A friend sent me a provocative article from Pulpit & Pew that notes a fifty year rise in general unhealthiness among Protestant clergy. Fifty years ago, clergy were among the healthiest professional groups. Now the opposite is true.

Much of the clergy health problem may be rooted in the very nature of ministry today—what Stephanie Paulsell, a visiting lecturer on ministry at Harvard Divinity School and author of Honoring the Body, calls “the overwhelmingness” of ministry.

“When you get up in the morning, you have to make a lot of choices about how to spend your time,” says Paulsell, who also serves as a member of Pulpit and Pew’s Core Seminar, an advisory group of religious leaders and theological educators. “It’s a job that is conducive to eating on the run and not taking time to exercise and not getting enough sleep.”

What can congregations do to help? What can clergy do? At some point, doesn’t the expectation for clergy to work themselves sick become a justice issue?

And does anyone have current numbers on the clergy rates of divorce, suicide, and addiction? I remember reading ten years ago that they’re higher than the general population, but is that still the case?

(Chutney’s non-clergy author function is reminding himself as he types that he needs to see the chiropractor tomorrow to make sure those two ribs are still back in place.)