Date

7-22-2025

Department

School of Behavioral Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Education in Community Care and Counseling (EdD)

Chair

Todd W. Schultz

Keywords

clergy, clergy marriages, ministry stress, crisis, family stress theory

Disciplines

Counseling

Abstract

The purpose of this Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was specifically to do an in-depth exploration of female clergy and their husbands to make sense of these experiences in their marriage. A sample of six clergy females and their husbands in the United States participated in an on-line semi-structured interview as a couple and separately as individuals for a comprehensive detailed description of their stories in the own words. The central research question asked about ministry stress impact on clergy marriages when the wife is employed by the church. Many studies have been conducted on male clergy stress and more recently on wives of male clergy experiencing similar stresses as their husbands. However, there are minimal current studies on female clergy and their nonclergy husbands. This study was guided by family stress theory. Findings showed that female clergy and their husband experience stresses such as lack of family time and ministry focus, balancing family with ministry and role strain like male clergy and their wives. Findings indicated that couples viewing their resources positively such as marital support, church support and spirituality reduced the impact of ministry stress. Results also found that female clergy and their husbands maintained their traditional gender roles in the home like traditional clergy marriages, which had a positive impact by reducing ministry stress.

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