Close
About
FAQ
Home
Collections
Login
USC Login
Register
0
Selected
Invert selection
Deselect all
Deselect all
Click here to refresh results
Click here to refresh results
USC
/
Digital Library
/
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
/
Representation matters: a study on the impact of mirrored ethnoracial identity on the motivation of clergy candidates to complete the ordination process in the United Methodist Church
(USC Thesis Other)
Representation matters: a study on the impact of mirrored ethnoracial identity on the motivation of clergy candidates to complete the ordination process in the United Methodist Church
PDF
Download
Share
Open document
Flip pages
Contact Us
Contact Us
Copy asset link
Request this asset
Transcript (if available)
Content
Representation Matters: A Study on the Impact of Mirrored Ethnoracial Identity on the
Motivation of Clergy Candidates to Complete the Ordination Process in the United
Methodist Church
Jonathan Joseph Page
Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
A dissertation submitted to the faculty
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Education
May 2023
© Copyright by Jonathan Joseph Page 2023
All Rights Reserved
The Committee for Jonathan Joseph Page certifies the approval of this Dissertation
Kim Ferrario
Mary Ho
Rufus Tony Spann, Committee Chair
Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
2023
iv
Abstract
This study analyzed the problem of declining clergy recruitment in the United Methodist Church.
Using the lens of social cognitive theory, the study considered the role of mirrored ethnoracial
identity on the motivation of certified candidates for ordained ministry in the United Methodist
Church to complete the ordination process in the United Methodist Church. The study looked at
mirrored ethnoracial identity in three environmental settings: sending churches, denominational
leadership, and surrounding communities. The study used qualitative, semistructured interviews
with 11 certified candidates for ordained ministry in the Virginia Conference of the United
Methodist Church to analyze the problem of practice. Findings centered around the meaningful
role of internal environments in the motivation of participants, the differences in logistical
support offered to candidates of color and European American candidates, the centering of the
European American experience in the ordination process, and the disconnection between the
predominant ethnoracial identity of sending churches and the communities they serve.
Recommendations included rethinking cross-cultural appointment making, hiring more people of
color to executive leadership positions in the United Methodist Church, and assigning mentors
from the church and community to clergy candidates who share the candidate’s ethnoracial
identity.
Keywords: United Methodist Church, mirrored ethnoracial identity, motivation, self-
efficacy, ordination, candidacy, faith-based, leadership
v
Dedication
To Alfred. When this journey began, you were a distant dream; now, you are my world. May you
continue making it better every day. I love you, son.
vi
Acknowledgements
This dissertation would not have been possible without the efforts of many people who
have helped this to fruition. My wife Kelly and mother Ruth have been essential partners in
assisting with this work. Both educators, their perspectives have provided important context for
the Organizational Change and Leadership program at the University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education. Beyond that, their support and encouragement over the last several
years has sustained me and brought life to this work.
At the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education, I am indebted to
my colleagues in cohort 17 of the Organizational Change and Leadership program. We were all
accepted to this program just before a global pandemic ensued and, at the time of this writing,
still have not had a chance to meet formally in person. In spite of this, the collegiality and
community formed in this cohort has been an incredible support to me throughout my doctoral
studies. I am especially appreciative of Nicky Fritz and Shayla Yellowhair, whose steady voices
and presence provided direction and collaboration in times of uncertainty. Amongst the many
great professors I studied under in my time at USC, I offer special thanks to Dr. Kim Ferrario,
Dr. Eric Canny, Dr. Mary Ho, and Dr. Suzanne Foulk who all shaped my thinking toward my
dissertation topic and the subsequent research around that topic.
In the writing of my dissertation, I am most grateful for Dr. Tony Spann, who has been a
phenomenal committee chair. His guidance and assurance throughout the writing process,
especially in spaces where additional pushes were needed, ensured a successful outcome. The
dissertation assistants for this project, Dr. Zachary Unger and Dr. Carey Regur, were
instrumental in clarifying my writing, direction, and making sure a clergyperson could maintain
good academic writing standards.
vii
Beyond USC, I am grateful for the support of the Virginia Conference of the United
Methodist Church in completing this study. Rev. Jessie Colwell and the Office of Clergy
Excellence endured communication after communication with me to ensure I had correct
information for potential study participants. I am also grateful for the support of my current
appointment, Herndon United Methodist Church. Leaders such as Sally Block, Laura Medvene,
and Jim Seevers have all voiced significant support for my work throughout the doctoral
program, ensuring I had time and space to attend to this project and could do so with the support
of my community. My life group, composed of Harley and Jennifer Brown, Carrie and Logan
Thompson, Martina McCabe, and Nick Cunningham, has been a constant source of processing
and connection during this work. Additionally, the entire church staff and congregation have
offered consistent support and encouragement for this project and the entire doctoral process. For
these and the many others who have not been named, I offer my sincerest gratitude.
viii
Table of Contents
Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv
Dedication ....................................................................................................................................... v
Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ vi
List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. x
List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ xi
Chapter One: Introduction to the Study .......................................................................................... 1
Context and Background of the Problem ............................................................................ 2
Purpose of the Study and Research Questions .................................................................... 3
Importance of the Study ...................................................................................................... 4
Overview of Theoretical Framework and Methodology .................................................... 5
Definitions........................................................................................................................... 6
Organization of the Dissertation ......................................................................................... 8
Chapter Two: Literature Review .................................................................................................... 9
The Decline of Clergy Recruitment .................................................................................... 9
The Importance of Ethnoracial Representation ................................................................ 20
The Impact of Ethnoracial Segregation in Faith-Based Communities ............................. 29
Theoretical and Conceptual Framework ........................................................................... 41
Summary ........................................................................................................................... 47
Chapter Three: Methodology ........................................................................................................ 48
Research Questions ........................................................................................................... 48
Overview of Design .......................................................................................................... 48
Research Setting................................................................................................................ 50
The Researcher .................................................................................................................. 50
Data Sources ..................................................................................................................... 53
ix
Validity and Reliability ..................................................................................................... 57
Ethics................................................................................................................................. 58
Limitations and Delimitations........................................................................................... 59
Chapter Four: Findings ................................................................................................................. 61
Research Question 1: What Is the Role, if Any, of Ethnoracial Composition of
UMC Sending Churches in the Self-Efficacy of Clergy Candidates to Complete
the UMC Ordination Process? .......................................................................................... 63
Discussion for Research Question 1 ................................................................................. 73
Research Question 2: How, if at All, Does Ethnoracial Representation in UMC
Leadership Impact the Motivation of Clergy Candidates to Complete the UMC
Ordination Process? .......................................................................................................... 74
Discussion for Research Question 2 ................................................................................. 86
Research Question 3: What Is the Connection Between Personal Ethnoracial
Identity and Communal Ethnoracial Identity in Determining the Motivation of
Clergy Candidates to Complete the UMC Ordination Process? ....................................... 88
Discussion for Research Question 3 ................................................................................. 96
Summary ........................................................................................................................... 96
Chapter Five: Discussion .............................................................................................................. 98
Review of Findings ........................................................................................................... 99
Implications for Practice ................................................................................................. 110
Future Research .............................................................................................................. 117
Conclusions ..................................................................................................................... 118
References ................................................................................................................................... 121
Appendix A: Interview Protocol ................................................................................................. 143
x
List of Tables
Table 1: Data Sources 49
Table 2: Participants 62
Table 3: VAUMC Denominational Officials 77
Table A1: Interview Questions 144
xi
List of Figures
Figure 1: Conceptual Framework 46
1
Chapter One: Introduction to the Study
This study analyzes the problem of declining clergy recruitment in the United Methodist
Church (UMC) through the lens of mirrored ethnoracial identity. Since 1985, the number of
clergy serving in the United Methodist Church in the United States has declined by over 55%
(Weems, 2021). Ferguson (2015) reports that seminary enrollment across the United States is
decreasing due to a lack of interest in religious careers and increasing costs of religious
education. Meanwhile, existing clergy report a decline in authority, a growing pressure to
question their own belief systems, and a burnout rate exceeding 25% per year (Nortomaa, 2016).
In the United States, nearly 40% of clergy in the United Methodist Church have reported high
levels of emotional exhaustion while over half of UMC clergy report suffering from
“compassion fatigue” (Lee & Rosales, 2020). This data points to a trend that emphasizes a
decline in both the invitation to vocational ministry and the witness of what takes place in the
career of a clergyperson.
Alongside the troubling decline in clergy recruitment is the challenge of ethnoracial
segregation in faith-based communities. Only 13.7% of faith-based communities in the United
States identify as multiracial (Wright et al., 2015). Yancey and Kim (2008) found that faith-
based communities with racially diverse leadership were more likely to also have diversity in
gender and socioeconomic status (SES) in leadership and were more likely to recruit new leaders
from a variety of racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Furthermore, a lack of racial,
ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity in faith-based communities has been linked with a lack of
creativity and openness to new ideas and ways of thinking (Acar et al., 2018). While the
challenges to clergy recruitment appear to be abundant, it is possible that the inability of faith-
2
based organizations to offer a diversity of ethnoracial representation in leadership may be one of
the key areas that is impeding clergy recruitment in the United States.
Context and Background of the Problem
This study focuses on the decline of clergy recruitment in the United Methodist Church
(UMC) in the United States and the potential impact ethnoracial segregation has on this problem.
The UMC is a global faith-based organization whose mission is “to make disciples of Jesus
Christ for the transformation of the world” (Cropsey, 2013). Since the foundation of the UMC in
1968, membership has declined from over 11 million people to just under 6.8 million people in
2018 (Hahn, 2019). In recent years, this decline has grown from membership to leadership. Since
2019, the United Methodist Church has observed a 24% decline in ordained elders (Weems,
2021). Johnston et al. (2021) reported that UMC pastors in the United States are shifting away
from ordained ministry in large numbers due to fundamental disruptions in their work, most
notably due to the COVID-19 pandemic, alongside an unsettled cultural period where the
ethnoracial diversity of surrounding communities is not reflected in churches that, frequently, are
objects of ethnoracial segregation. There is a decline in both membership and leadership in the
UMC and there are signs that ethnoracial segregation is, at least in part, a reason for that decline.
The presence of ethnoracial segregation in UMC churches is a part of the present and the
past. While there has been a moderate increase in racial diversity in UMC churches over the last
10 years, multiracial UMC churches, those being local churches that have at least two racial
backgrounds with over 20% of the population, comprise only 3% of UMC churches in the United
States (Hahn, 2019). Prior to the founding of the UMC in 1968, ethnoracial representation had
been dubitable in previous iterations of Methodism in the United States. In 1844 the Methodist-
Episcopal Church experienced a schism over the ability of people called Methodists to possess
3
slaves (Askew, 2011). In 1939, the Methodist church in North America created the “central
jurisdiction” as a method of intentional racial separation and division (General Commission on
Archives [GCAH], 2022). By 1972, this “central jurisdiction” had been integrated completely
into the UMC, but the GCAH (2022) reports that the vestiges of that era are still present in the
current iteration of the UMC.
The UMC has chosen to address the problems of clergy recruitment and ethnoracial
segregation in tandem. In 2008, the UMC General Conference voted to include a new paragraph
in the United Methodist Book of Discipline regarding “cross-cultural appointment making” (Park,
2014). This practice encourages clergypersons to be appointed to congregations where the
majority ethnoracial identity is distinct from that of the clergyperson (Cropsey, 2013). While
data on these efforts is limited, Hough et al. (2018) found that UMC clergy were experiencing
high levels of burnout and stress, and that serving in cross-cultural appointments could be a key
contributor to those levels. While anecdotal efforts to boost clergy recruitment and address
ethnoracial segregation continue in the UMC, a large degree of focus and energy has shifted to
matters surrounding LGBTQIA+ inclusion in the UMC (Peck-McClain, 2021). Because of the
precipitous nature of decline in clergy recruitment and the variety of rationales for that decline, it
is unclear if or how the UMC will address the role of ethnoracial segregation in that decline
moving forward.
Purpose of the Study and Research Questions
This study will address the problem of declining clergy recruitment in the UMC in the
United States through the perspective of mirrored ethnoracial identity. Namely, the study will
look at the ethnoracial composition of UMC churches, ethnoracial representation in UMC
leadership, and ethnoracial identity of clergy candidates as lenses through which motivation to
4
complete the UMC ordination process can be analyzed. The three research questions for this
study are as follows:
1. What is the role, if any, of ethnoracial composition of UMC sending churches in the
self-efficacy of clergy candidates to complete the UMC ordination process?
2. How, if at all, does ethnoracial representation in UMC leadership impact the
motivation of clergy candidates to complete the UMC ordination process?
3. What is the connection between personal ethnoracial identity and communal
ethnoracial identity in determining the motivation of clergy candidates to complete
the UMC ordination process?
Importance of the Study
The decline of clergy recruitment in the UMC, especially when paired with the decline in
church membership in the UMC, presents an important problem to address. At the current rate of
decline in clergy recruitment, it is anticipated that the UMC would be without any clergy
leadership by 2050 (Weems, 2021). The shared lack of leadership and membership could lead to
a time in the future where the UMC ceases to exist, a stark change from the body that is the
second largest protestant denomination in the United States.
