Called, Ordained, Burned Out?

The summer months can be an exciting and daunting time for many new priests and ministers as they embark afresh on their pastoral roles. After years of training, many will have just been ordained sometime around the church’s annual celebration of St Peter at the end of June - the disciple who Jesus described as being his rock and upon which his church will be built.

In an All Things Considered programme subtitled “The Call” and first broadcast in June 2021, we explored what attracts individuals offer themselves to work as ministers and priests. Half a decade later we thought we’d catch up with some of them, and discovered – if our attempts to make contact are anything to go by - that burnout and stress are key issues. In addition, some are leaving their chosen denominations altogether soon after being ordained.

In the midst of a fast-changing world Rosa Hunt asks whether the church of today and tomorrow has any room for the spiritual kind of builders that Jesus and his disciples (including St Peter) had in mind, rather than ones over-burdened with bureaucratic admin.