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The Seminary to Early Ministry (SEM) Study is a mixed-method, prospective study designed to provide high-quality empirical data on student formation in theological education. The study will use a series of surveys and in-depth interviews to track three cohorts of divinity school students from matriculation into the early years of their careers. As a result, the study hopes to compile the most comprehensive longitudinal dataset on theological education to date, enabling researchers to better understand who attends seminaries, how seminaries form students, and how the training of future religious leaders can be improved.

Summary: Objective: This systematic review aims to summarize the current body of evidence concerning the prevalence of obesity among clergy (i.e., the officially designated leaders of a religious group) in the United States. Method: From November 2022 to February 2023, five databases, one data repository, and gray matter were searched for articles and data sources. The search was restricted to articles published or raw data collected from 2001 to 2021. Study quality was assessed with a template, and heterogeneity was assessed using the I2 statistic. The protocol for this review was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42022376592). Results: Forty‐seven studies of clergy obesity involving 35,064 individuals were eligible. The pooled prevalence estimate of obesity across studies was 34.8% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 32.5–37.2). Obesity prevalence was found to be increasing over time and to vary considerably between clergy from different religious traditions. Compared to national estimates, from 2005 onwards, obesity prevalence was higher than in the US adult population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we examine the role of spiritual struggles among clergy, in the form of "divine struggle" or feelings of alienation from God and their associations with well-being (depressive symptoms and burnout) among clergy. Drawing from a life-stress perspective, we also test whether received and anticipated congregational support moderates these associations. Using two waves of data (2016–2019) of the Clergy Panel Health Survey of United Methodist clergy in North Carolina (n = 1,261), results suggest that it was clergy who increased in divine struggles over time who had the highest depressive symptom and burnout scores. However, clergy who received significant emotional support from members of their congregation were protected from elevated depressive symptoms and greater burnout. Anticipated congregational support only buffered the relationship between increasing divine struggles and one component of burnout (positive achievement). We offer some broader implications for supporting clergy well-being in the face of divine struggles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are religious leaders unusually unhealthy? This question has long occupied scholars interested in the study of religious institutions, and a significant body of research has examined the causes, correlates, and effects of poor health among clergy. In this study, we aimed to: (1) outline the development of, and bias inherent to, the scholarly understanding of clergy health over the past 50 years; (2) test, using a recently collected nationally representative sample of clergy, the standing assumption that clergy are an especially unhealthy vocational group, specifically in terms of depression, obesity, and self‐rated health; and (3) identify the major correlates of health among clergy using these data. Contrary to the recent tenor of scholarly research on this subject, our research revealed that clergy are not a particularly unhealthy group. We suggest potential pathways forward to ameliorate the bias inherent in the research into clergy well‐being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines the social actors and interactions that facilitate seminary students' sense of calling. Drawing from 36 in‐depth interviews with first year Masters of Divinity students, we introduce six ideal typical social others who play a formative role in the early stages of a call to ministry: instigators, exemplars, interpreters, affirmers, challengers, and codiscerners. Together, these findings demonstrate that the call to ministry, while deeply personal, emerges through social interactions that facilitate and make plausible a person's sense of calling and that sustain it over time. Extending Richard Pitt's conceptualization of the "horizontal call," this paper argues that social others help evoke and solidify—not merely legitimate—a personal sense of call. This research also highlights differences in the social structuring of call by gender. Despite considerable gains in the ordination of women, we find that many still face obstacles to experiencing and embracing a call to ministry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Seminary to Early Ministry (SEM) Study is a mixed-method, prospective study designed to provide high-quality empirical data on student formation in theological education. The study will use a series of surveys and in-depth interviews to track three cohorts of divinity school students from matriculation into the early years of their careers. As a result, the study hopes to compile the most comprehensive longitudinal dataset on theological education to date, enabling researchers to better understand who attends seminaries, how seminaries form students, and how the training of future religious leaders can be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Work in occupations with higher levels of occupational stress can bring mental health costs. Many older adults worldwide are continuing to work past traditional retirement age, raising the question whether older adults experience depression, anxiety, or burnout at the same or greater levels as younger workers, and whether there are differences by age in these levels over time.Design/setting/participants: Longitudinal survey of 1161 currently employed US clergy followed every 6-12 months for up to 66 months.Measurements: Depression was measured with the 8-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8). Anxiety was measured using the anxiety component of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Burnout symptoms were assessed using the three components of the Maslach Burnout Inventory: emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), and sense of personal accomplishment (PA).Results: Older participants had lower scores of depression, anxiety, EE, and DP and higher levels of PA over time compared to younger adults. Levels of EE decreased for older working adults, while not significantly changing over time for those younger. DP symptoms decreased over time among those 55 years or older but increased among those 25-54 years.Conclusions: Older working adults may have higher levels of resilience and be able to balance personal life with their occupation as well as may engage in certain behaviors that increase social support and, for clergy, spiritual well-being that may decrease stress in a way that allows these older adults to appear to tolerate working longer without poorer mental health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On every business day, nearly every bank in the United States engages in federal funds transactions. Those involved in these transactions observe the federal funds rate changing from day to [...]

Two of several theories of the 1987 stock market crash are the cascading scenario and Leland's backward-bending demand curve theory. This paper shows that previous descriptions of the cascading scenario are incomplete and that the logical completion of the scenario leads to Leland's backward-bending demand curve. Therefore, whether the cascading scenario led to the crash depends primarily on whether the demand curve for stock or stock equivalents was backward bending., Explanations of the 1987 crash initially blamed the market's institutional structure and practices such as program trading, futures, and portfolio insurance. These explanations include the cascading scenario,(1) the Brady Commission [...]

Weight-loss maintenance is essential to sustain the health benefits of weight loss. Studies with lower intensity intervention supports under real-world conditions are lacking. This study examined changes in weight and cardiometabolic biomarkers among Spirited Life participants following initial 12-month weight loss at 12–24 months and 24–42 months. A total of 719 clergy received a wellness intervention, including a 10-week online weight-loss program in the first 12 months and monthly health coaching throughout 24 months. Mean changes in weight, blood pressure, high-density lipoproteins, and triglycerides were estimated using random effects linear models, accounting for repeated measures. Weight was additionally analyzed in subsamples stratified by body mass index (BMI). At baseline, 17.1% of participants had BMI < 25 kg/m2 and 11.8% had BMI ≥ 40 kg/m2. Mean 12-month weight loss was −2.4 kg (95% CI: −2.8 kg, −2.1 kg). On average, at 42 months, participants regained weight but did not exceed baseline (−0.5 kg, 95% CI: −1.2 kg, 0.2 kg), improvements in triglycerides were completely sustained (−13.9 mg/dL, 95% CI: −18.6 mg/dL, −9.2 mg/dL), and systolic blood pressure improvements remained significant (−1.9 mmHg, 95% CI: −3.0 mmHg, −0.9 mmHg). Participants with a BMI ≥ 40 kg/m2 lost significantly more weight that was sustained at 42 months (−5.8 kg, 95% CI: −8.9 kg, −2.7 kg). The Spirited Life wellness intervention produced weight loss and, for participants with higher levels of obesity, sustained weight-loss maintenance. The intervention was effective for long-term prevention of weight gain among participants with BMI of 25 to ≤40 kg/m2, through 42 months. Wellness interventions such as Spirited Life should be considered for adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The VIA Classification of Character Strengths has broken important ground for measuring character strengths across cultures. Because the VIA Classification is a closed system of abstract strengths, however, it is unknown how end-users engage strengths in particular cultural and practical contexts, define strengths for themselves, or identify additional strengths. In this study, residential care directors (n = 18) and other caregivers (n = 64) for orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) in five distinct global locations prioritized with a card-sort the VIA Character Strengths most important for the work of caregiving, defined these strengths, and proposed additional strengths. Supervisors were then asked how caregivers embodied their prioritized strengths. Participants most frequently prioritized Love, Honesty, Forgiveness, and Kindness as important for caregiving; demonstrated high concordance but also some deviation from the definitions of the VIA Classification; and proposed additional strengths (e.g. Caring, Self-drive, and Initiative) that were perceived not to overlap with existing VIA Character Strengths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We argue that perceived support is best conceptualized more as a measure of how an individual appraises his/her situation rather than a true reflection of how much support he/she receives. To test this theory, we used survey data from the Clergy Health Initiative Panel Survey to examine the relationship between perceived and received social support and their association with depressive symptoms in clergy (N = 1,288). Overall, analyses revealed perceived support had a weak association with received support. Greater perceived support had a significant relationship with lower depressive symptoms. In contrast, greater received support had only a small relationship with lower depressive symptoms, which was fully mediated by perceived support. Our results raise questions about the effectiveness of many clergy social support interventions, which often aim to boost the quality and/or quantity of received social support. We suggest it may be more advantageous to boost perceptions of social support, possibly through cognitive reframing or positive mental health interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]