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Identifying Stressors among Rural Church of England Clergy with Responsibility for Three or More Churches

ABSTRACT This study identifies the stressors experienced by clergy with responsibility for multi-church rural benefices. First changes that have taken place in ministry over the centuries are explored in order to set twenty-first century rural ministry in context. Second, work carried out by Brewster in the early 2000s to classify sources of stress among clergy is reviewed. Third, stressors identified by nine clergy with responsibility for up to four rural churches in a single diocese are classified according to Brewster’s categories. Three new areas of stress are identified in addition to the categories proposed by Brewster. The differences between the stressors identified by Brewster in the early 2000s and those identified by clergy in the present study are then discussed.