If you had it to do over again, would you?
Recently, I came across an article in U.S. News and World Report which listed being a member of the clergy as one of the top 50 careers for 2010. You can read it for yourself here.
Given the rather dismal statistics about clergy health I have read elsewhere, and the number of pastors who get burned out and leave parish ministry, I was surprised by this. It also made me wonder if, given the fact that my company focuses on helping stressed out pastors find healthier ways of coping with the demands of the job, I have become too focused on the negative aspects of this profession. After all, there is great satisfaction (at least there has been for me) in doing things like comforting a dying person and their grieving family, preaching a sermon that is praised as thought-provoking and inspirational, or counseling someone during a time of crisis.
I wonder what percentage of clergy truly love their work, at least most of the time, and would gladly choose the same career if they had it all to do over again. Obviously those who choose to comment on this blog post do not constitute a statistically valid representative sample, but I’d still like to know, if you are a member of the clergy, whether or not you would make the same career choice if you had it to do over again, knowing what you know now, and why or why not. Please take a moment to share your answer by leaving a comment.
