A critique on "UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM OF BURNOUT IN MINISTRY AMONG PENTECOSTAL CLERGY: A FILIPINO PERSPECTIVE" by Lemuel T. Engcoy. Dissertation (D. Ed – Counseling), Asia Graduate School of Theology, March 2008
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Engcoy’s previous “burnout” experience became the subject of his study that not only addresses his personal concern, but also the alarming situation of his fellow Pentecostal clergies. The study focuses on three mainline Pentecostal denominations namely: Philippine General Council of the Assemblies of God (PGCAG), Church of the Foursquare Gospel in the Philippines (CFGP), and Church of God World Mission Philippines (COGWMP) which according to his research, they represent the “classic” Pentecostal movement.
He claims to be the first to conduct a study on the subject matter “burnout” in Pentecostal clergy, or perhaps in the entire Evangelical community in the Philippines. He validated his claim by his in-depth approach on the subject. He wanted to find out if Filipino Pentecostal clergy do experiences burnout, because there were claims that burnout is “cultural, not transcendental” in nature which says only the West people experience such. And in case they do, to find out the indicators for Filipino Pentecostal clergy’s burnout and the extent of its effects. Also, he wanted to compare the level of burnout between the rural and urban clergies. Finally, he hoped to be of help to his fellow clergy through this study.
He targeted for 150 clergy respondents across the Philippines under these three mainstream denominations, but the number of actual participants reached 340. Though the reason was not explained in his paper, perhaps because he gathered data during the conventions, conferences and seminars of the target groups, thus he had no control on the number of respondents, unless of course he would use random sampling. On the other hand, it has added credibility to his research findings and the way he would interpret the results later.
He employed correlation as his research design and the following research instruments to gather information: Demographic Questionnaire, Hart’s Burnout Checklist, Figley’s Compassion Satisfaction and Fatigue Test, and Frazier’s Stress Level Test. He also asked approval from the authors of the above instruments to be used for his study. He also used Interview and Individual Counseling in collecting additional data.
Indeed, Filipino Pentecostal clergies experience burnout at various stages depending on their personality, civil status, ministerial experiences, and location of ministry. Simply put, no minister is invincible regardless of denomination and cultural affiliations. It confirms the notion, “the longer the ministry, the greater the burnout”, in other words, term of ministry is one indicator of burnout. In addition to this, family concerns, high ministry expectation, unresolved personal issues, leadership issues, lack of accountability support, financial matter, are also indicators of burnout in Filipino Pentecostal clergy.
It is interesting to know that Pentecostal “eschatology” drives clergy to be workaholics resulting to burnout, which is “unique” to Pentecostal, although for me, can be subject for further studies. For example, Pentecostal eschatology and other denominations’ eschatological reflections can be used to investigate their contributions on a clergy’s burnout condition. Notice that there is no way to validate this conclusion from this study, since the demographics show only Pentecostal clergy, which he also mentioned as its limitation.
The study shows also that there is no big difference as to the level of burnout between the rural and urban clergies, though he was biased at first to say his presupposition that the clergy in urban has higher level of burnout than in rural areas. As counselor, he can use the results of his own work as a starting point to help his fellow clergies who are already burned out and as preventive step to others who are burning out.
In his recommendations, he addresses the issue to the denominational leaders and pastors. It seems that the organizational structure and polity contribute to a clergy’s burnout. This can also be a vital subject for research.
