Pastor’s Woundedness in the Adventist Divisions in Sub-Saharan Africa

The study investigated the Pastor’s Woundedness using a quantitative descriptive design on a sample of 304 pastors in the East-Central Africa (ECD), West-Central Africa (WAD), and Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Divisions (SID) of the Adventist Church. Data from the self-constructed questionnaire was analyzed using SPSS 27 and SmartPLS 4.0 for statistical treatment. Anchored on grit theory, the results show that the pastors exhibited a high level of woundedness. The pastors experienced hurt, emotional woundedness, betrayal, abuse of authority from superiors, have few supportive friends, and still feel the pain. Yet, 82.6% of pastors were satisfied in ministry. An independent sample t-test conducted to compare the level of Pastor’s Woundedness aged Below 39 years and Above 40 years old found that although the older pastors had a higher level of woundedness, the magnitude of the difference was not significant. Pastors experienced hurt, and emotional abuse. betrayal, abuse of authority, and very few supportive friends to lean on in times of need. In terms of territories, the results show that the pastors in WAD have a higher level of the Pastor’s Woundedness while ECD and SID do not differ significantly. Further research would study how woundedness affects spouses and children of pastors.

Pastor’s Woundedness. Stress. Emotional abuse. Adventists

1. Akos, P., & Kretchmar, J. (2017). Investigating grit as a non-cognitive predictor of college success. The Review of Higher Education, 40(2), 163-186. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Amankwa, E. (2023). Examining the Effects of Work-Life Balance on the Psychological and Physical Well-Being of Pastors in the United States. E-journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, 4(8), 903-915. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Bliss, R., & Jacobson, E. (2020). Doctor of physical therapy student grit as a predictor of academic success: a pilot study. Health Professions Education, 6(4), 522-528. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Braund, A., James, T., Johnston, K., & Mullaney, L. (2020). Grit-ability: Which Grit Characteristics Enable Success for Mothers Entering University? Student Success, 11(1), 22+. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Burchett, D. (2011). Bring'Em Back Alive: A Healing Plan for Those Wounded by the Church. WaterBrook. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Clark, L. T., Lanners, T., Blecha, M., Lanners, H., & Eskitch, P. (2019). Develop Grit: How do you develop grit in the student who folds under pressure? American Music Teacher, 68(4), 8–10. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Cochran, W.G. (1963) Sampling Technique. 2nd Edition, John Wiley and Sons Inc., New York. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Creech, Chris. (2014). Toxic Church: Why the Church-Pastor Relationship Sours and the Simple Biblical Solution. Rainer Publishing. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Crane, A., DaCosta, A., Webbe, F., & Logalbo, A. (2020). A-10 Grit Predicts Depression, [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. Anxiety, and Subjective Cognitive Complaints Despite Normal Cognitive Performance in College Athletes. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 35(5), 606-606. https://doi.org/10.1093/arclin/acaa036.10 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Currier, J. M., Rojas-Flores, L., McCormick, W. H., Hwang Koo, J., Cadavid, L., Pineda, F. A., & Givens, T. (2019). Spiritual struggles and ministry-related quality of life among faith leaders in Colombia. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 11(2), 148. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. DeMuth, M. E. (2019). We Too: How the Church Can Respond Redemptively to the Sexual Abuse Crisis. Harvest House Publishers. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Dhiman, S. (2020). More than Happiness: A Stoic Guide to Human Flourishing. The Palgrave Handbook of Workplace Well-Being, 1-40. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Duckworth, A. (2016b). Grit: The power of passion and perseverance. New York, NY: Scribner. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. Duckworth, A., Peterson, C., Matthews, M., & Kelly, D. (2007). Grit: Perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 1087–1101. https:// doi:10.1037/0022-3514.92.6.1087 PMID: 17547490 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. Duckworth, A., & Quinn, P. (2009). Development and validation of the short grit scale (Grit–S). Journal of Personality Assessment, 91(2), 166–174. https://doi:10.1080/00223890802634290 PMID: 19205937 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. Dweck, C. S., Walton, G. M., & Cohen, G. L. (2014). Academic Tenacity: Mindsets and Skills that Promote Long-Term Learning. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

18. Eskreis-Winkler, L., Shulman, E.P., Beal, S.A., Duckworth, A., L. (2015a). The grit effect: Predicting retention in the military, the workplace, school, and marriage. Front Psychology, 5, 36. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg. 2014.00036 PMID: 24550863 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

19. Falk, M. A. (2023). Identifying Best Practices of Clinical Pastoral Education for Increasing the Competence and Confidence of Pastoral Leaders Ministering in Pastoral Care and Crises. Asbury Theological Seminary. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

20. General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. (2022). Seventh-day Adventist Church Church Manual (Silver Spring, MD: General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists), 28. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

21. Gray, M. (2019). Hope For Healing Church Wounds. Elm Hill. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

22. Hayes, A. F. (2017). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. Guilford publications. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

23. Heck, A., Drumm, R., McBride, D., & Sedlacek, D. (2018). Seventh-day Adventist clergy: Understanding stressors and coping mechanisms. Review of religious research, 60(1), 115-132. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

24. Hirschmann, J., Fleenor, D. W., Van Thyn, R., & Sharma, V. (2022). CPE for leaders: Adapting Clinical Pastoral Education’s learning methodology for healthcare managers and directors. Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy, 28(4), 510-525. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

25. Hodge, B., Wright, B., & Bennett, P. (2018). The Role of Grit in Determining Engagement and Academic Outcomes for University Students. Research in Higher Education, 59(4), 448–460. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-017-9474-yv [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

