Mental Well-Being

Fully Alive Guide helps clergy define, assess, and practice a flourishing ministry

Which one of four mental health profiles fits you best? A comprehensive guide from the Clergy Health Collaborative distills four identified behaviors of "Flourishers" into actionable steps.

Explore Our Resource

Resources

Fully Alive: A Resource to Guide Clergy Towards Four Behaviors of Flourishing

A comprehensive resource for clergy and faith leaders that defines Christian flourishing, guides clergy to assess their current well-being, distills four identified behaviors of flourishing into actionable steps, and creates room for reflection.

Bear One Another's Burdens: A Handy Guide for P/SPRCs to Support Clergy in Times of Stress

Using interview data from UMC clergy, we identified the most common sources of stress for clergy. In this guide, you’ll read about these notable challenges, along with some suggestions for making a positive difference in their well-being.

Loved and Cared For: A Handy Guide for P/SPRCs Who Want to Support Their Pastor Well

This guide is intended to help P/SPRCs engage in practices which support their pastor feeling loved and cared for. The ideas in this guide can be explored in more detail as a committee through the resource Keeping the Faith.

Deepen Your Discernment with the Daily Examen

The Daily Examen is a method of prayerful reflection on the day's events to see where God has been present and discern God’s current direction for you. It is a simple but powerful prayer that can be practiced by anyone, including congregations.

Love Thy Neighbor with Loving Kindness

Loving Kindness Meditation is an effective tool for building compassion during times of stress. In this resource, we share stories from clergy who have used this meditation practice to care for their own health, while caring for others.

Stress Management Practices from the Selah Study

This Stress Management study (Selah) identified three stress reduction practices that allow pastors to fully live into the work that God is calling them to do with creativity, insight, and energy – even during the most stressful times.

Resilience Writing for Stress Management

Resilience writing is a 20-minute expressive writing exercise conducted over multiple days that can help clergy process the stressful emotions and thoughts of ministry. It has outcomes as good as therapy and is free and more convenient.

Cyclic Sighing for Stress Management

Cyclic sighing is a breathing practice that can be done anytime and anywhere. There is no cost and zero side effects. What's more, this practice was found in a rigorous trial to reduce anxiety symptoms, lower heart rate, and improve positive mood.

List of Recommended Well-Being Practices for Clergy

Evidence-based practices designed to increase your resilience, protect against burnout, and free up energy to do God's work with a renewed sense of creativity and insight.

Tending the Shepherds: Mental Health Support for Clergy

This report examines mental health care among UMC clergy, shines a light on the current gaps, and offers encouragement for those who are looking to get professional mental health counseling.

Supporting Congregants Through a Robust Referral System

Proactively reduce clergy stress by creating a set of referral sources to share with congregants in their time of need. This self-guided training includes videos, worksheets, and guides designed in collaboration with Partners in Health and Wholeness.

Research Summaries

Mental Health Profiles Help Clergy Assess Their Own Flourishing

Drawing on survey data from over 1,200 North Carolina United Methodist clergy, we identified four profiles of positive and negative mental health symptoms and determined how those profiles changed during the intense stress period of COVID-19.

Childhood Abuse Associated with Greater Spiritual Struggles in Seminarians—What We Know and What Can Help

For students with significant trauma in their backgrounds, struggles with God can further amplify struggles with mental health. Addressing both together rather than separately can aid the path to healing.

Rates of Adverse Childhood Experiences Among Seminarians

More than 7 in 10 students enter divinity school with at least one Adverse Childhood Experience. Read more on why the upstream factors of mental health matter for theological education.

The Resilience of Clergywomen

Clergywomen experience more on-the-job stress than clergymen. But as their stress increases, they're less likely to show depressive symptoms than men, suggesting that women may be particularly well-suited to cope with the challenges of the profession.

Reports & Briefs

The State of Clergy Well-Being in 2025

This report highlights top-level physical, mental, and spiritual health findings from the 2025 Statewide Clergy Health Survey. In a historic first for this survey, all three components of burnout decreased simultaneously.

Clergy Health Trends: Mental Health 2008-2023

This report uses the Clergy Health Initiative's data on North Carolina United Methodist clergy from 2008 to 2023 to probe changes in mental health over time, including depressive, anxiety, and burnout symptoms.