Flourishing in Ministry

A genuine treasure trove of wisdom on what promotes flourishing in ministry and what derails it. Informed by a rich set of data—surveys and interviews with ten-thousand pastors from diverse settings—this book not only captures key factors behind thriving, it offers concrete means to sustain wellness. This invaluable guide and the bigger project from which it grows are destined to transform how we think about the lives and wellbeing of congregational pastors. -- Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore, Vanderbilt University Divinity School
Pastors, denominational leaders, people in congregations, and seminary faculty and administrators will benefit greatly from Bloom’s astute analysis of clergy well-being. Bloom draws on his research with pastors and the extensive scientific research on well-being to give us a comprehensive way of understanding what is integral to pastoral flourishing for the sake of the church and the world. -- Kathleen A. Cahalan, Saint John’s University School of Theology and Seminary
I believe there are few professions or vocations that face as steep a challenge as the pastor’s. The accelerating cultural changes and weakening of the institutions of religion make it a very difficult time to be a pastor. Matt Bloom has done us all an important favor. He provids an empirical examination of these struggles and highlights the cultural and institutional transitions, but even more, he takes us into the existential sense that a pastor feels about her or his vocation. This highly readable, intricately researched, and timely book is a must-read for anyone who forms, or cares about the formation of, clergy. -- Andrew Root, Luther Seminary
Matt Bloom is a rare hybrid. As an astute scientist with decades of experience, he knows his way well through the sociological studies and the psychological research on leadership and professional and personal wellbeing. But as a person of deep empathy and sensitive listening, he also knows the profundity of ministerial life. He understands the mystery of holy calling, the often paradoxical nature of discernment of God’s will, and the long and complex journey of growth in grace. Consequently this book is a remarkable and significant contribution, a multi-layered conversation among many disciplines and voices, and an important resource for pastors and those who care about their flourishing. No one could have done this better than Matt Bloom. -- Thomas G. Long, Bandy Professor Emeritus of Preaching, Candler School of Theology at Emory University

Flourishing in Ministry provides a nonthreatening (and, more important, non-guiltinducing) opportunity to identify obstacles to flourishing, as well as actionable suggestions for overcoming them. Perhaps most critically, Bloom holds congregations and denominations accountable for forming and sustaining healthy clergy, acknowledging that individual choices and actions alone are not enough to guarantee that a pastor will flourish. Despite my initial skepticism, I finished the book grateful for the project’s work, equipped with language to articulate factors in life and work impacting my own wellbeing, and armed with tools to improve it.
I have recommended it to several of my “similar others”—and I commend it to the readers of Interpretation.

-- Amy Starr Redwine, First Presbyterian Church * Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology *