Helping Clergy to Care for Themselves

Rev. Brenda Gregg’s daughters always urge her to take some time off. They implore her to take a vacation from her nonstop duties at Destiny of Faith Church in the North Side – or at least cut back on the number of 12- and 14-hour days she puts in.

But the pastor keeps at it, visiting sick parishioners and their relatives in the hospital, overseeing two after-school and day-care programs, distributing food to families, staffing a prayer line.

Gregg also helps those in her parish to cope with the trauma of October 28, 2022, when a spray of gunfire outside the church interrupted a funeral service. Gregg was standing at the pulpit when she heard three loud pops. Even now, news reports about other shootings trigger the trauma of that day, when six people were injured outside the church.

Now Gregg, 73, said she is ready for a little time off to take?care of herself and avoid burnout – an occupational hazard of?her profession.

A $250,000 grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation to the POISE Foundation in 2022 will allow about 20 faith-based leaders, including Gregg, to take a mini-sabbatical of a week or less. POISE, a community foundation, sought applications from economically distressed areas of Allegheny and Westmoreland counties for the short, self-designed sabbaticals.

“Burnout is real,” Gregg said. “I think a lot of ministers have made a decision to retire. I have a friend who left the ministry because it was just too much.” She knows others who have suffered from depression and even suicide.?

Pastors nationwide are struggling with increased levels of burnout and depression, according to a study by Barna, a Christian research organization. Thirty-eight percent of pastors considered quitting?full-time ministry in 2022, up nine percentage points from the previous year. The study also showed a higher level of burnout among women in the clergy than men.?

For Gregg, church leadership is both a calling and part of a family tradition. Her grandfather and uncles were pastors. Her late husband, William, was a Baptist minister and they grew up in the same church in Braddock, singing together in the choir.

Before following in the family footsteps, Gregg was an administrator at UPMC Children’s Hospital, where she worked for 38 years. She became a pastor and retired from the African Methodist Episcopal church before starting a new nondenominational church in the Brighton Heights section of the North Side in 2012.

Though hospital administrator and pastor may seem like unrelated professions, Gregg sees a throughline. “It’s all about families and their children and wanting them to be whole and what can you?do to help. Today, a lot of single parents are struggling financially and emotionally.”

She heads Project Destiny, Inc., where “inner–city youth are empowered to become leaders in their community as they develop character, vision, and knowledge of the world outside their surroundings.” She runs summer camps, after-school programs?and events.

In North Braddock, where Gregg grew up, the entire neighborhood would look out for the children. She wants her church to be a safe space for kids living in the North Side today.

Being a pastor is her calling. “I love people,” Gregg said. But she realizes that after the trauma of the pandemic and the shooting outside her church doors, she’s being stretched a little too thin.?

“You're taking care of everyone else. Sometimes it's hard to take care of yourself.”

She smiles and agrees — finally — with her daughters. It’s time for a short sabbatical to travel or visit friends.