Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 28, 1993 TAG: 9308280037
SECTION: RELIGION PAGE: A4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID BRIGGS ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The lot of a clergyperson historically has been one in which he or she is expected to be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and to work for the glory of God, not necessarily a living wage.
But recent history has been particularly unkind to the profession. A weak economy and general malaise among some baby boomers toward mainline denominations has placed pastors under greater pressure to increase services and attract new members with less staff and lower compensation.
Add to that the recent attention surrounding scandals of clergy sexual abuse, and a serious morale problem has developed, according to some observers.
At any one time, one in five pastors wrestles with demoralization, Peter Steinke, director of the Interfaith Pastoral Counseling Center in Barrington, Ill., estimates in the current issue of The Lutheran magazine.
"This is really a brutal occupation now," says the Rev. Ronald Weinelt of Rincon, Ga., a minister for 35 years. "Lately, instead of getting strokes, we're getting kicked in the you-know-what for trying so hard."
His response has been to form the Association of Battered Clergy, a support group to help clergy care for themselves and replace a workaholic routine with a search for "spiritual wholeness."
The main forum for the association is a monthly newsletter called The Parish Chute that mixes serious discussions of clergy issues with a good dose of humor.
In one popular feature, fictional advice columnist Dr. Fledermaus Guano, professor of theology and aerobic dancing at the Schmucker Theological Seminary, offers answers to queries on everything from his favorite oxymoron - "yuppie pastor" - to the politically correct way to refer to a eunuch - "gonadically impaired person."
One recent issue parodying the tendency of some clergy to do anything for their flocks talked about how different types of individuals would respond to walking out their front door one morning and being hit on the head with a baseball bat.
The healthy person, the newsletter said, would walk out the back door next morning to make sure he did not get hit again. The schizophrenic, so the joke continues, may get hit again but would eventually learn to avoid the attacker. The co-dependent, a category Weinelt says many clergy fall into, would continue to get smacked in the face with a baseball bat until the attacker stopped showing up. On that day, the co-dependent would go out looking for him for fear he had offended the person.
If there is a bitter edge to some of the humor, it is a reflection of the feelings of embattled clergy, according to Weinelt.
"I've got a lot of rage about it, and I've tried to convert it to humor if I could," he said.
He contends clergy come disproportionately from dysfunctional families such as his own where one parent was an alcoholic. The natural tendency of these individuals to sacrifice their own lives for others is exploited by congregations and denominational structures that encourage workaholism over protecting the mental health of clergy, Weinelt says.
"There's a general myth going around that that's how you make yourself happy; by giving yourself to others. Well, I got news for them: It doesn't work," he said.
He thinks the morale problem and the recent spate of clergy sex scandals are related.
"When your morale goes down the chute, sometimes your morality goes with it," he said.
When a member of his family came down with an addictive disease, Weinelt said he began to re-evaluate his own life. At one point, he left the parish ministry and became an alcoholism counselor.
In his newsletter, he offers three rules for pastors to remember: The Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you;" The Silver Rule, "At least do for yourself what you would do for others;" and the Iron Rule, "Don't do for others what they can do for themselves."
The biblical command to love your neighbor as yourself implies a balance between caring for others and caring for oneself, Weinelt said.
"If you don't love yourself, you can't love your neighbor."
\ Readers may write to The Association of Battered Clergy at 45 Cypress Drive, Rincon, Ga. 31326.
by CNB