Summer, Hurricanes, & Pastoral Care

by General Presbyter Melana Scruggs

It’s summertime and it’s already plenty warm in southwest Florida! I hope each of you will find time for rest and relaxation during these slower months of the year. At the presbytery meeting in May I mentioned that the burnout rate for pastors has increased dramatically over the last decade. According to Barna research, the level of clergy satisfaction with their work has dropped dramatically in the last six years. In 2015 72% of pastors said they were very satisfied with their jobs. In 2022 only 52% of pastors said they were very satisfied. That is a huge and disturbing drop in a short time. Some of it has to do with the changes that had to happen because of COVID and some may have to do with the changing cultural climate in the country, but it is very concerning no matter what the causes.

I want to encourage pastors to take their vacation and their study leave as time to regroup and recharge. I want to charge ruling elders to help your pastors understand the importance of taking that time, not just for themselves, but for the health of the church. The healthiest pastors take that time and are engaged in the life of the presbytery. Fewer people are entering parish work, so we need to care for those who are still in ministry. 

The devastation from Hurricane Ian is still evident and cleanup has barely begun in many places. Work crews are coming into the presbytery during the summer months to work on houses in our communities. We are very grateful for their presence and for the churches that are hosting groups, Buckingham in Ft. Myers and Wintergarden in Port Charlotte. If your church has crews that want to help, please contact one of those churches or Church of the Palms to make your plans.

We are in hurricane season again, which means we need to update our contact information for each church. We hope we won’t need this information, but it is important that we have it. We will be contacting clerks of session within the next week or so to get the names, email addresses, and phone numbers of those who can be contacted in case of an emergency or disaster. It is helpful to have several points of contact in case some people leave or have no electricity after an event.

Wishing you all safe celebrations this 4^th of July!