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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]

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]

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]