Welcome to Clergy Bridge

This is the voice of one clergy leader in our community. As we interviewed clergy around Utah County we heard similar messages—messages of inadequacy concerning the complex issues members in their congregations are facing. Speaking with clergy across Utah County inspired this project to take life. As we suspected, you face a vast array of responsibilities. Clergy members we spoke with expressed being under significant stress and feeling ill-prepared or unable to fulfill the responsibilities they face outside the spiritual realm. Based on the interviews we determined a few main areas in which clergy felt they lacked substantial resources or experience. These are counseling and mental health issues, sexual addictions, sexual abuse, financial and employment difficulties, and domestic abuse. We feel that Clergy are unable to meet all of the needs of the people they serve because they are not adequately trained to do so. Simply stated, clergy lack the resources they need for the helping process they are asked to fulfill. While clergy are extremely successful in their particular expertise, we found that most have a desire to rise to the challenge of their congregations’ diverse burdens. We applaud your desire to become greater resources to your congregations. Clergy Bridge was established to give a new perspective and preparation to the challenges clergy are addressing.

This problem is not a new issue, nor is it confined to Utah County. According to Lewis, Turton, & Francis (2007), “Clergy work-related poor psychological health, stress, and burnout pose an increasingly serious problem for the leaders of denominations throughout the world.” The stress that clergy face is enormous. As clergy it should not be surprising to you that in the United States, about 40% of individuals who experience problems in their personal lives go first to clergy for assistance. As an organization of social workers, we recognize the diverse challenges