Our Annual
Election 2024 Update
As we all hope for the best but we know we must prepare for the worst as hateful conspiracies accelerate going into the election season. The Parsonage Project, along with our partners at Bedrock and with CP3 are working to prevent that violence. We are participating in briefings, trainings, round tables and working groups going into the election season to better prepare clergy and to discuss what we can do together. Your support is appreciated.
The Great Resignation
In 2022, the media began reporting on “The Great Resignation,” the massive clergy resignation. Clergy were resigning en mass and no one really knew why. Since then, studies show that clergy are experiencing PTSD symptoms at rates greater than the military. Worse, the desire to resign their post, or leave ministry all together rose from 29% in 2021 to over 50% in 2023. Studies emerged citing a variety of causes, the most significant being “immense stress,” “lonely and isolated,” “current political divisions,” and the ministry impact on family.
The Status Quo
People's Unmet Needs
Impact Clergy
The unmet needs of our citizenry are rising and each one impacts clergy as the social safety net fails. In crisis, people turn to their spiritual advisors who seek to resolve issues and connect the faithful with resources to improve their situation. But with rising needs stressing an already burdened social safety net, those resources are fewer and fewer. It then falls to the clergy to find a path to stability.
The rise in political vitriol in society has contributed to a rise in Hate Fueled Violence (HFV) throughout of communities and especially in our Houses of Worship.
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Hate crimes, political violence, mass violence and terrorism, and violence targeting marginalized populations are all historically high. Hate crime reports are at an all time high.
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Political violence has reached its highest level in half a century.
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Seven out of ten Americans feel personally affected by HFV.
Over 25% of people in the US experience some form of food insecuity. High food price inflation, along with elevated costs for other basic needs such as transportation and rent, have eroded food budgets in the last year. In fact, ore than 53 million people turned to food banks, food pantries and meal programs for help in 2021, one-third more than prior to the pandemic.
It's not just food insecurity and general social instability. According to recent home insecure data, 44% of renter households reported feeling pressure to move from their current home, and 22% of those households ended up moving. Worse, of those experiencing homelessness, more than a quarter are families with (or/and) children.
Rising Needs and Fewer Resources Collide
When unmet needs increase as the resources with which to meet them decrease, something's gotta give. Unfortunately, in this case, it could be the very safety net itself, which has prevented utter disaster for decades.
What happens when the unhoused can't find an open shelter, or the hungry when all the food banks close? Will that cause an increase in crime? Who will we lose when someone commits an act of hate fueled violence? The U.S. Department of Justice believes that the typical incarcerated offender is undereducated, unemployed and living in poverty before they break the law. In fact, many career criminals grew up that way.
That's why this moment in time is so critical. Families with children are caught in poverty's trap, and now their rescuers -- those who prop up the safety net built by community religious organizations -- need rescuing. Hence, THE PARSONAGE PROJECT.
The Looming Crisis
Over the last few decades, organized religious entities have faced a wide array of hurdles to keep serving the least of us in meaningful ways. They include:
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Since 2007, the number of religiously active Americans fell from 56 percent to 41 percent. In addition, unaffiliated Americans more than doubled from 16 percent to 33 percent.
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According to Gallup, only 37% of Americans rate members of the clergy highly for their honesty and ethics, the lowest rating in the 40 years.
Fewer congregants, fewer donors and fewer clergy are combing with higher poverty rates, more homeless and increased child poverty to threaten the very existence of the social safety net the clergy has provided for centuries.
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Research is showing that more than 50% of U.S. pastors gave serious thought to resigning in 2023. That's up from 29% in 2021.
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90% of clergy report working 55-75 hours a week with few breaks.
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17 percent of American families have reduced the amount they give to their local church.
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New research shows that clergy experience PTSD symptoms at rates higher than the military.