The Duke Clergy Health Initiative is a ten-year program to assess and improve the health and well-being of United Methodist clergy in North Carolina.
Through our multi-year wellness intervention and behavioral health study – Spirited Life – and other programs and resources, the Clergy Health Initiative underscores the theological reasons for caring for oneself and offers strategies to help pastors develop holistic health practices.
A participant in the Clergy Health Initiative’s Spirited Life program, Rev. Cribb credits the two-year holistic wellness program with helping her feel the “healthiest in years.” More than 1,100 United Methodist clergy participated in the program.
Survey of United Methodist Clergy
Every other year since 2008, the Duke Clergy Health Initiative has conducted a survey of all North Carolina United Methodist clergy to assess their mental, physical, and spiritual health. Our summary report offers a comprehensive look at the 2014 survey findings.
Pastors work within a complex web of relationships, and the challenges of navigating conflicting demands from peers, family, congregations, and the denomination can impact their health. Compared to other North Carolinians, United Methodist clergy have higher rates of obesity (41 percent versus 29 percent), diabetes, asthma, arthritis, and depression.
We are currently researching the practices of pastors whose mental and physical health is flourishing to identify strategies that can be applied by other clergy.
Explore what we're learning.
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The Duke Clergy Health Initiative
Learn how and why the Clergy Health Initiative was developed by The Duke Endowment and Duke Divinity School.