Featured Resource: STUCK

I recently read the book, Stuck: Why Clergy Are Alienated from Their Calling, Congregation, and Career ... and What to Do about It by Todd Ferguson and Josh Packard, 2022. I found its research and findings interesting especially as it seemed to suggest that while it is the case that clergy are experiencing burnout and are in some cases, leaving the professional role of ministry in the United States, it is also true that clergy - on the whole - haven’t lost ‘faith’ in their calling or God but they may have been worn out by the congregational model of ministry.

Could it be that the congregational model as it has evolved over the decades is contributing to ordained ministers (and I’d also wonder about paid staff, volunteers, and lay leaders too) feeling constrained or hindered, even fed up with the structure of Church while at the same time not losing their love for the Gospel?

Well, you’ll need to read the book to draw your own conclusions.

Let me share a couple of provocative quotes:

“In this ‘job,’ Peter would work during the week preparing for services on Sunday, but he felt isolated and trapped. He says, “It was something we spent the whole week preparing sequestered within the building and not engaged with the rest of the world, where Jesus wants us to be, to act out or teach kingdom principles. We were penned up. Penned up inside for what? To make sure the one hour or more is perfect.”

“The pastors in our study, however, nuanced their affirmation of their calling with a major caveat, usually about the structure of ministry. Many no longer felt that their calling could be carried out within the congregational form. As a result, they had to redefine their sense of calling from God.”

“This congregational “tool,” however, is no longer working for these people. To further the tool kit metaphor, it is like these pastors need to saw off something, but when looking into their tool kits, they only have hammers. The congregational structure either hinders deep spiritual development because it is so focused on institutional maintenance—like budgets, members, or even the colors of hymnals—or constrains leaders from full authenticity because pastors feel like they cannot share their true selves. And yet because congregations are one of the few tools our society offers for developing a person’s spiritual life, they are important.”

“He says, ‘I feel that the work I am doing as a local pastor is much more like being a manager of a small franchise than it is a deeply religious movement toward God.’”

I found the book insightful in its bluntness as a call to transform or re-energize the congregational model while at the same time inviting clergy (and other ministry leaders) to live out of their original calling and to find practices that serve to add to their resilience toolkit as they do ministry.

If you’d like a shorter take on the book, here’s a lecture by one of the authors, Todd Ferguson from about a year ago.

Sociologist Todd Ferguson of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor speaks about "Stuck: Why Clergy Are Alienated from their Calling, Congregation, and Career . . . And What to Do About It." The lecture was sponsored by the Gaede Institute for the Liberal Arts, the Westmont Sociology and Religious Studies Departments, and the Westmont Campus Pastor's Office.