Improving Clergy Health

Amid growing concerns about declining pastoral health and increasing medical costs, The Duke Endowment launched an initiative with Duke Divinity School to help foster a culture of health among clergy.

With a $12 million grant from the Endowment, the Duke Clergy Health Initiative is helping clergy tend to their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health.

“Pastoral self-care is challenging because the ministry is such a unique calling and often people who are drawn to that calling have a deep sense that their mission is to serve other people first and themselves second,” says Robin Swift, director of health programs for the Duke Clergy Health Initiative. “The problem is the demands keep coming and the times to take care of yourself keep moving further and further into the background.”

Watch a video about the program and hear how pastors describe its benefits.