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What is the Experiences of Ministry Survey?

The Experiences of Ministry Survey is a research project that aims to gather the views of ministerial clergy across all dioceses in England regarding their personal experiences of ministry. The survey covers attitudes and feelings relating to their day-to-day role, their diocese, spiritual and numerical growth and their health and well-being. The research is longitudinal and will develop a cohort of clergy in order to gather their views at different points in time (2011, 2013 and 2015).

The study draws on the Demands-Resources model of “Work Engagement” in its theoretical underpinning (e.g. Schaufeli & Bakker, 2010). This suggests that people’s engagement can be influenced by the interaction of demands and resources within a particular role. Demands may be physical, mental, emotional, social, or organisational. Resources can include individual characteristics, such as self-efficacy and positive affectivity, aspects of the role, including decision latitude and feedback, as well as support structures and appropriate learning opportunities.

The EMS Questionnaire 

The EMS questionnaire was developed over a number of months at the start of 2011. It contains questions that seek to understand a range of issues that are thought to be relevant to the experience of ministry. Some of the questions are standard, academically validated measures of established psychological constructs. Other questions were developed for the purpose of EMS. The content of the questionnaire was informed by an advisory group of national clergy and underwent pilot work to further enhance the relevance and comprehension of the questions within.

What are the benefits of the Experiences of Ministry Survey?

Pilot work has indicated that clergy find completing the questionnaire interesting and rewarding. The questionnaire touches on a range of issues that may arouse further contemplation and reflection among those who complete it.

More broadly, findings of the research will be used to inform national policies regarding ministerial education and development. The study aims to identify key issues that can be developed to help support clergy within their roles to achieve greater engagement. This may be based upon helping clergy reduce or better cope with the demands of their role. Alternatively the study may identify resources that should be invested in by the church.

The study is of theoretical importance as very little research of this nature has been conducted within a ministerial population. This allows an opportunity to develop knowledge of a group of people about little is known within the work psychology literature. It further provides an opportunity to examine the extent to which relatively established notions with regard to work engagement are transferable across contexts. The longitudinal design of the study offers a more appropriate methodology than is often used by researchers for examining the causal relationships suggested within the literature.

Dr Mike Clinton

Dr Mike Clinton is the Principle Investigator on the Experiences of Ministry Survey. He is a Lecturer in HRM and Work Psychology at King’s and has conducted research projects within the Armed Services, the NHS and the private sector. Mike is responsible for developing the EMS questionnaire and will collate and analyse the individual responses to the survey. Summaries of the reports written from these analyses will be available to all respondents to the survey. For more information on Mike, please visit his personal pages.

The EMS Project has received full approval from an ethical committee within King’s College London (ref: REP(EM)/10/11-52).

Contact

If you would like to contact Dr Mike Clinton please use the following project email address: experiencesofministry@kcl.ac.uk