The Lived Experience of Clergy Resilience

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This presentation will outline the methodology and the results of a preliminary phenomenological investigation into the lived experience of resilience among clergy in a small suburb of a major metropolitan city. For this pilot study, three clergy members each participated in an interview discussing their experience with resilience, those factors that contribute to resilience, and, where applicable, their experience with tests of their resilience (Abernathy, Grannum, Gordon, Williamson, & Currier, 2016; Doehring, 2013; Rolph, ap Siôn, Rolph, Wulff, & Francis, 2015). The data collected from these interviews were then consensus coded for common keywords and themes (Hays & Singh, 2012; Moustakis, 1994). It is hoped that this initial work will lay the groundwork for future research in order to help clergy build and maintain resilience (Lindholm, Johnston, Dong, Moore, & Ablah, 2016; Proeschold-Bell, et al, 2011). In addition, clinicians will be better able to help their clergy clients build and maintain resilience.