Stacey Ising
Amid record levels of mental illness in our society, the topic of wellness is receiving more attention than ever before.
But Christian churches have been concerned with the happiness of their believers and members since the time of the Book of Acts, and we know that the true source of happiness is found in Jesus Christ and in the support of our brothers and sisters in the church.
LCMS has many mechanisms for caring for its employees, including relief grant programs through the district, Concordia Plan Services (CPS), the Lutheran Church Missouri Diocese (LCMS) Office of National Mission (ONM), and especially the care that takes place locally within each congregation, school, and LCMS organization.
Since 2016, and driven by several convention resolutions, the Synod has been collecting data on the health of church workers and developing intentional strategies to meet needs and fill current gaps in care. From 2017 to 2019, the Synod conducted the largest survey to date on the health of LCMS pastors and church workers. The results were published in 2019. They demonstrated what many in LCMS knew experientially: that LCMS church workers can face high levels of stress that impact their health. For example, the survey found that 24% of workers were diagnosed with depression or anxiety, 55% experienced financial stress, and the majority had a BMI that would be considered overweight or obese. LCMS began working on a plan to address these issues.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. LCMS Church Worker Wellness quickly pivoted and shifted its focus to addressing the immediate health crisis related to the pandemic.
Now, several years into the pandemic, LCMS is beginning to refocus on the overall wellness of its church workers. In 2022, the LCMS Church Worker Health Alliance group was formed. Comprised of leaders from several LCMS districts, CPSs, and various LCMS mission units, and also working with LCMS-certified service organizations, synod organizations such as LCEF, and LCMS auxiliary organizations that support worker health, the group is working to align synod-wide efforts on this issue.
“We want to be stewards of the gifts God has given us so that we’re not duplicating efforts when we could be working together,” said Deacon Dr. Tiffany Manners, ONM’s managing director of human care and pastoral support. Dr. Manners convened the alliance and leads ONM’s Workforce Wellness.
Shortly after the Alliance was formed, the 2023 Convention reaffirmed LCMS’ focus on worker health through Resolution 1-06A (“Instructing Districts and Presidents’ Councils”). [COP] While the Convention has primarily assigned this work to the districts, the Alliance Groups are supporting this work and assisting COPs in developing alignment strategies to implement the work assigned by the Convention.
Alliance group leaders quickly established a focus for synod employee wellness: communication with lay leaders. “We realized that the laity were key,” Manners says, “because they are the people who touch the lives of local church employees and make the decisions that affect employee wellness at the congregational level.”
The emphasis on resources and support for lay leaders to care for their workers was added to the existing emphasis on “personal stewardship,” or encouraging church workers to attend to their own health in a variety of areas: spiritual, relational, emotional, physical, vocational, financial, and intellectual. With these focuses in mind, LCMS conducted a new survey of attitudes and opinions of both lay leaders and church workers in early 2024. The survey findings, which considered responses from 213 congregations and 511 church workers (225 clergy, 108 teachers, and 178 other commissioned workers), revealed the following:
- Lay leaders recognize their responsibility to care for church staff but sometimes don’t know how to do so and need more resources to do so.
- Lay leaders want church members to share more about their happiness.
- Statistics on church worker health are consistent with the 2019 study, indicating that care for church workers during the pandemic has been effective in preventing a significant decline in health.
- Younger workers consistently rate themselves lower in all areas of well-being.
In response to these survey findings, several resources are being developed at the request of synod districts. “We are listening to you and taking your advice and suggestions on board,” Manners said.
Over the next few months, LCMS Church Worker Wellness will publish content aligned with a quarterly theme, focusing on one aspect of the wellness wheel at a time (spiritual, intellectual, relational, emotional, physical, occupational, and financial well-being).
To stay up to date on new LCMS Worker Wellness initiatives, visit ONM’s God’s mission is here Subscribe to our newsletter and listen to the “God’s Mission Here” podcast. For more information, visit lcms.org/wellness.
Posted on June 6, 2024
