Results

The survey was sent to 181 active Salvation Army Officers across three Divisions of the United Kingdom Territory. For ease of use in reading the results I will refer to the divisions separately as D1, D2 & D3.

The return rate was 30.94% (56 responses), though this differed from 28.5% (20 out of 70) in D3 to 33.33% (20 out of 60) in D1.

16 of the surveys were completed and sent online, the remaining 40 were returned by post.

The median age of respondents was 46, although two people declined to answer that question, and the median for length of time in full time ministry was 15 years.

Of the 54 respondents who declared their age there were two respondents under the age of 30 (4%), with both returning a score on the SIM scale in excess of 50.

7 respondents were between the ages of 30 & 39 (13%). 24 were between 40 & 49 years old (44%). 15 respondents were between the ages of 50 & 59 (28%) and six were older than 60 years (11%).

The age profile was slightly different in each of the divisions; D1 having the highest median age, and the longest length of full time ministry years (50 years of age, and 17 years of ministry) with D2 having the lowest median age and shortest length of full time ministry years (42 years of age and 15 years of ministry).

D3 has a median age of respondents of 46 but has the longest length of service at 19 years with the range being between 4 years and 37 years. 5 respondents from this division had served less than 10 years so far.

The first page of the survey contained the questions from the Francis Burnout Inventory. The questions from the two scales were alternated throughout, the odd numbered statements being scored for the Scale of Emotional Exhaustion and the even numbered statements yielding the Satisfaction in Ministry scale.

The median score on this scale across the three divisions was 26.with a standard deviation of 8.2. D1 had the lowest score median at 25.5, D3 the highest level on this scale with a median of 28.

There were 4 respondents in D1 with higher SEEM scores than SIM scores (SEEM scores of 39, 40, 41 & 42 with respective SIM scores of 26, 36, 39 & 39) indicating a risk for burnout – being more exhausted emotionally than satisfied in their ministry.

None of these individuals said that they received sufficient support, and three of them said that they felt they did not have enough personal/family time.

There were four respondents who were outside the SD range on the high side in D3 with SEEM scores of 36, 36, 42 & 43. All four of these had higher SEEM scores than SIM (31, 35, 41, 31 on the SIM scale respectively).

Two of this group said that they had enough support; two of them said they didn’t have enough support. Only one of them said that they had enough personal/family time.

34% of respondents agreed that they feel drained fulfilling their ministry, though over 50% disagreed with that statement.

In D1 twice as many disagreed with the statement (10 people) as agreed with the statement (5). In D3 almost as many people agreed with it as disagreed with the statement (8 agreed, 9 disagreed).

Less people were unclear about their response to this question, with an additional 2 disagreeing, and 1 agreeing with this statement, giving 55% disagreeing, and 36% agreeing. In D2 the same number of people agreed as disagreed.

4 out of 5 of the total number of replies disagreed with this statement, with 11% agreeing, none of them strongly.

41 out of the 56 replies disagreed with this statement (73%) with 3 respondents agreeing strongly.

This statement was reverse scored with 34% of replies agreeing with the statement and 48% disagreeing (19 & 27 respectively). None disagreed strongly with this statement with 7 agreeing strongly.

Only 4 people agreed with this statement (7%) none of them strongly, 78% of replies indicated a disagreement (44 replies) of which 16 disagreed strongly (29%).

2 responses to this question indicated strong agreement, 11 agreed with it (a total of 23%) though 38 people disagreed or disagreed strongly.

In D2 6 replies indicated that they had been discouraged by the lack of personal support for them (38%) yet they had the lowest number of replies indicating that they did not have sufficient support (12.5%).

S17. I find myself frustrated in my attempts to accomplish tasks important to me

S21. I am becoming less flexible in my dealings with those among whom I minister

Only three replies indicated agreement with this statement, with one of the divisions showing no agreement at all (D3)

The median result on this scale was 45. One of the divisions (D2) had no responses which either disagreed or strongly disagreed with any of the statements related to this scale. That division had a median score on the SIM scale of 48 with a standard deviation of 3.5 (both scales having possible scores of between 11 and 55). Another Division had a median score of 42, with a standard deviation of nearly 7.

S4. I gain a lot of personal satisfaction from working with people in my current ministry

10 people disagreed with this statement, none from D2 as stated earlier, 6 from D1 (30%) and 4 from D3 (40%).

S12. I feel that my pastoral ministry has a positive influence on people's lives

49 people agreed with this one, 15 of those very strongly. Only 2 disagreed at all.

S14. I feel that my teaching ministry has a positive influence on people's lives

1 person disagreed strongly here, with another disagreeing. Both of those were from D1.

1 of the respondents disagreed strongly with this statement, and another 2 said they disagreed with it. 8 people were “not clear”.

This statement brought the most positive response from those surveyed with 32 responses indicating a strong agreement, and a further 18 indicating agreement. 1 person was “not clear” and five disagreed with the statement. Of those 5 respondents 4 of them had a higher score on the Scale of Emotional exhaustion than on the Satisfaction in Ministry Scale.

47 respondents gained a lot of personal satisfaction from fulfilling their ministry roles, whilst 4 disagreed with the statement.

One of the key elements in preventing personal burnout is that of allowing sufficient recovery time. One of the questions asked of all respondents was “Do you feel that you have enough personal/family time in a “normal” week?”

