders. The primary emergent theme ‘shepherding the flock’ the central phenomenon uncovered in the data, was used to organize a model of pastoral care, which is presented in this paper. Findings from this study supported results from previous studies on the integral role of the Church and clergy in the African American community.Conclusion: Moreover, this study highlights the importance of internal ministries in the Church and the need for further study and potential partnership opportunity.