26. Hunt, J. (2013). Rejection: Healing a Wounded Heart. Rose Publishing. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

27. https://www.barna.com/stateofpastors/ [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

28. https://adventiststatistics.org/view_Summary.asp?FieldAbr=ECD [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

29. https://adventiststatistics.org/view_Summary.asp?FieldAbr=SID [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

30. https://adventiststatistics.org/view_Summary.asp?FieldAbr=WAD [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

31. https://www.hopemadestrong.org/podcasts/the-care-ministry-podcast/episodes/2148575156 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

32. Jamie Aten & Kent Annan. (2024). Church Hurt and Trauma Prevention, Response, and Recovery Field Guide. Spiritual First Aid Wheaton, Illinois, 4 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

33. Johnson III, W. E. (2019). Pastoral Burnout of African American Pastors: Creating Healthy Support Systems and Balance. Liberty University School of Divinity. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

34. Joseph, S. (2015). Positive psychology in practice: Promoting human flourishing in work, health, education, and everyday life. John Wiley & Sons. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

35. Kamau, C. W. (2018). Risk Factors of Compassion Fatigue among Clergy Care Providers: A Study of the Full Gospel Church, in Kasarani Sub-County, Nairobi Kenya (Doctoral dissertation). [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

36. Krejcir, Richard J. (2016). Statistics on Pastors: Update Research on the Happenings in Pastors’ Personal and Church Lives. Francis A. Schaeffer Institute of Church Leadership Development. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

37. Lee, H. C., & Fung, J. (2023). Associations between work-family conflict, psychological distress, and well-being among Taiwanese clergy. Journal of psychology and theology, 51(1), 32-47. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

38. Leslie, D. L. (2019). Attempts to Lead Reintegrated Lives: Ex-Offender Perspectives. In Recidivism in the Caribbean, 139-171. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

39. Marambi, J. M. (2022). Emotional damage in pastoral ministry: Contributing factors and effect on pastors’ performance. Edition Consortium Journal of Philosophy, Religion and Theological Studies, 2(1), 124-138. https://editoncpublishing.org/ecpj/index.php/ECJPRT/article/view/335. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

40. McCloy, M. E. (2018). Enabling Lifespring Community Church to Become More Effective in Ministering to Church-Wounded People. Eastern University. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

41. McLaughlin, A. T., Davis, D. E., Shannonhouse, L. R., Cowart, H. M., Hsu, L.-C., Gazaway, S., Cauble, M., McElroy-Heltzel, S. E., Hook, J. N., Van Tongeren, D. R., Davis, E. B., Lacey, E. K., Aten, J. D., & Annan, K. (2024). Development and testing of the spiritual first aid curriculum for training disaster care providers: An initial pilot effectiveness study. Spirituality in Clinical Practice, 11(3), 315–327. https://doi.org/10.1037/scp0000361 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

42. Neal, M. B., & Hoskins, L. (Eds.). (2015). Wounded Healers: Mental Health Workers' Experiences of Depression. Routledge. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

43. Nemmi, F., Nymberg, C., Helander, E., & Klingberg, T. (2016). Grit Is Associated with Structure of Nucleus Accumbens and Gains in Cognitive Training. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 28(11), 1688–1699. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_01031 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

44. Njagi, C. W. (2021). That all may live: the future of the wounded pastors. That all may live! essays in honour of Nyambura J. Njoroge. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

45. Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research, 2024 on https://adventiststatistics.org/ [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

46. Perlis, R. H. (2013). A clinical risk stratification tool for predicting treatment resistance in major depressive disorder. Biological psychiatry, 74(1), 7-14 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

47. Schimschal, S. E., Visentin, D., Kornhaber, R., & Cleary, M. (2020). Grit: A Concept Analysis. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 1-11. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

48. Smedes, L. B. (2000). How can it be all right when everything is all wrong? Shaw Books. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

49. Stone, C. (2010). Five Ministry Killers and How to Defeat Them: Help for Frustrated Pastors—Including New Research from the Barna Group. Bethany House. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

50. Sudina, E., Vernon, T., Foster, H., Del Villano, H., Hernandez, S., Beck, D., & Plonsky, L. (2021). Development and Initial Validation of the L2‐Teacher Grit Scale. TESOL Quarterly, 55(1), 156-184. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

51. Szilagyi, C., Newitt, M., & Nuzum, D. (2024). Chaplain development in Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) in healthcare settings in England: A mixed methods study. Plos one, 19(9), e0310085. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

52. Turrel, E. (2018). What is an example of an Interpersonal Conflict? Quora. https://www.quora.com/What-is-anexample-of-an-intrapersonal-conflict. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

53. Wambugu, A. G. (2013). Christian solidarity in pastoral counseling: a Kenyan perspective (Doctoral dissertation, University of the Free State). [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

54. Yamane, Taro. (1967). Statistics, An Introductory Analysis, 2nd Ed., p. 886. New York: Harper and Row. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• Premarital Counselling and Family Stability among Christians in Bweranyangi Deanery West Ankole Diocese Uganda
• Assessing the Effectiveness of the Church of Uganda in Fighting Drug Abuse and Crime Rate in Uganda
• Evangelism And Spiritual Commitment of Christians a case of Diocese of West Ankole, Bushenyi District. Uganda.
• The Contribution of Information and Communication Technology in Enhancing Worship Services a case of Ryakasinga Archdeaconry, West Ankole Diocese Bushenyi District Uganda
• Homologous Structures: A Reappraisal of Evolutionary Interpretation