Clergy: Keeping it all inside

Photo by Timothy Titus

When it comes to anxiety and depression, members of the clergy often have to "stuff it."

Congregational members may expect clergy to be shining examples of mental health.  Parishioners hope to relieve their own burdens and aren't so keen on commiserating with the minister's troubles.  They might also believe that faith in God guarantees a life of serene contentment.

Katherine Bindley of Huffington Post reports that researchers from the Clergy Health Initiative at Duke Divinity School "found that instances of depression [in United Methodist pastors interviewed by phone and via online surveys] were 8.7 percent and 11.1 percent, respectively, compared to the average national rate of 5.5 percent."

Researcher Rae Jean Proeschold-Bell, has several theories about why pastors exhibit "above-average rates of depression."  One is that pastors, more than most others, wonder whether the life they've been living has been pleasing to God.  If they feel that they don't measure up, depression could easily result.

Another theory is that the high expectations of congregations put tremendous amounts of emotional pressure on ministers.  Such pressure is bound to take its toll sooner or later.

The cure?  Steven Scroggin, who has led "a network of pastoral counseling centers based in North Carolina," advised that more be done within seminary education to better prepare pastors for having firmer emotional and psychological boundaries."

Resources

http://wwm.org/articles/40611/?place=united=states

 

James A. Garfield: Preacher president

James Garfield
1882 U.S. Postage Stamp

It is said that James Abram Garfield was the only preacher to ever become president of the United States (although he was far from being the only preaching president).

Garfield was born on November 19, 1831 in an Ohio log cabin to parents who were members of the Church of Christ (aka "Disciples of Christ").  This religious affiliation influenced him greatly throughout his life.

In an article titled "President Garfield's Religious Heritage and What He Did With It," Howard E. Short explains that the Disciples of Christ evolved from two Presbyterian offshoots: Thomas Campbell's group in Pennsylvania (which had grown weary of denominational splits), and Barton Warren Stone's group in Kentucky (which had sought to be free from local Presbytery control).  These groups later joined with the then-"largest church in the Baptist Association" and simply began calling themselves "Christian Churches."  They became known by this slogan: No creed but Christ, no book but the Bible.

Garfield, who had at various times worked as "a janitor, bell ringer, and carpenter" during his younger years, was baptized in 1850.  Wikipedia reports that he later "developed a regular preaching circuit at neighboring churches, in some cases earning a gold dollar per service."

Howard Short offers this quote from F. M. Green's biography of Garfield: No one who is thoroughly familiar with President Garfield's history can doubt that this Disciple habit and method had a most important influence on his mind, his whole life and character.  During his few months as president (before being assassinated in 1881), Garfield practiced what he preached by appointing "several African-Americans to prominent federal positions."

Resources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_A._Garfield

http://www.rbhayes.org/hayes/content/files/Hayes_Historical_Journal/garfields_religious_heritage.htm

Gettysburg Address: Psalm 90 and counting

Gettysburg Address
The New York Times
November 20, 1863

The King James Version of Psalm 90 waxes philosophically about the fleeting days of human lives: The days of our years are threescore years and ten, and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away... So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

Certainly "labour and sorrow" was the order of the day on July 4, 1863 when the Battle of Gettysburg had just ended.  Huff Post Religion writer Marc Saperstein explains that this was a Saturday, and Rabbi Sabato Morais of Philadelphia's Mikveh Israel Congregation was therefore set to deliver a "Sabbath morning sermon."

Morais was faced with a paradoxical task.  It was not only July 4th, an upbeat holiday in American history, but was also the 17th of Tammuz, a traditional day of mourning in the Jewish calendar.  Plus, the outcome of Gettysburg was not yet fully known.  News did not travel so fast back then, even though Philadelphia was a mere 90 miles away from the tragic site.

Although the Union League had chosen a "Liberty Bell" text from Leviticus for that day (which stated "Proclaim liberty throughout the land..."), Rabbi Morais instead read words from Isaiah 37:3 that harkened back to the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem: This is a day of trouble, of rebuke, and derision. 

Morais nevertheless assured the congregation that he "was not indifferent" to honoring Independence Day, "which four score and seven years ago, brought to this new world light and joy."  The complete text of his sermon was then published in the Jewish Messenger on July 10, 1863.

Had Lincoln read it?  Had the phrase "four score and seven years ago" remained with him while composing the Gettysburg address?  Saperstein emphasizes that possibility...

Resources

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Psalm+90&version=KJV

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-saperstein/gettysburg-address-jewish-connection_b_3539959.html?utm_hp_ref=religion

John Adams: Deacon's son

John Adams
1766 Portrait by Blyth

John Adams, second president of the United States, was born on October 30, 1735 in what is now Quincy, Massachusetts.  His father was a direct descendant of the founding Puritans and honored this ancestry by serving as a Congregationalist deacon.

Puritan influence, although already waning, was still somewhat strong. The Calvinist idea of predestined salvation and damnation was alive and kicking.  Being referred to as an Arminian (one who "upheld the role of free will in heeding the call to salvation") could be tantamount to a societal curse.

Wikipedia explains that this type of ideological restrictiveness did not appeal to the young John Adams.  Although his father had "expected him to become a minister," the president-to-be ultimately chose law, seeking greater freedom of belief and expression.

Uua.org reports that Adams later "always preferred Unitarian worship services."  As part of his famous correspondence with Thomas Jefferson (they died within hours of one another on July 4, 1826), Adams wrote these words: I believe there is no individual totally depraved.  The most abandoned scoundrel that ever existed, never yet Wholly extinguished his Conscience, and while Conscience remains there is some religion.

Resources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Adams

http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/johnadams.html