ELATING LITERATURE ON STRESS TO CLERGY WORK

Abstract

Stress is a general problem in our present-day world. It affects all people from different works of life without excluding anyone. It affects people of different age, gender, socio-economic background and the likes. However, clergy men are not constantly mentioned among the people who are more prone to stress because of the general belief that they are spiritual and have the power to live above stress. This paper, therefore, examined the problem of stress and its management, using writings in literature and relating the same within the context of clergy works. It defined what stress and stressor are as made available in the literature. Causes of stress are painstakingly examined and place within the context of clergy works. The effects of stress were also discussed in and brought into the context of clergy works. The coping strategies of stress were also explained and equally related the same to clergy works. The paper concluded that clergy men are feeling the hurtful impacts of stress too, like other people in other professions. It recommended that clergy men and the entire people in the society should be made to understand that clergy men are not supernatural beings, they suffer the effects of stress too like other people. Teaching on how to understand the sources of stress and what to be done as pro-active mechanisms, workshops, seminars, conferences and public talks on stress were also recommended. Finally, social supports from the family members, congregational members, the community members and members of the larger society were strongly recommended to assist the clergy men to overcome the effects of stress.