24 of the respondents said that they felt they had enough personal time (43%) 6 people said that they weren’t sure, with 26 saying that they didn’t have enough personal time (46%)

There was a marked difference in the responses from individual divisions however.

In D1 more than twice as many respondents felt that they had sufficient personal time than responded that they had insufficient personal time (13 had enough personal time, 6 responded “no” to that question).

In D2 5 people answered “yes” and 9 said “no” that being 31% feeling that they had sufficient personal/ family time, with 56% having insufficient personal/ family time.

A similar response was obtained from D3 where 6 respondents answered “yes” (30%) and 11 “no” (55%).

This is an improvement over the situation in 1988 when Hendy[1] discovered that 67% of officers questioned said that they didn’t have a regular day off.

This question yielded almost 1 in 3 people (n=17) giving a response about seeing positive change in other people’s lives or seeing people grow. 15 people made reference to “platform ministry”, “preaching”, “teaching”, or “ministering the word”.

16 responses (29%) stated that pastoral work, or visitation etc, brought most satisfaction. This included a variety of phrases including “being with people” and “the privilege of being part of people’s spiritual walk”.

6 respondents mentioned “meeting people”, “working with people” or simply “people”.

Half of that number (n=3) mentioned evangelism as the thing that brings most satisfaction.

The largest single response to this open question was in the area of administration with 18 respondents (32%) giving this as the thing that they find most exhausting. One respondent did make their response more specific by answering “needless administration”.

The second largest area of response came from 1 in 5 respondents. I have grouped this together under the heading “people”, as it relates to a whole variety of situations including, “irrational opposition”, “dealing with apathy, conflict and problems”, “seemingly trivial moans and groans of people” and “draining, cynical people”.

In addition to those responses another 7 people indicated that pastoral care or visitation was the most exhausting thing for them. One respondent specified “difficult pastoral issues” as their most exhausting thing, whilst others were more general stating “being a pastor” or “pastoring people” as most exhausting for them.

One person stated the most satisfying thing in their ministry and the most exhausting thing as “being a pastor”. Another respondent stated that “difficult pastoral issues” was the most exhausting, but that “person to person pastoral care” was the most satisfying. This respondent also replied that the one thing they would change would be “more emphasis on pastoral ministry”.

7 people also stated that the most exhausting thing for them was around the area of leading worship. 4 of them stated that “leading worship” or “platform ministry” was the most exhausting, with three of them stating that “preparation” was one of the most exhausting things.

4 people found finding the time to do all that was required of them was actually the most exhausting thing.

With regards to the level of support that was received by individuals responding to the survey 59% answered “Yes” to the question “Do you receive enough support?” (33 responses)

Only 10 people responded “No” to that question (18%) with 12 people (21%) saying that they were not sure. Those were the three possible answers given, however 1 respondent added a reply of “Almost”.

There were some significant differences between different divisions. In D1 55% said that they had sufficient support compared to 56% in D2 and 65% in D3 (11, 9 and 13 respondents respectively)

20% of respondents in D1 and D3 answered “no” to that question 4 in each case, with 2 people replying “no” in D2 (12.5%)

The respondents were also asked “How is that support received?” And a number of suggestions were made as an example (face to face/ phone/ email/ informally/ structured etc)

All of the responses except one stated that they received support face to face with the exception of one, who received support only from a friend (they did not state support was received from others or in any other fashion) and stating that method of communication was by phone. This was one of nine respondents who scored higher on the emotional exhaustion scale than the satisfaction in ministry scale.

In response to the question “Who offers support to you in your ministry?” the highest number of responses was that support was received from a spouse (47 responses 71%). (None of the questions asked if the individual was married, or if their spouse was an officer. With hindsight this information should have been asked.)

The second highest response was that support was received from Headquarters – naming either an individual (Divisional Commander or Divisional Director for Personnel) or collectively as DHQ or THQ (35 responses - 63%)

This was followed by friends (27%), Corps folks (21%) either collectively or as named roles, then colleagues and Pastoral Care Unit (both 18%).

Three respondents mentioned that support was received from a “mentor”, three mentioned “prayer partners” and one mentioned a “Spiritual Director”.

Respondents were given no guidance or suggestion in what responses they might give to this question. Consequently there was a very wide range of responses including such things as a desire for a different type of appointment (“the opportunity to do something different”), or a different house (“I’d live closer to the hall”), as well as “more salary” etc.

However 14 respondents (25%) stated in one form or another that they would prefer to have less administration. This came in the form of a desire to have an administrator, or to employ a secretary, or simply saying they would like less admin, or less paperwork.

The second highest response I have classified as “Nothing”. In this group are recorded those who answered with the word nothing (5 people) and those who simply didn’t record an answer (3 people), a total of 14% of respondents.

4 people desired a change in their pastoral ministry. These comments included “more emphasis on pastoral ministry”, “more time devoted to visitation”, “would like to visit more often” and “more time to spend as pastor rather than manager”.

A further 2 comments on this question indicated that the expectations of a congregation are what they would like to change “the way people see the officer as jack of all trades” and “I would change the expectations of an officer due to tradition”.

[1] Hendy, P., November 1988, An investigation into stress within the ministry of Salvation Army Corps Officers, and its effect upon their personal and family life, Diploma in Counselling, University of Bristol, p35