Does Religious Switching Predict Clergy Longitudinal Spiritual Well-being?

Both religious change and religious continuity are associated with stronger levels of religiosity in the laity. Yet, little is known about how they affect the clergy. This study examines the effects of both religious change and continuity on the spiritual well-being of clergy. Using longitudinal data of United Methodist Church (UMC) leaders in the Clergy Health Initiative Survey ( N = 2,050), we categorize pastors into three groups: lifelong members of the UMC (“Remainers”), those who switched into the UMC from another Christian tradition (“Switchers”), and those who converted from a religion (or lack thereof) outside of Christianity (“Converters”). We offer two competing hypotheses: (1) Remainers will have higher levels of spiritual well-being because of greater religious capital, and (2) Switchers and Converters will have higher levels of spiritual well-being because of the “zeal of the convert.” We use longitudinal regressions to analyze two measures of spiritual well-being: in daily life and in ministry. We find evidence that Converters and Switchers had higher levels than Remainers only for the measure spiritual well-being in daily life, though which group differed varied by the control variables we used. The findings suggest that there is a “zeal of the convert” even for the clergy.