Because there are many factors that impact the decline of clergy recruitment in the UMC,
viewing this problem through the lens of mirrored ethnoracial identity can offer some
perspective on the nature of the decline and potential solutions that can offer a positive impact to
the UMC and the communities served by the UMC. Creating pathways for increased ethnoracial
inclusion in faith-based communities can decrease the likelihood of racist behaviors and
Christian nationalist ideals from prevailing in faith-based communities (Hockenberry, 2021).
Furthermore, racially diverse UMC churches are more likely to have higher worship attendance
5
and church membership than White-dominant churches (Dougherty et al., 2021). Dougherty et
al. also found that White-dominant UMC churches in predominantly non-White neighborhoods
represent the greatest decline in membership in the UMC.
To be sustainable into the 21st century, the UMC must address the problem of declining
clergy recruitment. Because of the successes of churches with ethnoracial diversity and because
of the community benefits that can come through intentional ethnoracial diversification efforts,
this study will utilize mirrored ethnoracial identity as a lens for interpreting motivation of clergy
candidates to complete the UMC ordination process.
Overview of Theoretical Framework and Methodology
This study will utilize social cognitive theory (SCT) as its theoretical framework. SCT
posits that there is an interrelation between environmental, cognitive, and behavioral factors that
determine human behavior (Bandura, 1989). Bandura explores this connection, believing that
there is triadic reciprocity between environmental factors, such as social norms and community
access, cognitive factors, such as knowledge and attitudes, and behavioral factors, such as
behaviors and self-efficacy. Martin et al. (2014) indicate that SCT is an effective tool to estimate
the ability of individuals to engage in targeted behaviors based on internal and external factors
alongside the interrelation of those factors. More specifically, Otaye-Ebede et al. (2020)
demonstrate that the leveraging of variables in any of the elements of the triad can offer context
and measurement of impact on behavioral outcomes.
In this study, SCT is a useful framework because of the ability to leverage variables as a
method for measuring impact on behaviors, specifically motivations. This study utilizes the
environmental factor as the primary variable, discovering how mirrored ethnoracial identity in
leadership impacts motivation, specifically self-efficacy, in clergy candidates to complete the
6
ordination process. Because there are many layers to observed leadership within the United
Methodist Church, there are many opportunities for this variable to shift, which may impact the
results of the study.
This study will deploy a qualitative research methodology that uses a purposeful
sampling approach. Because the study centers on analyzing the motivation of clergy candidates,
it is important that clergy candidates be the sample population for the study as these participants
have a unique ability to contribute to the understanding of the problem of practice (Merriam &
Tisdale, 2016). One-on-one, semistructured interviews will be used to collect data around
ethnoracial identities of clergy candidates, ethnoracial identities of UMC observed leadership,
and the impacts the mirroring of ethnoracial identity between leadership and clergy candidates
has on the motivation of clergy candidates to complete the ordination process.
Definitions
There are some key terms that are important to this study and unique to the UMC.
Defining these terms provides a foundation for understanding their use in other areas of the
study.
● BIPOC is an acronym that refers to individuals who identify as Black, Indigenous, or
people of color (Basma et al., 2021). This acronym is deployed frequently in literature
and studies around ethnoracial identity.
● Burnout refers to the mental and physical exhaustion that takes place after prolonged
stress (Basma et al., 2021). In the context of this study, burnout is considered
primarily through the lens of workplace stress, though it is challenging to isolate this
variable in the context of overall occurrences of burnout.
7
● Christian nationalism references the interplay between the ethics and morals of the
Christian tradition and the virtues of American citizenship (Perry & Whitehead,
2019).
● A clergy candidate is an individual who has been commissioned as a provisional
candidate for ordination in the United Methodist Church, and is now in a process of
service, reflection, and writing/interviewing that culminates with ordination as a
pastor in the United Methodist Church (Cropsey, 2013).
● Conference leadership refers to the individuals that makeup the leadership of an
Annual Conference within which clergy (to include clergy candidates) work. While
this is principally a Bishop, it may also include District Superintendents and
Department Chairs (Cropsey, 2013).
● Ethnoracial identity (ERI) refers to identity that is informed simultaneously by the
ethnic aspects of an individual or group—such as cultural traditions—and the
racialized nature of that individual or group within a sociohistorical context—such as
discrimination based on skin color (Umaña-Taylor et al., 2018).
● Laity or lay leadership is the group of people that make up most of the personnel
support in sending churches. These are unpaid volunteers whose commitment to the
church is voluntary and not structured or otherwise licensed.
● The ordination process is the multi-step effort an individual called to vocational
ministry takes to become a clergyperson in the United Methodist Church (Cropsey,
2013). This process takes a minimum of 3 years from candidacy certification and
involves leading, writing, reflecting, and interviewing to obtain ordination status.
8
● A sending church is the faith-based community a clergy candidate serves while in the
ordination process (Cropsey, 2013).
Organization of the Dissertation
This study will be presented in a five-chapter format. The first chapter provides an
introduction and overview of the study. The second chapter contains a review of the literature
pertinent to the study. The third chapter examines the methodological approach for the study.
The fourth chapter presents the findings from the study. Finally, the fifth chapter offers a
discussion of the findings alongside recommendations for practice moving forward.
9
Chapter Two: Literature Review
This literature review analyzes research around the problem of declining clergy
recruitment in the UMC through the lens of mirrored ethnoracial identity. Topics covered in this
literature review include the decline of clergy recruitment in the United States and the UMC, the
importance of ethnoracial representation in encouraging increased clergy recruitment, and the
impact of ethnoracial segregation in faith-based organizations and the communities they serve.
Then, the review transitions to a focus on Bandura’s social cognitive theory, the theoretical
framework for this study, as well as the emerging conceptual framework, which looks at
environmental factors and their impact on the self-efficacy of clergy candidates to complete the
ordination process. The literature review concludes with a summary and a transition to
methodology.
The Decline of Clergy Recruitment
Since 1985, the number of clergy in the United Methodist Church has declined by over
55% (Weems, 2021). This parallels a larger national trend toward fewer clergy serving local
churches, with Kramarek and Gautier (2021) estimating that in 2021 there were 60% fewer
pastors in the United States than in 1971. As clergy leadership has trended downward in the
United States, there has been an upward trend in religious disaffiliation. Saunders et al. (2020)
report that as of 2019, 23.1% of Americans mark no religious affiliation, an almost 150%
increase from 2012. An additional 27% of Americans reported their religious affiliation as
“spiritual but not religious,” identifying with religious themes while not willing to participate in
specific religious institutions (Saunders et al., 2020).
Beyond the shifts in leadership and attendance, there are also financial implications to the
changes in the American religious landscape. Rimes et al. (2019) reported that while charitable
10
giving in the United States has grown over the last decade, the percentage of charitable
contributions to religious institutions in 2018 was at its lowest mark in the last decade. This has
led to many houses of worship having to close, with Russell (2019) estimating that every week,
nearly 100 places of worship are closing in the United States. The consequences of this are wide-
reaching, affecting individuals and communities. For example, clergy whose churches close and
are left without work or income are left to manage an average of $81,000 in debt from student
loans and other personal expenses (Terkun, 2021). Additionally, the closure of churches has
community-wide impacts. Dyas and Giles (2021) found that 79% of respondents identify
experiencing social isolation because of church closure. Furthermore, 75% of respondents
described a lack of access to needed resources because of churches being nonoperational (Dyas
& Giles, 2021). There are practical challenges that come with church closures in the US.
Reduction in clergy leadership has consequences for individuals and communities. But
why has this decline been so precipitous in recent years? The literature review now transitions to
the analysis of this question, focusing on the consumeristic perspectives on religion, the impact
of an increasingly “spiritual but not religious” culture of religious identity, and lack of
institutional support for religious leaders.
Consumerism
One of the key factors in the precipitous decline of clergy recruitment in the United
States is consumerism. Consumerism as it relates to religion can be defined as the belief that
faith-based institutions and the people that work within them have a primary responsibility to
meet the expectations of members of those institutions (Hegy, 2021). This works in competition
to the purpose of most clergy entering their field, namely an experience of discernment to
vocation because of a divine calling that is not dependent on input from people (Hegy, 2021).
11
This dichotomy of purpose creates a challenge for clergy to understand where their support
comes from, often translating to struggles with mental health, depression, and a need to find a
different career path (Eagle et al., 2019). Consumerism, while an attractional model that has the
capacity to lead people into faith-based settings, has the capacity to lead to consequences as well.
The consumeristic nature of religion in the United States is rooted in the understanding of
purpose for faith-based institutions. In early American Christianity, religion was seen as a part of
the family heritage and was an artifact meant to be handed down from generation to generation
(Djupe & Friesen, 2018). Over time, the foundational nature of religion eroded and participation
in faith-based activities became increasingly elective. As a result, in the late twentieth century,
larger American churches began using sales tactics to motivate participation in faith-based
activities (Wade, 2016). These tactics, often referred to by the title “seeker-friendly,” use a
combination of innovative practices, charismatic leadership, and pragmatic messaging to entice
an otherwise disinterested population to engage with faith-based teaching and practices. While
this practice is not exclusive to American churches, there is a tendency in larger American
churches to combine seeker-friendly practices with a prosperity theology that promises adherents
financial and material gain (Maddox, 2013). This union of thought creates a perspective that
faith-based activity exists primarily for the benefit of the member or attender instead of for the
benefit of the poor or oppressed, for the growth of morality or ethics, or for the “greater good”
that is at the center of many religious teachings (Maddox, 2013; Wade, 2016).
While consumerism and seeker-friendly practices might be effective in attracting people
to faith-based institutions, the long-term impacts of both show challenging impacts toward
religious adherence and spiritual rootedness. Cafferata (2017), Flatt et al. (2017), and Lingier and
Vandewiele (2021) point to consumerism as a predictor of future detachment from religious
12
interest. Flatt et al. (2017) points to a challenge of attribution that comes from a consumerist
faith-based perspective. Failures are seen as externally driven while successes are seen as
internally driven. As a result, there is an expectation that eventually the institution will have to
harbor the blame for any spiritual or moral failure that takes place around an individual because
the consumerist perspective has taught the person they cannot be at fault (Flatt et al., 2017).
Lingier and Vandewiele (2021) see consumerism as an element of cycle theory, a historical
approach that sees a dilution of religious teachings to reach a common populace that results in a
decline in religious adherence followed by some sort of movement or reviving of moral or
ethical learnings to inspire new forms of faith-based learning and institutions. Consumerism,
while initially attractive, has a deteriorating influence on faith-based communities that can lead
to their deterioration without appropriate interventions.
Consumerism creates an ideology that is unsustainable for religious adherents and clergy
leaders. Cafferata (2017) analyzes the tie between consumerism, religious detachment, and the
stress this creates on clergy. There is an expectation that clergy will bring in new members with
sufficient financial and material resources to support the mission of the church. Ferguson (2015)
found that these gifts often began in larger quantities but subsided over time. Additionally,
because of consumerist perspectives, the continued contribution of resources by members is tied
to the satisfaction of members with the performance and abilities of clergy (Cafferata, 2017). As
a result, when dissatisfied members communicate their dissatisfaction or disaffiliate from
religious institutions, clergy tend to internalize those actions as being a result of personal fault,
leading to increased stress and depression (Eagle et al., 2019; Cafferata, 2017).
Beyond the stress consumerist ideologies place on clergy, consumerist perspectives also
place unrealistic expectations on clergy. Haskell et al. (2016) report that consumerist ideologies
13
create a strict perspective on the role of clergy in churches, and that clergy who act or lead
outside of their perceived role are seen as spiritually weak or incompetent. Additionally, because
of the “centered self” nature of consumerism, there is an expectation that clergy are constantly
available for personal reflection or assistance (Haskell et al., 2016). The needs to present
inauthentic versions of the self, alongside persistent availability, are seen as leading indicators
for instances of clergy burnout (Adams et al., 2017). The challenge of both the stress and
unrealistic expectations clergy experience because of consumerism is that this becomes a model
for how emergent clergy recruits see the work of clergy leadership. When the representation an
individual sees of a specific career choice is burdened by stress and unrealistic expectations, it is
realistic to expect that the individual may not want to align with that career choice.
Consumerism is only one factor in the decline of clergy recruitment in the United States.
It has consequences to personal belief sets and structural operations for faith-based communities,
creating stress on individuals and institutions. Another important factor is the growing societal
shift in religious behavior to a “spiritual but not religious” association with religion.
Spiritual but Not Religious
The fastest growing subset of religious identity in the United States is “spiritual but not
religious” (SBNR; Mercadante, 2020). Saunders et al. (2020) found that, as of 2019, SBNR
accounts for 27% of the U.S. population, a 150% increase from 2012 for a categorization that has
existed for less than 50 years. Furthermore, Marshall and Olson (2018) argue that the rise of
SBNR has led to a personalization of spirituality in both the United States and Europe, a
significant shift from the corporate mentality of religion that dominated thought throughout the
20th century. SBNR has been impactful in the understanding of religiosity in the United States,
both in individuals and communities.
14
The SBNR identity is described by Mercadante (2020) as one where spirituality is
internalized, emotive, and characterized by authenticity, while religion is an external structure
that has little to no relevance on a personal spiritual journey. While SBNR is rooted in the
individual, there are distinctions within this identity, ranging from religio-spirituality and anti-
institutional spirituality that maintain some form of religious adherence (Marshall & Olson,
2018) to secularism, agnosticism, and humanism that reject almost all forms of religiosity
(Mercadante, 2020). SBNR is a form of spiritual practice that is rooted in the individual and
lessens the need for a communal religious experience.
Because of the varieties of practice latent within SBNR and the individualism that is a
part of SBNR’s core identity, there is considerable concern about the impact of SBNR on
religious institutions. Harvey (2016) focuses on the considerable sociological impacts of
individual spiritual practices. Because religiosity is rooted in shared experience, there is an
argument that SBNR creates an unhealthy privatization of spirituality that is intended to be
public and corporate (Harvey, 2016). Saunders, et al. (2020) share a concern that this
individualization is harmful not only to institutions, but to individuals as well, demonstrating that
an overly independent faith is correlated with increased mental health challenges, to include
generalized anxiety disorder, phobias, and substance abuse challenges. There are significant
challenges to individuals and communities that come from SBNR practices.
As it relates to the decline of clergy recruitment, the primary challenge posed by SBNR is
the stripping away of religious adherence that is often a precursor to clergy recruitment. Uecker
et al. (2007) discovered that nearly 60% of young adults (ages 18–25) in the United States report
some form of religious disaffiliation, ranging from attending church less frequently than in
adolescence to complete abandonment of religiosity. The maintenance of religious membership
15
vows such as financial generosity and commitment to a particular religious organization has
declined by 71% in the United States since 1970 (Lingier & Vandewiele, 2021). Haskell et al.
(2016) reported that those identifying as SBNR also struggle to find any religious institution that
can support their personal and evolving belief system. While SBNR identity might work for
some individuals for some period of time, over time there is the potential for harmful outcomes
to arise for individuals, religious institutions, and local communities.
Lack of engagement and participation in religious institutions creates a gap in the
possibility of recruiting future clergy. This is a challenge primarily for adolescents and young
adults who have either not selected a career path or are early in their career setting, who report an
association with religious adherence and negative emotional experience (Hardie et al., 2016). But
even in adults who may already be engaged with a career path, the absence of religious
involvement creates a dissociation with a calling to faith-based work and career confidence,
decision-making, and planning (Sturges, 2020). Communal religious involvement can make a
difference in the vocational identities of individuals and can create sustaining impact on faith-
based communities.
The very concept of calling to faith-based work is something that is typically very
individualistic but requires community support. Joynt (2019) highlighted the interplay of
spiritual vocation as a combination of personal skillset and divine summons. There are moments
where one’s ability to complete a task will be most important, while there will be other moments
where one’s purpose for completing the task will be most important. Sturges (2020) added to
these findings in the need of spiritual community to surround clergy leadership and foster a sense
of vocation and purpose. When there is not a sufficient sense of community to support clergy
leadership, there are sentiments of failure and disconnection of purpose amongst clergy leaders
16
(Sturges, 2020). To discover successful and sustainable senses of vocation in clergy leadership
requires a keen understanding of personal call alongside community support.
Challenges arise, however, when there is a misalignment between personal ability, divine
calling, or a mix of the two (Cafferata, 2017). As an example, Cafferata (2017) studied clergy
who have been asked to close a church, ending the life of a community while also managing real
estate, human resources, and fiduciary responsibilities, work for which clergy are not adequately
prepared or trained. This task was found to be the highest cause of stress amongst young clergy
representing a wide variety of faith traditions (Cafferata, 2017). Vargas (2012) found that stress
induced through vocational misalignment is a high indicator of religious skepticism and,
ultimately, religious disaffiliation amongst faith-based workers. The impacts of vocational stress
and misalignment of vocational discernment are both individual and communal while also being
both short-term and long-term.
Consumerism and the SBNR religious identity are two important factors in the decline of
clergy recruitment in the United States. There are impacts from SBNR on individuals,
institutions, and communities. Those impacts range from short-term hurdles to long-term gaps
but are generally challenging to manage and lead to internal and external consequences. The
following section shifts to a third area of focus: a lack of institutional support for religious
leaders and what that communicates to potential clergy recruits.
Lack of Institutional Support
Clergy struggle to receive sufficient support from their parent institutions, which leads to
consequences for both individuals and communities. Schleifer and Chaves (2016) estimate that
clergy in the United States earn 26% less than others with graduate-level degrees. While this
figure has improved slightly over a 30-year measurement period, there is a concern that clergy
17
and religious professionals are not gaining ground in earnings relative to the highly educated
general population (Schleifer & Chaves, 2016). Furthermore, Fishman et al. (2015) discovered
that altruistic professionals are more likely to be subject to income inequality due to the nature of
their work and the perceptions surrounding professionals whose work focuses on helping others.
These income disparities have led to a growth in the number of bivocational clergy, that is,
clergy who will take on a second job to supply most if not all their income (Perry & Schleifer,
2019). The financial realities of being involved with religious leadership point to an expectation
of taking on poverty and a reduction in resources to be a leader in a faith-based setting.
Beyond challenges with pay on an individual level, there are financial issues related to
the lack of institutional support of religious leaders that are more organizational in nature. Faith-
based organizations require a consistent level of fundraising, which often becomes the work of
the pastor or key leader of the organization (Miles & Proeschold-Bell, 2013). Because of the
decline in religious adherence in the 21st century, the pool of support for fundraising has become
smaller, while church budgets are often at a similar level or a slight increase over budgets of a
decade or more ago. Furthermore, because clergy in many religious traditions have renounced
conventional life practices to pursue their careers, there are increased barriers to connection with
potential donors (Fishman et al., 2015). The challenges clergy face in fundraising can lead to a
decrease in intrinsic motivation to continue fundraising, creating a declining cycle of returns for
the budget of the organization, and increasing feelings of insufficiency and failure in faith-based
leaders (Sturges, 2020). Inequities in financial support stretch from an individual’s personal
financial position to an organization’s budget.
The institutional support of clergy is not only financial support. Religious institutions
require a hierarchy of support in the form of denominational leadership, lay leadership, and
18
community partnerships. Sullins (2013) points out that clergy are challenged by denominational
leadership and feel a pressure to conform to the desires of those leaders. Failure to conform is
met with unwanted moves, withdrawal of financial support, and a perception of political loss
within the organization. Fry (2021) found that this challenge is exacerbated across gender lines,
with female clergy working in opposition to the desires of their managers being limited in the
kinds of opportunities for professional progression they can receive. The stress of nonconformity
creates gaps in mental health performance that can lead to greater rates of burnout and a lack of
coping in clergy (Miles & Proeschold-Bell, 2013). There is a need for a scaffolded approach to
clergy support in faith-based organizations. When that scaffold is damaged or fails to exist, the
consequences are wide-ranging.
While denominational leadership represents a form of professional leadership charged
with overseeing clergy, lay leadership represents a form of volunteer leadership that works
alongside a clergyperson in a localized setting. Williams et al. (2017) found that while pastoral
support for congregational initiatives was important, it was not the highest predictor of success;
rather, support from lay leadership played a more important role in the success of congregational
initiatives. While the concept of shared involvement is attractive to many clergy, there is a
struggle for clergy to adapt to the balance of congregational influence with the desire of a
clergyperson to lead congregations in new and different directions (Fiala et al., 2002). Bernhart
et al. (2019) describe this as a resistance to change that creates a barrier to program
implementation and can be a negative influence on the personal habits and goals of clergy. There
is a need for cooperation between clergy leadership and lay leadership to foster support for
shared goals in congregational settings.
19
Another layer of institutional support comes in the form of community partnerships.
When churches can come together with community partners for specific, mission-focused tasks,
outcomes show greater levels of success than when those organizations operate independently
(Lanzi et al., 2019). This is especially true in predominantly Black communities, where churches
and community organizations have become the central space for creation of social support
networks and community initiatives (Pingel & Bauermeister, 2018). Considering the importance
of community partnerships, a prevailing challenge is that, especially when sending clergy to new
settings, religious institutions do not offer sufficient support to existing community partnerships
(Pingel & Bauermeister, 2018; Lanzi et al., 2019). Additionally, the dissolution of these
partnerships can create “church hurt,” the idea that something that should be helpful can cause
deep levels of pain, amongst vulnerable and marginalized communities (Pingel & Bauermeister,
2018). This creates a multilayered challenge to clergy recruitment: not only is the model of how
clergy are in partnership with community made less clear, but there are also instances where
failure in these partnerships creates a further sense of disillusionment with religious institutions
(Hoover, 2021). The impacts of insufficient community partnerships are felt internally and
externally.
While all these layers of lacking institutional support are relevant to the continued work
of clergy in religious institutions, they are also problematic for clergy recruitment because of the
perceptions that can be created amongst potential clergy recruits. Bengtson et al. (2018)
reviewed the divergence in perception of clergy and church members, discovering that members
of churches are influenced in their over-arching perspectives of the clergy profession by the
clergy that serve their church at any given time. Because a significant percentage of clergy
recruits have an affiliation with a local church, the modeling that happens by existing clergy for
20
potential clergy recruits holds a large degree of influence in determining whether a potential
clergy recruit will select that career path (Joynt, 2017). In churches that are perceived to be bad
places to work, there is a low degree of clergy recruitment that can take place (Joynt, 2017;
Mueller & McDuff, 2002). The perceptions and modeled behaviors in faith-based environments
have a significant role in the behavior of clergy recruits, both for better and for worse.
The support and treatment of clergy by the institutions they serve plays a major role in
the modeling of clergy professional life for potential clergy recruits. This, together with
consumerism and a shifting in primary religious identity toward “spiritual but not religious” are
the key factors present in the literature defining the decline of clergy recruitment in the United
States during the 21st century. In many senses, these factors come back to a central theme:
representation. The literature review will now consider the importance of ethnoracial
representation in addressing the impact of ethnoracial identity on the decline of clergy
recruitment in the United States.
The Importance of Ethnoracial Representation
Foundationally, religious perspectives are tied in as a part of the ethnic framework of
individuals and communities. Religions tell the stories of people groups, their journeys and
struggles, and assist with identifying the sacred within a wide variety of backgrounds and
narratives (Yu, 2018). Historically, religious leadership has been largely Eurocentric, but in the
new millennium, there have been shifts in the ethnoracial composition of faith-based
communities and their leaders. Faith-based communities in the United States have become
increasingly mulitethnic and multiracial over the last 20 years (Dougherty et al., 2020). In that
same period, churches practicing intentional racial integration were found to be more likely to be
led by people of color (Dougherty et al., 2020). There has been an increased focus in faith-based
21
communities not only on including more ethnoracial diversity, but also on being led by people
from diverse ethnoracial backgrounds.
The fruits of these diversification efforts in the last 20 years are beginning to come to
light. Okuwobi (2019) found that multiracial faith-based communities were prone to see a
collective identity that led to greater rates of organizational survival and thriving. This process,
identified as “ethnic transcendence,” allows faith-based communities the chance to evade
hierarchical tendencies to work toward equity for all people (Okuwobi, 2019). Furthermore,
BIPOC clergy leaders in multiethnic faith-based communities in were found to be better
equipped to address issues of social inequality and marginalization while also driving anti-racism
and anti-poverty efforts in those communities (Brown et al., 2016). Additionally, the creation of
leadership spaces for BIPOC individuals in faith-based communities has led to an increase in
political participation, especially amongst Latinx individuals (Djupe & Neiheisel, 2012). There
are benefits to faith-based communities practicing intentional ethnoracial diversity, and those
benefits only escalate when BIPOC individuals are visible in leadership.
This section of the literature review will address the impacts of ethnoracial diversity in
leadership representation on faith-based communities. Specifically, impacts on social capital,
racial injustice, and intersectional approaches will be discussed.
Social Capital
One area where the literature demonstrates an impact in ethnoracial representation on
faith-based communities is around the idea of social capital. Social capital is the value created
for individuals and organizations based on relational networks and the resources that are borne
out of those networks (Munn, 2019; Perry, 2013). In faith-based organizations where fundraising
is a component of leadership, social capital becomes a key factor in fundraising success (Perry,
22
2013). In these settings, Perry (2013) found that BIPOC evangelistic outreach ministry workers
were less successful in fundraising efforts compared to their White counterparts when
fundraising in predominantly White settings. When studying the rationale for this deficit, it was
noted that in predominantly White settings, BIPOC workers had 77% smaller social networks
than their counterparts (Perry, 2013). In fundraising efforts, the bridge between personal
relationships and the need to raise financial capital resulted in a significant barrier for success
amongst BIPOC workers.
The access to social capital is important not only for the purposes of raising money, but
also for being able to lead well within faith-based communities. Munn (2019) found that BIPOC
individuals in multiethnic communities were often given positions of visibility that lacked the
impetus to make decisions or hold power. Meanwhile White pastors were found to participate in
the hoarding of social and material resources in intraracial networks, forming mentorship groups,
committees, and networks that were exclusive based on ethnoracial identity (Munn, 2019). These
practices not only excluded BIPOC peers but limited their ability to grow and develop as leaders
within faith-based contexts. Over time, this exclusion creates negative perceptions amongst
BIPOC clergy and lessens self-reported motivation to lead faith-based communities (Okuwobi,
2019). Even churches that report ethnoracial diversity as a core component of their
organizational structure struggle to manage inequalities in access to social capital for BIPOC
clergy (Edwards, 2014). There is a delineation between access to social capital for BIPOC faith-
based leaders and their White counterparts.
Over time, this shift has consequences for both faith-based leaders and the faith-based
organizations those leaders serve. Edwards (2014) describes one of the primary consequences of
social capital barriers for BIPOC clergy as “role strain,” which is an inability to fulfill the
23
requirements of a single role due to the multiplicity of expectations stakeholders maintain around
that role. Edwards (2014) found that BIPOC clergy were significantly more susceptible to role
strain than their White counterparts, especially when serving in predominantly White faith-based
communities. Namely, BIPOC clergy held insufficient social power to influence the expectations
of White congregants and were held to greater degrees of accountability when they did not live
up to the expectations of their White congregants (Edwards, 2014; Brown et al., 2016). However,
when BIPOC clergy are serving in multiracial congregations, there are greater avenues for
authentic social connection and leadership development (Brown et al., 2016). For individuals
leading faith-based communities, access to social capital is a key driver to determining success,
positivity, and longevity in leadership.
Beyond the individual perspective, access to social capital is also important for faith-
based organizations and the communities they serve. In multiracial congregations, leadership and
social networking within the church is more likely if the church is led by a BIPOC individual as
opposed to a White individual (Dougherty et al., 2020). Brown et al. (2016) found that attendees
of multiracial churches led by BIPOC clergy were more likely to engage in social networking
around political issues that would drive community improvement. In urban Catholic churches in
the United States, young adults attending churches led by BIPOC clergy were more likely to
develop strong social connection in their church that led to a greater commitment to volunteerism
and community improvement (Reinhart, 2021). Ethnoracial representation impacts access to
social capital, which in turn impacts the experience and development of faith-based leaders and
faith-based communities. Another area impacted by ethnoracial representation in faith-based
communities is the pursuit of racial justice alongside the presence of racial injustice. The
literature review now turns to understanding those impacts.
24
Racial Injustice
Ethnoracial representation in faith-based communities impacts the ways in which those
communities choose to respond to the pursuit of racial justice. In predominantly White faith-
based communities, language of racial justice traditionally is replaced by the blanket term “racial
reconciliation” (Oyakawa, 2019). Oyakawa found that this framework assumes a shared faith has
the capacity to absolve racial conflict, in the process avoiding any kind of political tension and
prioritizing internal unity over observable progress and resolution in disparities created by
ethnoracial biases. In multiethnic churches, however, there is a push for emancipatory action
against systemic racism in the United States with an anticipation that faith-based environments
push activity more than language (Baumann, 2016). Ethnoracial representation, both in
leadership and community makeup, influences the way in which faith-based communities
address racial justice.
In predominantly White churches, moves toward racial justice or racial reconciliation
center around a surface-level language that traditionally only acts when the authority or power of
White leaders is threatened (Oyakawa, 2019). Atchison (2019) found that in impoverished White
communities, despite people with a White ethnoracial identity being more likely to commit a
crime, White pastors were more likely to be supportive of law enforcement activity targeting
BIPOC individuals and groups. Even in situations where overt racism is not taking place, a racial
bias toward the maintenance of power in predominantly White churches does appear to exist. In
predominantly White churches, members were shown to be more concerned with the political
outcomes of racial reconciliation efforts than the social or structural outcomes (Bardwell, 2021).
White pastors in those predominantly White churches were likely to prioritize conversations
related to strengthening male leadership or perceived family breakdowns than addressing racial
25
injustice in the church and surrounding community (Bardwell, 2021). When diversity efforts
ensue, attempts are made to attract BIPOC individuals to White churches so that White culture
can be preserved and those unwilling to accommodate to that culture can simply not return
(Dougherty et al., 2020). Predominantly White churches being served by White clergy have a
challenging time addressing racial division in meaningful or antiracist ways.
Meanwhile, Dougherty and Emerson (2018) found that, over the last 20 years, racially
diverse leadership in faith-based communities has been a key driver for racial diversity within
faith-based communities. This is important because in multiethnic faith-based communities,
especially those led by BIPOC clergy, there are significant efforts to create racial justice inside
and outside the walls of the church. Multiethnic churches with BIPOC clergy were more likely to
take on the work of social activism and exercise political influence (Baumann, 2016). BIPOC
clergy were more likely to preach messages about poverty-related issues that would influence
multiethnic church involvement in social enterprise (Brown et al., 2016). Furthermore,
multiethnic faith-based communities with BIPOC leadership were more likely to welcome in
people from non-American settings and work toward cultural adaptation rather than cultural
appropriation (Yu, 2018). Multiethnic faith-based communities with BIPOC leadership
demonstrate a willingness to serve local communities and create spaces for racial justice that
their predominantly White counterparts do not offer.
There are limitations to the impacts of ethnoracial representation in faith-based
communities on matters of racial justice. Dougherty et al. (2020) found that while more BIPOC
clergy led multiethnic churches in the last 20 years, there was still a disproportionate amount of
White leadership in those churches. Beyond this, White clergy serving in multiethnic churches
were spared of barriers, costs, and stress that their BIPOC peers serving in similar settings had to
26
carry (Dougherty et al., 2020). Furthermore, regardless of ethnoracial representation in
leadership or membership composition of faith-based communities, there is work to be done
around the prioritization of racial justice matters in faith-based communities, especially as it
relates to the challenges of systemic racism in the United States (Atchison, 2019). While these
limitations exist, the literature demonstrates that ethnoracial representation in faith-based
communities has an impact on the work of those communities around racial justice. Having
understood the impacts of ethnoracial representation in faith-based communities on the work of
racial justice, the literature review now turns to impacts of ethnoracial representation in faith-
based communities on intersectional approaches emerging from faith-based movements in the
United States.
Intersectional Approaches
Ethnoracial representation in faith-based communities, especially in the leadership of
these communities, is a factor in how faith-based communities approach intersectionality.
Intersectionality is a critical insight that posits identities such as race, gender, sexuality,
ethnicity, ability, and age are not mutually exclusive; rather, these identities build upon one
another in the construction of individual identity (Collins, 2015). In congregations that have
intentional practice around multiracial inclusion, there is a significant likelihood that there will
also be openness to inclusion of LGBTQIA+ persons in congregations alongside a diverse
approach to gender and leadership (Dougherty et al., 2020). Yu (2018) found that congregations
led by BIPOC persons were more likely to increase intersectional civic engagement in members,
especially in creating pathways for inclusion for people immigrating to the United States.
Beyond the setting of the Christian church, multiethnic Muslim communities demonstrated a
greater capacity to teach and lead efforts of resistance against anti-Islamic ideologies than their
27
monoethnic counterparts (Ali & Sonn, 2017). Multiracial faith-based communities have
consistent practices around intersectional approaches.
Compared to monoracial faith-based communities, there are stark differences in how
intersectionality is addressed, if at all. Heard Harvey and Ricard (2018) reported that multiracial
faith-based communities are working to reconcile identities that, historically, churches have put
in competition with each other, fostering feelings of shame and diminished self-worth along the
way. Meanwhile, in churches that are at least 80% White, it is likely that heteronormativity and
homophobia are not only permitted, but “religiously sanctioned” (Miller, 2021). Lassiter and
Poteat (2020) found that multiethnic faith-based communities that were attentive to
intersectionality were more likely than monoethnic faith-based communities to offer positive
religious coping mechanisms to HIV-positive congregants, decreasing depressive symptoms
amongst that population. Maintaining a multiplicity of ethnoracial identities alongside an
intentional approach to intersectionality has positive outcomes internally and externally for faith-
based communities.
Essential to this conversation is not only the ethnoracial composition of congregations,
but also the ethnoracial identity of leaders in congregations. BIPOC leaders of multiracial
churches were found to have more roles to hold, which opened more opportunities for intentional
work toward intersectionality in those settings (Edwards, 2014). Additionally, BIPOC leaders in
multiethnic contexts were found to be more receptive to conversations and counseling around
gender and sexual identities than their White peers (Miller, 2021). Bardwell (2021) found that
BIPOC leaders were better able to describe the challenges facing nondominant identities and
positionalities, especially in the face of systemic racism and White privilege. Leaders bear a
28
responsibility for shaping their contexts, and the impacts of ethnoracial identities of leadership in
faith-based communities are wide-ranging.
Though a commitment to intersectionality within ethnoracially diverse faith-based
communities has many positive outcomes, there are still many challenges for these congregations
and their surrounding communities. While the internal approach to intersectionality in multiracial
congregations is more open, there is not an excessive push in monoracial or multiracial
congregations to alter external social conditions and structures that inhibit integrative activity
(Dougherty & Emerson, 2018). In contexts where BIPOC clergy are open to counseling
congregants around intersectional conversations such as gender and sexual identity, there are still
elevated rates of depression, sexually transmitted disease morbidity, and mortality (Miller,
2021). And even though religiosity is connected as a source of resilience for LGBTQIA+ youth
and young adults, monoracial and multiracial faith-based communities carry the power to
stigmatize young people due to their sexual or gender identities (Schmitz & Woodell, 2018).
While diversity of ethnoracial identity in faith-based contexts can be a predictor of healthier
practices of intersectionality, there is still a long way to go for faith-based communities to ensure
equity amongst dominant and non-dominant positionalities.
Diversity in ethnoracial representation, especially in leadership, is a key factor in
increasing awareness and activity around intersectionality. It is also an important element in the
development of social capital and in the fostering of racial justice alongside the combating of
racial injustice in American communities. Injustices centered around race and ethnicity are a part
of the American story. The literature review now transitions to analyze the impact of ethnoracial
segregation in faith-based communities.
29
The Impact of Ethnoracial Segregation in Faith-Based Communities
On April 17, 1960, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press.
Near the end of the interview, King offered an observation about the state of the American
church: “I think it is one of the tragedies of our nation, one of the shameful tragedies, that eleven
o’clock on Sunday morning is one of the most segregated hours, if not the most segregated
hours, in Christian America” (Brooks, 1960). In the 60 years since these words were uttered,
there continues to be evidence of ethnoracial segregation in faith-based communities around the
United States. The Commission on Ethnic Minority Concerns and Advocacy (CEMCA) for the
United Methodist Church in Virginia observed that in the last 5 years there has been insufficient
effort from denominational leaders to increase diversity in local churches (Book of Reports,
2020). Outside of the Christian church, there is evidence of historical exclusion of Black men
from the priesthood in Mormon and Latter-Day Saint communities that has propagated
monoethnic congregations (Mueller, 2015). Efforts to desegregate churches have, in large part,
been either ineffective or nonexistent.
The ethnoracial segregation of faith-based communities has a large impact across the
American landscape. A 2015 Pew Research Center study found that 77.2% of the American
population adheres to a religious perspective. Although this was a 6.7% decrease from 2007, it
shows that most Americans have a religious interest, and this has some degree of influence over
thought and action. Impacts of ethnoracial segregation, then, are not limited to life within the
walls of faith-based institutions (Pew, 2015). A 2016 study found that monoethnic congregations
led to a disenfranchisement of minority members inside churches and an ignorance of the non-
racial majority in the local community surrounding churches (Barron, 2016). Communities that
practice intentional efforts around diversity, equity, and inclusion can see great strides internally
30
and externally. When churches and faith-based communities engage in the hard work of
inclusion and equity, it can result in an intersectional approach of framing and addressing
marginalization and creating liberation for faith-based institutions and surrounding communities
(Sumerau, 2012). There are benefits to creating diverse, inclusive environments in faith-based
settings as well as consequences when this does not happen. In the next section of the literature
review, the impacts of ethnoracial segregation in faith-based communities will be addressed
through an analysis of the historical trends of ethnoracial segregation in faith-based
communities, the influence of ethnoracial segregation on human spirituality, and the impact on
neighborhoods surrounding faith-based communities that experience ethnoracial segregation.
Historical Trends of Ethnoracial Segregation in Faith-Based Communities
For the last half-century, researchers from different fields have studied the impacts of
ethnoracial dynamics in faith-based communities on the larger racial and cultural climate in the
United States (Barron, 2016). The research shows a common thread that, historically, ethnoracial
segregation in faith-based communities leads to an increase in racist attitudes and behaviors
amongst members of racially segregated faith-based communities. Hunt and Hunt (2001) present
foundational research on the history of ethnoracial segregation in faith-based communities in the
United States. Their thesis indicates that a combination of structural absence and cultural
presence has created a semi-involuntary form of ethnoracial segregation in faith-based
communities throughout American history (Hunt & Hunt, 2001). This thesis is affirmed in the
work of Barron (2016), who expands to say that the use of so-called “religious districts” in major
American cities such as Chicago and Los Angeles have allowed ethnoracial segregation to spill
out from the walls of churches into the ways neighborhoods are organized in highly populated
urban areas. Furthermore, Howell, et al. (2018) addressed the impacts of this semi-involuntary
31
form of segregation on religious violence throughout the 20th century, finding that hate crimes
such as church burnings were exacerbated in communities where religious segregation was
taking place. While ethnoracial segregation is problematic internally to faith-based organizations,
those problems tend to spill over into the communities those organizations are called to serve.
As Howell, et al. (2018) have noted, prior to the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, racial
divisions stemming from faith-based community segregation have led to extreme, externally
visible signs of racism in the form of cross burnings, church arsons, and violence against people
of color. In the wake of the Civil Rights Movement, these extreme activities diminished—though
they still occur; however, racist attitudes and behaviors that may be seen as more implicit such as
minimized leadership opportunities and inadequate access or representation for people of color
remain and grow in ethnoracially segregated faith-based communities (Mueller, 2015). Barron
(2016) argues that these attitudes and behaviors are amplified by the dissolution of intergroup
contact, where predominantly White congregations isolate themselves from opportunities to
interact or integrate with non-White neighbors, in the process dismissing the deeply racialized
character of American society and culture. Ethnoracial segregation in faith-based communities
upholds elements of structural and systemic racism that impact faith-based organizations and the
communities they serve.
While research trends toward focusing on the disparity between predominantly White and
predominantly Black churches in the United States, there is a historical record of segregation of
Latinx and Asian populations in faith-based communities as well. Nájera (2009) writes about the
efforts of Anglo Catholics throughout the 20th century to stymie Mexican religious practices
while segregating indigenous Mexican populations in the southern United States. The research
found that some Catholic communities used religious exemption to bypass national laws such as
32
the 1979 Civil Rights Act (Nájera, 2009). For Asian Americans, ethnoracial segregation in faith-
based communities stretched beyond churches into classrooms (Park & Bowman, 2015). Park
and Bowman (2015) found that religiosity in Asian American college students, while a positive
indicator of future cross-racial interaction, led to early boundaries in relationship building.
Furthermore, there was an indication that religiosity amongst White peers was a predictor of
racially homogenous practices and a limitation on a desire to participate in diversity-building
activities (Park & Bowman, 2015). Ethnoracial segregation is not limited to a disparity between
White and Black individuals; rather, it is a struggle created for the entire BIPOC community,
reinforcing the trouble of White supremacy while diminishing the voices and stories of BIPOC
individuals and groups.
The contribution of Wright et al. (2015) has served as a reminder that, when it comes to
religion, the United States is not the post-racial promised land its citizens often envision, with
only 13.7% of American congregations identifying as multiracial. This demonstrates that
ethnoracial segregation of faith-based communities is not only a problem of the past; rather, it is
a significant problem for the present and future. Furthermore, there is evidence that the
homogeneity of faith-based communities creates an unwelcoming perspective to those who are
not active participants in faith-based communities (Wright et al., 2015). This is problematic
because the lack of racial diversity across churches, synagogues, temples, and other religious
facilities leads to a false appeal of the religious institution as a “safe space,” especially for those
who are most vulnerable in communities (Sumerau, 2012). Religious settings that are
unwelcoming, especially those that are unwelcoming due to ethnoracial segregation, limit the
possibility of future religiosity and community adherence to faith-based opportunities.
33
Beyond the well-documented history of ethnoracial segregation in United States faith-
based communities, it is important to understand the impacts of this in the lives of individuals
and communities. Next, the literature review looks at the influence of ethnoracial segregation on
personal and communal senses of spirituality.
Influence of Ethnoracial Segregation on Spirituality
Spirituality and participation in spiritual practices have been identified as key factors in
protection of individuals against feelings of marginalization and isolation while also building a
sense of resilience and unity in communities (McGuire et al., 2017). Ethnoracial segregation
influences a sense of personal and communal spirituality. McGuire et al. (2017) offers a rich
perspective on this question, using college campuses as a focal point for understanding spiritual
practice at an individual and community level. Using a Black feminist theoretical framework,
they find that monoracial faith practices lead to a spirituality that is overly heteronormative and
reinforces stereotypical gender roles in religious identity as compared to multiracial faith
practices (McGuire et al., 2017). Bowles et al. (2017) discovered that, in historically Black
colleges and universities, religious opinions of students of color were rooted in a sense of
spiritual oppression, believing that predominantly White churches practiced a spirituality that
deepened racist behaviors and attitudes. Ethnoracial segregation fosters an unhealthy vision of
spirituality that limits participation and possibility, especially for BIPOC individuals.
While much of the research around ethnoracial identity and spirituality centers around a
Western, Christian ideal of spirituality, the literature is not limited to that frame. Thomas (2017)
observes the impacts of ethnoracial segregation on Baha’i spirituality, finding that there is a
connection between racial disunity and unequal opportunity within the faith tradition.
Furthermore, limitations on ethnoracial diversity are aligned with limitations in personal spiritual
34
growth and faith-sharing beyond Baha’i communities (Thomas, 2017). In some other religious
traditions such as Judaism, ethnoracial segregation has been attributed to creating racial
alienation and increases in intentional integration has been linked with a reduction in prejudicial
behavior (Gindi & Erlich Ron, 2021). Ethnoracial segregation has consequences beyond a
western idealization of spirituality.
The impacts of a segregated spiritual experience extend into spirituality beyond the
United States. Swartz (2017) found that ethnoracial segregation in the United States had a
negative influence on the perception of faith internationally, creating gaps in missional outreach
and faith development in a variety of religious contexts and in efforts to offer political ideals
such as democracy in non-American settings. Naidoo (2019) found that churches in South Africa
have been so intentional in modeling their practices after American congregational patterns that
racial segregation has become normative in faith-based settings despite being non-normative in
other cultural locations. Furthermore, faith-based communities that practice ethnoracial inclusion
have been shown to demonstrate higher levels of innovation, inclusion, and unity than those that
are intentionally or unintentionally segregated (Naidoo, 2019). Failing to address ethnoracial
segregation in the United States will impact individuals and communities beyond the United
States.
Though there are many negative implications related to ethnoracial segregation, it is
important to highlight that literature does not see this as exclusively negative. In Black
communities, the Black church has been seen as a safe haven during times of slavery and the Jim
Crow period (Bowles et al., 2017). There are signs that participants in ethnoracially segregated
congregations have a greater comfort with vulnerability and authentic storytelling that can be a
part of spiritual development, especially for people of color (Naidoo, 2019). Hall et al. (2014)
35
found that a strong sense of spirituality fostered a strong sense of calling, especially amongst
those training for helping professions. But that sense of spirituality in people of color was
nurtured in communities where students could observe leaders of color from similar
socioeconomic backgrounds (Hall et al., 2014). Ultimately, literature that offers positive
perspectives around ethnoracial segregation does so to emphasize the importance of diversity in
leadership, especially in communities of color. There is nothing in the literature that describes
spiritual benefits for White people maintaining White-centered spirituality; rather, this only
perpetuates racist behaviors and attitudes alongside a sense of White supremacy (Bowles et al.,
2017; Gindi & Erlich Ron, 2021; McGuire et al., 2017). The clear challenge with ethnoracial
segregation comes when it is fostered in predominantly White communities; in settings where
BIPOC individuals make up a majority of the population and leadership, there are some benefits.
Beyond spirituality, the influence of ethnoracial segregation extends into the
communities that surround churches and faith-based institutions. The literature review proceeds
into those localities, looking at the impacts of ethnoracial segregation in faith-based communities
on the surrounding neighborhoods of those communities.
Neighborhood Impacts
While ethnoracial segregation within faith-based communities represents a multitude of
internal challenges, the impact of this problem extends out into the neighborhoods and
surrounding communities of which faith-based institutions are a part. Berrelleza (2020) offered
an important insight into the shaping of Boston neighborhoods by the churches and parishes
within those settings. The findings of this qualitative study showed that ethnoracial segregation
in churches and parishes led to increased neighborhood upscaling, a practice that promotes
power alliances that exclude the impoverished and people of color. Additional research has
36
demonstrated that the impact on the cultural landscape of the larger community has historical
precedent. Valbousquet (2018) brought research on Catholicism during World War II in Europe.
Their research demonstrates that the lack of ethnoracial integration of Catholic parishes
combined with the antisemitic views of many Catholic clergy was an integral factor in the rise of
antisemitism during the World War II era. Furthermore, those perspectives remain in pockets of
Europe to this day (Valbousquet, 2018). This exhibits a problem in that racial segregation can
impact generational perspectives of race in neighborhoods.
Literature notes not only the impacts of racial segregation, but to the outcomes of
intentional racial integration practices in faith-based communities. Attendees of multiracial
churches are more likely to have more expansive views of morality than those who are a part of
churches that are racially homogenous (Perry, 2012). This demonstrates that constituents of
multiracial churches are more accepting of other people and viewpoints, and that they are less
likely to be judgmental or condemning of those who hold different beliefs or practices. Perry
(2012) found that, as a result, the surrounding communities were more likely to hold tolerant
perspectives. Furthermore, the work of Wright et al. (2015) found that racial homogeneity in
religious settings was a predictor of racially isolated social networks that would contribute to a
differentiation in resource allocation, a potential predictor of reinforced socioeconomic
inequality due to racial differences. The presence of ethnoracial segregation in faith-based
institutions leads to impacts beyond the walls of those congregations.
In many areas, faith-based communities serve as a hub for community activity, so their
composition and activity can have significant impacts on public health (Stewart et al., 2013). In a
qualitative analysis, Allen et al. (2014) found that religious identity has a positive influence on
the pursuit of early-stage cancer screening, especially amongst the Latinx community.
37
Significantly, Latinx individuals that were a part of multiracial Catholic parishes showed a
greater likelihood of positive screening behaviors compared to those in segregated subgroups.
Beyond screening benefits for public health issues, multiracial faith-based communities can see
other benefits in public health. In a study on the role of the church in sexual health of
constituents, Stewart et al. (2013) found that multiracial expressions of Christianity had a
reduced rate of HIV/AIDS transmission and a reduced presence of sexually transmitted
infections. They found this to have impact on predominantly Black communities, in large part
due to the research that 70% of Black American adults identify as members of a Christian
church, making this the most religious racial population in the United States.
While addressing the problem of ethnoracial segregation in faith-based communities has
public health benefits related to physical well-being, it also has benefits related to mental health,
especially for the leaders of multiracial faith-based communities. Stansbury et al. (2018) found
that African American clergy practicing in multiracial churches were more likely to attend
actively to their mental health and were more likely to be aware of the mental health needs of
members of their congregations. The connection of clergy to the larger community they serve
can lead to greater facilitation of transfer of knowledge within local communities as well as
clergy networks (Stansbury et al., 2018). Furthermore, as Berrelleza (2020) noted, the presence
of neighborhood upscaling rooted in faith-based practices can limit access to important mental
health resources for people of color. These gentrification efforts, while increasing property
values for a predominantly White population of property owners, have extended gaps of access
and made it harder to receive needed services for underserved and ethnically diverse populations
in urban settings (Berrelleza, 2020). Ethnoracial segregation in faith-based settings has impacts
38
on the mental health resources and capacities of people who participate in those faith-based
endeavors and in people who do not.
Gentrification that comes from faith-based practice is an example of a neighborhood
impact that comes from ethnoracial segregation in faith-based communities, but it is also an
example of the inequity that can come from ethnoracial segregation in faith-based communities.
The literature review shifts now to focus on those inequities and their outcomes.
Inequities Caused by Ethnoracial Segregation
Presently and historically, ethnoracial segregation is a predictor of unequal access to
housing, education, funding, healthcare, and other human needs (Laster Pirtle, 2020; Woods,
2018). During the COVID-19 pandemic, Laster Pirtle (2020) found that racial capitalism, a form
of ethnoracial segregation, was a key contributor to limiting access to vaccinations for people of
color while also contributing to unequal access to housing and opportunities for employment.
This builds on the work of Woods (2018), who found that in the 20th century, efforts to
segregate community housing based on race and socioeconomic standing have had generational
impacts, suppressing the ability of people of color who grow up in poverty to find equal societal
standing in the United States.
While the work of Laster Pirtle (2020) and Woods (2018) focused on inequities that
develop because of ethnoracial segregation in broader American cultures, other literature
magnifies the specific outcomes of ethnoracial segregation in faith-based contexts and how this
creates inequities for individuals and communities, especially in collegiate settings. Park (2012)
outlines the impacts of ethnoracial segregation in faith-based communities on college campuses,
finding that students who participated in religious activities on college campuses were
significantly less likely to have friendships with students of different races from their own during
39
their college experience. Furthermore, students affiliated with predominantly non-White campus
ministries were subject to increased levels of isolation and tokenization compared to students
involved with predominantly White campus ministries (Park, 2012). Gholami (2021) also found
that segregated campus ministry settings led to an increase in Islamophobic stances amongst
White students and perpetuate the isolation of Muslim students on college campuses. In spaces
designed for higher learning, the kind of education ethnoracial segregation of faith-based settings
offers is one that creates harm on many levels.
Beyond the college campus setting, inequities that result from ethnoracial segregation in
faith-based communities can be found in neighborhoods across the United States. Klaits and
Mclean (2015) found that in inner-city U.S. neighborhoods where faith-based communities
practice ethnoracial segregation, there are impacts on the human economy, creating gaps in the
legal systems and the commercial economies of those cities. Munn (2019) built on this research,
focusing on the socialization and networking of American religion. The lack of multiracial
representation in faith-based communities limits the kind of social networking that can take
place, which leads to inequity in the construction of social capital and access to economic
support for faith-based organizations and their members (Munn, 2019). The work of Djupe and
Neiheisel (2019) describes the inequity impact in neighborhoods from ethnoracial segregation in
faith-based communities as not only economic, legal, or social, but as political. Segregated faith-
based communities demonstrate limitations in voter mobilization and show a tendency to support
political candidates that, while running under moral titles such as “values-based,” value policies
that deepen racial and socioeconomic divisions in American communities (Djupe & Neiheisel,
2019). These limitations and values were purported by predominantly White faith-based
communities, as predominantly Black protestant faith-based participants were 67% more likely
40
to support inclusive political platforms (Djupe & Neiheisel, 2019). There are wide-ranging
implications to ethnoracial segregation in faith-based communities and how that impacts
surrounding neighborhoods, even in political activities.
Within this political frame is an important distinction regarding ethnoracial segregation in
faith-based communities: the rise of “Christian nationalism.” Perry and Whitehead (2019) outline
Christian nationalism as a tie between the ethics and morals of the Christian tradition as inherent
to the virtues of American citizenship. More explicitly, Christian nationalism is a perspective
that comes almost exclusively from ethnoracially segregated faith-based communities and is a
key indicator of White supremacist behaviors (Crockford, 2018; Hockenberry, 2021; Scapp,
2021). In the last 5 years, Christian nationalism has emboldened extremist behaviors amongst
adherents from ethnoracially segregated faith-based communities, creating a sense of perceived
injustice amongst White individuals that leads to violent actions against people of color and
community institutions (Crockford, 2018). Hockenberry (2021) notes that Christian nationalism
is responsible for creating an “epistemology of despair” in which there is an inherent fear and
distrust of other people. Not only can this create trauma in relationships, but it is also a leading
indicator of distrust in news sources, science, and even in religious leadership that does not
conform to the ideals of Christian nationalism (Hockenberry, 2021). The danger of ethnoracial
segregation in faith-based communities leads into frightening and harmful situations.
The inequities created by ethnoracial segregation in faith-based communities are present
internally within congregations but can spread externally from those organizations into
surrounding communities and neighborhoods. Both internally and externally, ethnoracial
segregation creates limitations to resources and limitations to ideologies and relationalities.
Beyond these physical challenges, ethnoracial segregation in faith-based communities subverts
41
the potential of faith-based communities to develop and maintain spiritual practices for their
adherents and blocks those who may be searching for spirituality from being able to obtain that
opportunity.
The literature review has considered three primary arenas related to the problem of
declining clergy recruitment in the United Methodist Church seen through the lens of mirrored
ethnoracial identity. There was first a consideration of the decline of clergy recruitment across
mainline protestant churches in the United States. Then, there was an analysis of the importance
of ethnoracial representation. Finally, there was a discussion of the literature surrounding
ethnoracial segregation in faith-based communities. As the literature review continues, it shifts
focus now to the theoretical and conceptual frameworks for the study, centering around
Bandura’s social cognitive theory.
Theoretical and Conceptual Framework
This study utilizes social cognitive theory (SCT) as the theoretical framework. SCT
demonstrates an interrelation between environmental, cognitive, and behavioral factors that
determine human behavior (Bandura, 1989). Often, SCT is an applicable theory for the study of
motivation, believing that the environmental, cognitive, and behavioral factors are an important
vehicle for seeing how human behavior translates to motivation (Bandura, 1989). Bandura
explores this connection, believing that there is triadic reciprocity between environmental factors
such as social norms and community access, cognitive factors such as knowledge and attitudes,
and behavioral factors such as behaviors and self-efficacy. SCT is an important theory for the
study of behavior and motivation in people. Having that understanding, it is important to look at
the distinctive elements of SCT and how they factor into the theory.
42
Environmental Factors
In the context of SCT, environment refers to everything that happens around an
individual. The nature of environment is one of constant engagement: environment takes place
whether or not an individual elects for it to take place (Bandura, 2012). While individuals have
some selections within their environment such as how it is constructed and how they react to it,
individuals cannot treat environment as a switch that can be turned off. Schaubroeck et al. (2017)
argue that this element of the triad is not only something imposed upon an individual, but
something an individual can contribute toward, seeing participation in an environment as an
element of how the environment functions in totality. By themselves, environmental factors are a
part of how individuals contextualize their own experience, both as they receive those factors
and influence those factors in their choices and behaviors. Within the triad of SCT,
environmental factors are one element of the way individuals conceive of their abilities and
motivations.
Cognitive Factors
Cognitive factors within SCT reference the inner knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes of an
individual. At times, cognitive factors represent concrete forms of knowledge, but these can also
include forms of understanding that shift over time such as attitudes and perspectives (Burga et
al., 2020). Choi et al. (2018) assert that cognitive factors are essential to the study of motivation,
especially as it relates to change, because knowledge is a prerequisite to behavioral change,
though it cannot operate independent of environment or behavior. Eagle et al. (2019) found that
cognitive factors, especially self-perception, were the key drivers in clergy motivation to
improve performance in each setting, regardless of environmental or behavioral support. This has
the capacity to extend not only into performance, but into self-efficacy, the belief that
43
performance can take place. Knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions are all important
examples of cognitive factors, which are an important but not completely independent element of
the triad that makes up SCT.
Behavioral Factors
SCT sees behavioral factors as the actions that take place by an individual that can
influence motivation and causation. Bandura (1989) suggests that salient behavioral factors for
SCT can include modeling, skill perfection, and transfer. Behavioral interventions, especially
when combined with environment and cognitive factors, have a measurable impact on
motivation and self-efficacy, especially amongst adolescents (Jemmott et al., 2020). Gittelsohn et
al. (2020) found that modeled behaviors within faith-based settings had a profound impact on the
behaviors of participants in large part because the modeling was perceived to be a part of
spiritual formation or spiritual connection. Behavioral factors make up the third part of the
reciprocal triad that is at the forefront of SCT, allowing for a better understanding of motivation
and self-efficacy in individuals that can translate to organizational and structural changes.
Rationale for Theory
SCT was chosen as a theoretical framework for this study because of the ability to
analyze both social and personal inputs as they relate to motivation and self-efficacy. Martin et
al. (2014) indicated that SCT is an effective tool to estimate the ability of individuals to engage
in targeted behaviors based on internal and external factors alongside the interrelation of those
factors. More specifically, Otaye-Ebede et al. (2020) demonstrate that the leveraging of variables
in any of the elements of the triad can offer context and measurement of impact on behavioral
outcomes. Ozyilmaz et al. (2018) found that SCT, because of the broad scope of environmental
and personal factors, offers researchers a meaningful lens for analyzing self-efficacy and the
44
capacity for self-efficacy to improve or decline based on several different factors, especially
those dealing with workplaces and job performance. The literature offers SCT as a suitable
framework to gain understanding of motivation and self-efficacy through several different
environmental, cognitive, and behavioral factors.
Conceptual Framework and Core Concepts
The conceptual framework for this study is rooted in SCT and the leveraging of
environmental variables to determine behavioral outcomes. Specifically, the conceptual
framework looks at the interrelation of community ethnoracial identity and personal ethnoracial
identity on the self-efficacy of clergy candidates to complete the ordination process. How does
the presence of people from similar ethnoracial backgrounds impact the belief in a clergy
candidate that she or he can complete the ordination process in the United Methodist Church?
The core concepts for this framework include the following:
• Clergy candidate refers to an individual who has been commissioned as a provisional
candidate for ordination in the United Methodist Church, and is now in a process of
service, reflection, and writing/interviewing that culminates with ordination as a
pastor in the United Methodist Church (Cropsey, 2013).
• Conference leadership refers to the individuals that makeup the leadership of an
Annual Conference within which clergy (to include clergy candidates) work.
Primarily, this is an individual known as a Bishop, but can also include District
Superintendents and Department Chairs (Cropsey, 2013).
• Ethnoracial identity (ERI) refers to identity that is informed simultaneously by the
ethnic aspects of an individual or group—such as cultural traditions—and the
45
racialized nature of that individual or group within a sociohistorical context—such as
discrimination based on skin color (Umaña-Taylor et al., 2018).
• Motivation/self-efficacy refers to the will to perform a behavior or the belief in one’s
own capacity to exhibit control over their functioning and ability to complete tasks
related to an area of desired interest (Bandura, 1989).
• Ordination process refers to the steps an individual takes to move from being a
certified candidate for ordained ministry in the UMC to becoming an ordained pastor
in the UMC. Typically, this process involves the obtaining of a Master’s level degree
in Divinity or Theology, a series of interviews and papers assessing a candidate’s
understanding and fitness for ministry, and a period of supervised leadership in a
congregational context that lasts at least 3 years (Cropsey, 2013).
• Sending church refers to the faith-based community a clergy candidate serves while
in the ordination process (Cropsey, 2013).
To demonstrate this conceptual framework, Figure 1 shows a multilevel model of
environmental factors that considers the racial identity of the sending congregation of a clergy
candidate, the racial identity of the surrounding community of that congregation, and the racial
identity of conference leadership. These environmental factors are cascading from the broadest
(conference leadership) to most specific (sending church), believing that shifts in each of these
factors may have differing effects on different individuals. Because this study is taking place
within the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church, there is consistency in the ERI
of conference leadership, so that factor is shaded to reflect that this is an independent variable.
The environmental variables interrelate with the candidate’s ethnoracial identity and self-efficacy
to complete the UMC ordination process, the cognitive variables, and taking steps to continue
46
and complete the process, a behavioral variable. The conceptual framework uses shared arrows
to demonstrate the interrelation of the environmental, cognitive, and behavioral factors.
Figure 1
Conceptual Framework
47
Summary
The literature related to the problem of declining clergy recruitment in the UMC seen
through the lens of mirrored ethnoracial identity centered around the decline of clergy
recruitment, the importance of ethnoracial representation, and the impacts of ethnoracial
segregation. Literature supported consumerism, a “spiritual but not religious” culture of religious
identity, and a lack of institutional support for religious leaders as reasons for a decline in clergy
recruitment. Social capital, racial injustice, and intersectional approaches were each factors in the
importance of ethnoracial diversity in leadership representation on faith-based communities. And
ethnoracial segregation in faith-based communities was found to be impactful in historical
trends, the influence on human spirituality, and the impacts on neighborhoods surrounding faith-
based communities that experience ethnoracial segregation. Additionally, the review presented
social cognitive theory as the theoretical framework and basis for the conceptual framework. The
next chapter will focus on the methodological approach for the study.
48
Chapter Three: Methodology
This study addresses the problem of declining clergy recruitment in the UMC in the
United States through the perspective of mirrored ethnoracial identity. Namely, the study looks
at the ethnoracial composition of UMC churches, ethnoracial representation in UMC leadership,
and ethnoracial identity of clergy candidates as lenses through which motivation to complete the
UMC ordination process can be analyzed. This chapter addresses the methodology for the study.
First, research questions and an overview of the research design are presented. Then there is
information about the research setting and the positionalities of the researcher. Next, the data
sources are considered with particular focus on the participants, instrumentation, data collection
procedures, and data analysis. The chapter concludes with a discussion around validity and
reliability, ethics, and limitations and delimitations.
Research Questions
The research questions for this study are as follows:
1. What is the role, if any, of ethnoracial composition of UMC sending churches in the
self-efficacy of clergy candidates to complete the UMC ordination process?
2. How, if at all, does ethnoracial representation in UMC leadership impact the
motivation of clergy candidates to complete the UMC ordination process?
3. What is the connection between personal ethnoracial identity and communal
ethnoracial identity in determining the motivation of clergy candidates to complete
the UMC ordination process?
Overview of Design
This study analyzes the research questions through a qualitative approach. The focal
point of the study are interviews conducted with clergy candidates that allow space for reflection
49
on the self-efficacy of candidates to complete the ordination process in the UMC. These person-
to-person interviews allow the researcher to solicit data directly from the participant (Merriam &
Tisdale, 2016). Specifically, the interviews for this study take place in a semistructured
approach. This approach allows for specific data to be obtained from participants while allowing
for flexibility in the deployment of questions (Merriam & Tisdale, 2016). Furthermore, there is
space in semistructured interviews for probing questions that allow the researcher to respond to
the situation at hand (Merriam & Tisdale, 2016). Table 1 demonstrates the use of semistructured
interviews for this study.
Table 1
Data Sources
Research question Data source
1: What is the role, if any, of ethnoracial composition of
UMC sending churches in the self-efficacy of clergy
candidates to complete the UMC ordination process?
Semistructured interviews
2: How, if at all, does ethnoracial representation in UMC
leadership impact the motivation of clergy candidates to
complete the UMC ordination process?
Semistructured interviews
3: What is the connection between personal ethnoracial
identity and communal ethnoracial identity in determining
the motivation of clergy candidates to complete the UMC
ordination process?
Semistructured interviews
50
Research Setting
This study takes place within the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church
(VAUMC). VAUMC has 1,165 churches across the Commonwealth of Virginia, and those
churches have a total membership of 308,478 (White, 2021). VAUMC has 875 clergy serving
those churches under the leadership of a Bishop. This individual, who identifies as cisgender,
heterosexual, Black and female, has been serving as the Bishop of VAUMC since 2016 (White,
2021). The gender identity of membership of VAUMC is reported to be 62% female, 37% male,
and 1% unspecified (White, 2021). The racial identity of membership of VAUMC is reported to
be 85% White, 7% Black or African American, 2% Asian, 2.3% Latinx, 0.4% Pacific Islander
and 3.3% other/unspecified (White, 2021).
The use of VAUMC for this study allows for a control of variables while also analyzing
the research questions at hand. Because VAUMC is served by one principal leader, there is a
capacity to control the variable related to ethnoracial identity of UMC leadership. Additionally,
because of the wide variety of geographical contexts, ethnoracial identities of clergy candidates,
and ethnoracial compositions of sending churches and surrounding communities, there is a rich
data set to engage for this study. Furthermore, because the researcher is a clergyperson within
VAUMC, there is the potential for access to participants that may not be possible in a broader
study or a study with another organization. Finally, while there are hundreds of clergy candidates
serving across the UMC, there are approximately 80 serving VAUMC, which allows for an
appropriate limitation on the participants engaging in this study.
The Researcher
Positionalities have the capacity to introduce explicit and implicit influences on a study.
Understanding the positionality of the researcher can offer an opportunity to address those lenses
51
and biases. In this study, there are three salient identities that influence the researcher’s
perspective, bias, and privilege in the inquiry of ethnoracial identity as a mitigating factor in
clergy recruitment in the UMC: Christianity as religious identity, heterosexual as sexual identity,
and White as racial identity.
As a Christian, specifically as a person who works as a religious professional within the
Christian church, I have been given access to religious institutions in ways that few others
receive. While I attempt to maintain a pluralistic perspective around faith traditions, I believe
that there are places where Christianity holds personal truth in ways that other religious identities
may not. This may cause me to have a skewed perspective of other faith traditions or of persons
who claim agnosticism, atheism, or “nothing in particular” as their religious preference. Missing
these voices could present a challenge to the research. Additionally, in this study I will be
interviewing participants who are or have the potential to be colleagues in workspaces. This
means I will need to be mindful of boundaries and potential power dynamics in interview
settings by sharing that this research is only for the purposes of this study and that I have no
influence over the ordination process of participants.
Another impactful positionality is my sexual identity as heterosexual. While this may be
normative from a 21st century American perspective, Kang et al. (2017) found that there was a
time when the term “heterosexual” was used to describe deviant sexual habits, practices, or
perspectives. In many 21st century faith-based institutions, sexual identities outside of
heterosexuality or asexuality are not only considered to be outside of the norm, but they may also
be considered sinful or problematic. Within the research of faith-based institutions, it is
important to maintain awareness of this bias alongside the ways in which that bias frustrates me
52
and causes me to work toward a different reality. In this work, there can be another bias formed
against faith-based institutions that maintain a “traditionalist” perspective on sexual identity.
I believe research around ethnoracial identity in American faith-based institutions
requires an inquiry into my own ethnoracial identity as a White person from a non-immigrant
family. In the United States, and likely in other parts of the world, Whiteness interplays with the
sense of morality because Whiteness is seen as moral neutrality (McIntosh, 1988). Not only do I
identify with Whiteness as a racial identity, I also have practiced my faith in predominantly
White churches for all my life. This has the potential to offer a few biases in the research. First, it
skews my perspective on the normative composition of faith-based communities. Additionally, it
calls me to a deeper inquiry of the behaviors, languages, and normative actions of majority
White faith-based institutions and the role these play in maintaining ethnoracial segregation.
While this inquiry may be helpful, it also may distract from the role any faith-based institution
with a vastly monoracial identity may play in the problem of racial segregation in American
faith-based institutions.
All these identities are important to acknowledge within the research around the problem
of practice, but also for the broader work of diversity, equity, and inclusion. As Jones (2000)
addresses, a lack of racial diversity can lead to racism that is institutionalized, personally
mediated, and internalized. I believe this comes back to the notion of moral neutrality being
focused on Whiteness. To dismantle this ideology, there must be work around valuing
multiracial backgrounds in faith-based institutions, especially those that are predominantly
White. There must be equity in hiring practices for religious professionals and faith-based
institutions would do well to reexamine practices, even those of ancient times, that do more to
53
exclude than include. If faith-based institutions want to be positioned in such a way that they can
be serving all people, DEI work will be essential in the near- and long-term.
I am hopeful that intentional reflection around my own salient identities can allow for a
well-rounded approach to the problem of practice in this study. Because faith-based institutions,
at their best, allow for systems of physical, mental, and spiritual support, and because these
institutions require clergy leadership to function, this is a timely and important problem to
address.
Data Sources
This study utilizes qualitative, semistructured interviews for data sourcing. These person-
to-person interviews allow for the opportunity to gather data from each participant that addresses
the research questions. This section of the chapter will outline the nature of qualitative,
semistructured interviews and will then analyze the participant pool and sampling process,
instrumentation, data collection procedures, and data analysis.
Qualitative, Semistructured Interviews
Merriam and Tisdale (2016) noted that in qualitative studies, semistructured interviews
allow for both a structured space with specific questions that follow a specific protocol and an
unstructured space that allows for issues to be explored without having to follow an exact
protocol. In this study, the use of semistructured interviews allows for participants to offer data
that will lend perspective to the research questions in a format that allows for a rich data set and
appropriate contextual engagement. The flexibility of the semistructured approach allows for a
more conversational interview approach. This approach allows participants to feel more relaxed
and be more open in responses, which will yield a richer data set. Additionally, in the case of
unexpected responses or circumstances in the interview, the semistructured approach allows for
54
more flexibility to adapt as needed. With appropriate sampling procedures, instrumentation, data
collection methods, and data analysis, semistructured interviews serve as an efficient method for
data collection in this study.
Participants
This study engages a snowball, purposeful sampling approach. Purposeful sampling
allows a researcher to select participants for a study based on the belief that the specific sample
of participants will lend a particular insight and understanding that will be useful to the study
(Merriam & Tisdale, 2016). The snowball approach to purposeful sampling begins with a
researcher selecting a small number of early key participants, who are then asked to refer the
researcher to other participants who would fit the study appropriately. This sampling approach
allows for specific participants to engage in the study while limiting the amount of researcher
bias that could come in other forms of purposeful sampling such as typical or convenience
sampling.
Because the study centers around the problem of clergy recruitment, the population being
sampled for the study are clergy candidates in VAUMC. This population contains individuals
who have been certified as candidates for ordained ministry by VAUMC, but who are still
working through the ordination process in VAUMC. This population contains approximately 20
people who represent a wide variety of demographic backgrounds. As such, the belief is that this
population can offer some variables around personal ethnoracial identity and sending church
context while maintaining membership in the specific population with a shared, defined variable
around the UMC leadership they serve under. Of the 20 people in the population, there was an
expectation to conduct 10–12 semistructured interviews with a snowball sample of participants.
55
This offers a representative sample of the population and is within the capacity of the researcher
to execute without additional assistance.
Instrumentation
The study engages an interview protocol with 15 defined questions that have a series of
potential probes based on the answers given by participants. The questions in the protocol
include experience/behavior questions, opinion/values questions, feeling questions, and
background/demographic questions. This series of question typologies allows for a flow
throughout the interview protocol and engages participants in a manner where fluid responses are
welcomed (Merriam & Tisdale, 2016). Within this semistructured approach, there is an
opportunity to obtain a rich data set from participants.
The interview protocol reflects the research questions and conceptual framework. Every
question relates to at least one of the three research questions to solicit data that can be collected
and analyzed through the lens of the research questions. The protocol, both with the structured
questions and unstructured probes, looks for data around the impacts of ethnoracial identity on
the motivation of clergy candidates to complete the ordination process. Throughout the protocol,
there are questions centered on personal ethnoracial identity, on UMC leadership ethnoracial
identity, on sending church and surrounding community ethnoracial identity, or some
combination of those identities and how those environmental and cognitive identities influence
behaviors. The full interview protocol can be found in the Appendix.
Data Collection Procedures
The data collection for this study took place in a four-week window upon approval of the
study by the IRB of the University of Southern California. The interview protocol was deployed
with 11 participants, with each interview lasting approximately 45 minutes. The participant pool
56
was determined by sending an email to a pool of approximately 20 potential participants to ask
for time in-person or over Zoom to conduct an interview. Once 10 participants responded, the
recruitment method shifted to asking participants at the end of interviews if they could reference
any other participants to the researcher.
The potential locations for data collection were offered at the VAUMC center in Glen
Allen, VA, at a neutral office space convenient to the participant, or over Zoom. All participants
chose to be interviewed through Zoom. Interviews began with an overview of confidentiality and
an agreement from participants to be interviewed and recorded. As a part of this informed
consent process, subjects were informed about efforts to protect confidentiality, including
restricting the use of names and other identifying factors, disguising the identity of participants
through coded language, and precautions around what can be done with data obtained in the
interview. The interview protocol was followed with appropriate probes entering in at
appropriate times during the interview protocol. Interviews concluded with a question about
referring the researcher to other participants alongside a word of gratitude for the time to share in
the interview.
During the interview, data was collected through field notes. Following the interview, the
researcher reviewed the recording of the interview to capture additional notes that may have been
missed during the interview and to begin the coding of data. Transcripts of each interview were
developed to assist with the data analysis. None of the participants in the study were non-English
speakers, so there was not a need to require any kind of translation procedures during the study.
Data Analysis
Once data was collected, it was analyzed in accordance with the research questions. An
open coding approach was the first step in data analysis. Open coding allows for a wide array of
57
concepts to emerge from the data (Gibbs, 2018). Following the open coding of interviews, an
axial coding approach was used to determine the relationship between emerging data points. This
gives the researcher the ability to make connections between concepts and determine what
themes are emerging from the data (Gibbs, 2018). Finally, a selective coding approach allowed
for refinement of themes into concrete findings that are supported by the literature and the
conceptual framework for the study.
In this study, the conceptual framework looks at the triadic reciprocity between
environment, cognition, and behavior. Because the study is concerned primarily with the relation
of environmental ERI factors such as the ERI of sending churches, surrounding communities,
and UMC leadership alongside personal ERI and how this impacts motivation to complete the
ordination process, the data analysis process aspired to present findings within this conceptual
framework.
Validity and Reliability
It is important for a study to maximize both validity and reliability. Validity refers to the
way that data is measured accurately (Merriam & Tisdale, 2016). Reliability, on the other hand,
refers to the way that data is measured consistently. Maximizing validity and reliability is
important to ensuring a study is measuring what it intends to measure.
There are several strategies the study used to ensure the maximization of both validity
and reliability. First, member checking was used with participants in the study to inform the
internal validity of the study. Member checking ensures that the researcher is recording the
findings from the study in a way that reflects accurately the way those findings were offered by
participants by inquiring with participants if the researcher has recorded what the participant
intended to say (Merriam & Tisdale, 2016). Member checking took place throughout the study.
58
Additionally, the study used reflexivity as a measure to maximize both validity and reliability.
Reflexivity allows for intentional reflection on the researcher’s positionality and how the
researcher both impacts and is impacted by the research taking place (Merriam & Tisdale, 2016).
This strategy has been utilized throughout this study. Finally, peer review took place in this study
will continue through the dissertation committee process. This strategy maximizes both validity
and reliability. Members of the committee are able to review the study as a whole and offer
commentary around the findings, which strengthens the validity of the study (Merriam &
Tisdale, 2016). By deploying the strategies of member checking, reflexivity, and peer review,
there is a greater likelihood that the study maintained greater validity and reliability.
On a broader scale, there are some logistical considerations that assisted with both
validity and reliability. The interview protocol ensured that each question pertains to at least one
research question and maintained relevance to the conceptual framework. Participants were
selected in a narrow window of time to ensure there was some consistency in the environmental
realities of the sample pool where consistency is most valuable. The data collection, while taking
place in a variety of contexts, was conducted with a consistent methodological approach around
notetaking and recording to ensure a rich, consistent data set emerging from each interview.
Finally, data analysis proceedings coincided with validity and reliability measures present within
the study. While the methods described in this section are pertinent to the validity and reliability
of the study, validity and reliability are also dependent on the ethicality of the researcher. The
chapter now turns to a review of ethical considerations.
Ethics
It is important to consider how ethical matters such as voluntary participation,
confidentiality, and informed consent factored into the study. The interview protocol includes an
59
introductory statement that ensures voluntary participation in the study, confidentiality of the
data obtained and of the participant’s participation in the study and recording consent. Merriam
and Tisdale (2016) suggested that these are some methods for mitigating against potential ethical
issues in a research study. As a part of this opening statement, subjects were informed about
efforts to protect confidentiality, including restricting the use of names and other identifying
factors, disguising the identity of participants through coded language, and precautions around
what can be done with data obtained in the interview.
Beyond the introductory statement in the interview protocol, there are several challenges
to this study as it relates to positionality and power. My role as an ordained pastor in the United
Methodist Church creates a power dynamic between myself and clergy candidates participating
in the study. There could be concern that responses in the study would influence the feasibility of
the candidates completing the ordination process and there would have to be assurances in the
introduction and conclusion of the interview that participants would be protected with anonymity
in the data reporting and that the data collected would only be used for the study, not for any
implication in the ordination process. Additionally, my positionality as a White, cisgender,
heterosexual male creates the potential for bias in my perspective on the data collected.
Awareness of these positionalities and power dynamics were important to maintaining an ethical
study.
Limitations and Delimitations
Outside the control of the researcher, limitations are elements of the study that could be
impact the design and results of the study (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). The timing of the study
is a limitation. Because the study took place over a four-week period, there was potential for the
sample size to shrink based on the availability of participants. Furthermore, there could have
60
been limitations to participant responses based on societal operations during the time of the
study. Finally, there could have been limits to the truthfulness of participants, which would limit
and skew the data collected.
Delimitations are within the control of the researcher and, while they impact the design
and results of the study, they do so because the study must have some boundaries to be
completed (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). There is an intentional delimitation around the
geographic boundary of the study, working only with clergy candidates in VAUMC. This allows
for a succinct participant pool and ensures a control variable around UMC leadership but is a
narrower choice than looking at clergy candidates from across the United States or world.
Participant selection is limited to certified clergy candidates to ensure a baseline of motivation to
complete the ordination process. There are likely many more people discerning a clergy
vocation, but because they have not engaged the certification process, are not included in this
study. The theoretical framework for the study is a delimitation in that it is one lens through
which the problem of practice can be studied. A different theoretical framework may lead to a
different approach for the study.
This chapter of the dissertation focused on the methodological approaches for a study
investigating the problem of clergy recruitment in the UMC through the lens of mirrored
ethnoracial identity. The chapter began with an overview of the research design, the research
setting, and the researcher. It then shifted to an analysis of the data source: qualitative,
semistructured interviews. Finally, matters relating to validity and reliability, ethics, and
limitations and delimitations were discussed. In the next chapter, results from the study will be
presented and analyzed.
61
Chapter Four: Findings
The purpose of this study is to address the problem of declining clergy recruitment in the
UMC in the United States through the perspective of mirrored ethnoracial identity. Namely, the
study looks at the ethnoracial composition of UMC churches, ethnoracial representation in UMC
leadership, and ethnoracial identity of clergy candidates as lenses through which motivation to
complete the UMC ordination process can be analyzed. The three research questions for this
study are as follows:
1. What is the role, if any, of ethnoracial composition of UMC sending churches in the
self-efficacy of clergy candidates to complete the UMC ordination process?
2. How, if at all, does ethnoracial representation in UMC leadership impact the
motivation of clergy candidates to complete the UMC ordination process?
3. What is the connection between personal ethnoracial identity and communal
ethnoracial identity in determining the motivation of clergy candidates to complete
the UMC ordination process?
A qualitative study was conducted with data collected from interviews and observations.
Participants in this study were selected through a snowball, purposeful sampling approach.
Pseudonyms were assigned to each participant to ensure the privacy of participant identities. A
total of 11 participants met the qualifications for participation in this study and participated in the
study during a four-week period in August and September of 2022. Participant interviews were
conducted over Zoom and ranged in time from 30–45 minutes. Interviews were recorded, kept in
a secure file, and later transcribed for data analysis. Table 2 includes a pseudonym for each
participant along with each participant’s self-identified ethnoracial identity and each participant’s
self-identified gender identity.
62
Table 2
Participants
Participant pseudonym Self-identified ERI Self-identified gender identity
Allie Asian American Female
Angela European American Female
Bart African American Male
Edie European American Female
Greg European American Male
Jenn European American Female
Katy Hispanic Female
Lana European American Female
Mary European American Female
Susan European American Female
Tara Hispanic Female
The findings from this study will be presented in connection with the corresponding
research question. First, findings related to the role of ethnoracial composition of UMC sending
churches in the self-efficacy of clergy candidates to complete the UMC ordination process will
be presented. Then, findings related to the impact of ethnoracial representation in UMC
leadership on the motivation of clergy candidates to complete the UMC ordination process will
be shared. Finally, finding related to the connection between personal ethnoracial identity and
communal ethnoracial identity in determining the motivation of clergy candidates to complete
the UMC ordination process will be offered.
63
Research Question 1: What Is the Role, if Any, of Ethnoracial Composition of UMC
Sending Churches in the Self-Efficacy of Clergy Candidates to Complete the UMC
Ordination Process?
The conceptual framework for this study is rooted in social cognitive theory, which
supposes there is triadic reciprocity between environment, cognition, and behavior (Bandura,
1989). This research question is designed to analyze the sending church level of environment as
it relates to the self-efficacy of clergy candidates to complete the UMC ordination process. The
sending church is the most localized organizational environment within which a candidate can
discern her or his calling to ordained ministry (Cropsey, 2013). The literature highlights the role
of the sending church in discernment of spiritual vocation in individuals. Joynt (2019) asserted
that consumeristic roles in sending churches has shaped the imagination of faith-based
communities as needing clergy leadership that meets and serves personal needs, communicating
in methodologies that fit existing constructs of sending church participants. Sumerau (2012)
wrote that the lack of ethnoracial diversity in sending churches decreases the likelihood that
faith-based institutions can be safe spaces for the exploration of spiritual vocation, indeed
reducing the capacity for exploration of faith amongst individuals that do not conform to the
majority ERI of the sending church. Support is needed within sending churches to foster
connections between lay leadership and clergy leadership to grow the sense of vocation in
individuals and develop community-wide vision for service and outreach endeavors (Fiala et al.,
2002).
During this study, it became clear that the sending church plays an important role in
developing self-efficacy amongst clergy candidates to complete the ordination process in the
United Methodist Church. Every participant highlighted the role of their sending church in
64
forming vocational discernment and developing a confidence in both calling to ministry and
capacity to complete the ordination process. The role of ethnoracial identity within sending
churches in the support of sending churches for clergy candidates was the main focal point of
this research question and three themes emerged from this research question. First, there is the
role of mirrored ethnoracial identity between sending churches and clergy candidates and self-
efficacy in candidates to complete the UMC ordination process. Then, there is an examination of
the role mirrored ethnoracial identity plays in the kind of support clergy candidates receive in the
UMC ordination process. Finally, there is a thematic connection around the ways sending
churches address and form community with socially marginalized people groups and perceptions
of how ethnoracial identity factors into those responses and subsequent encouragement of clergy
candidates to complete the ordination process.
Mirrored ERI in Sending Churches
The ERI composition of sending churches is rarely exclusive to a single ERI; however,
most sending churches have a predominant ERI in the makeup of the congregation (Peck-
McClain, 2021). Perry and Whitehead (2019) referenced the importance of shared racial identity
in the development of vocational discernment in individuals sensing a call to ministry, indicating
that being in the presence of a community where a clergy candidate’s ERI is mirrored provides a
sense of security and assurance of being able to succeed in ministry. Furthermore, the absence of
mirrored ERI in sending churches can create gaps in understanding around individual experience
and the need for connection in individuals, especially those who have been marginalized due to
race or sexual orientation (Pingel & Bauermeister, 2018).
In this study, when the predominant ethnoracial identity of a sending church closely
mirrors that of a clergy candidate, there is an increased sense of self-efficacy that the clergy
65
candidate can complete the ordination process when compared with clergy candidates who come
from non-mirrored ERI sending churches. There were seven European American participants in
this study, and all described a belief that their sending churches are predominantly European
American. Greg described his sending church as “mostly White and there were, probably I could
count on both hands, the number of non-White people in the church.” Mary said her sending
church is “predominantly White and that would be it, just southern, White Virginia.” Jenn
offered “I would comfortably say about 90 to 95% of the congregation would identify as White
or Caucasian.” Angela said her sending church “is all White.” Edie indicated “my sending
church is a predominantly White church.” Lana said “I know [my sending church] has two
Congolese families and there was a young woman who was Black who is back from college.
Some Asian. But we are almost all White.” Susan concluded “my sending church was primarily
Caucasian, although they also have a thriving Hispanic American ministry as part of that
congregation.”
For each of these European American candidates, there was an inability to make a
connection between the predominant ERI of their sending church and their personal motivation
to complete the ordination process in the United Methodist Church. However, each of the
candidates indicated they had a belief in their ability to complete the ordination process in the
United Methodist Church. Dougherty et al. (2020) described White-led and White-populated
churches as being spared of the stresses and barriers that BIPOC communities must endure,
creating greater space within White populations for a belief that all things are possible.
There was only one participant of color who identified their sending church as mirroring
their personal ERI. Allie, who identifies as Asian American, indicated that her sending church
“is a congregation with many Asian Americans, though not exclusively Asian American. There
66
are groupings of Anglo and Hispanic families as well.” Allie identified that while her experience
in the sending church reflected mirrored ERI, she had past experiences in other churches that
demonstrated the impact of mirrored ERI on her motivation to proceed with the ordination
process:
I served as a director of education at a large Korean American United Methodist church
in Atlanta. There were about 500 kids that I was responsible for. One of the things that
happened when I decided to leave was they threw a party for me and whatever, and I kept
some of these letters from the kids that I worked with. And there are a lot of young girls
that told me that they, that I was their first female leader in a Korean church setting and
that really inspired them and encouraged them. And when I think about that, it warms me
up in a lot of ways, you know. I could have a good cry right now thinking about that. So,
I think about that and I think about my kids as well, and what other kind of younger
people might need. That kind of example is what encourages me and inspires me.
Having the ability to witness mirrored ERI, especially in leadership of sending churches,
can make an impact on the self-efficacy of church participants and affirm the sacred nature of an
individual’s background and narrative (Yu, 2018). In the absence of mirrored ERI in sending
churches, there is a different context for how candidates can achieve the self-efficacy necessary
to complete the United Methodist ordination process. The other three participants of color in this
study came from sending churches that lacked mirrored ERI. When asked about the predominant
ERI of her sending church, Katy responded “White,” with no indication that there were any other
Hispanic American families participating in the congregation. Katy indicated that, in relation to
her motivation to complete the ordination process, the lack of mirrored ERI “leaves me with a lot
67
of motivation to question the systems that have made things this way, especially in how churches
like mine reflect their communities. But I don’t know if it makes me want to be ordained more.”
Tara said that her sending church was “predominantly White” and then shared that “it is a
shame there are not more Hispanic families there because around the church the Hispanic
community is big and the fastest growing part of the town.” Tara responded that the ERI of her
sending church has a “double-sided” impact on her motivation to pursue the ordination process:
“It encourages me to continue my pursuit because I feel that I can be a part of a change, but it
discourages me because I can tell that it’s probably going to be a hard battle.”
Bart described his sending church as “almost completely White American or Caucasian.
My family was one of three families of color in the whole church.” Bart expanded on the impact
of his unique ERI in his sending church context:
It took me a long time to identify myself with the United Methodist Church because it’s
kind of hard to find people in [my sending church] to relate to who know what it’s like to
be a person of color in a world like this.
For each participant of color, there was some form of barrier to motivation enacted by the
lack of mirrored ERI. According to Mueller (2015), that may be centered on the ways in which
there is inadequate access and representation for people of color within ethnoracially segregated
faith-based communities. The isolation of being a part of an independent or select racial group
within a larger population, especially when that population is predominantly White, can also
diminish feelings of belonging and hope (Barron, 2016). When these barriers are removed, there
is an increase of religious safety, participation, and leadership for people of color and those who
are most vulnerable in communities that surround sending churches (Sumerau, 2012). This is
68
also an important consideration in the kind of support that sending churches can offer clergy
candidates, another theme that emerged in this study.
Support Received From Sending Churches
Sending churches offer support for clergy candidates in a variety of ways. Miles and
Proeschold-Bell (2013) discovered that support most frequently takes place in the form of prayer
and verbal guidance or mentoring but can also involve logistical support in the forms of financial
assistance, access to housing opportunities, or low-to-no cost childcare. These logistical supports
have been hampered in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, but by no means have been
eliminated (Eagle et al., 2022). In this study, participants were asked to describe the kinds of
support they received from sending churches and their perception of the impact their ERI had on
the kind of support they did or did not receive.
Only one participant indicated they were receiving logistical support from their sending
churches. Angela, who is European American, shared, “I love my home [church] and they love
me. They love me. Primarily my support through the ordination process and through seminary
has been financial. I have been given funds outright with no expectation of repayment and I’ve
also had access to a zero interest loans.” When asked about the role of her ERI in receiving that
support, Angela said:
I’d like to say that I don’t think it does. But I think it’s easy to support me because I’m
familiar, like I don’t stand out. I don’t stick out in a negative way or in a way that the
congregation or pastoral staff would perceive as negative. Like I’m very much like status
quo.
Other participants indicated they were receiving logistical support through the United Methodist
denominational office, but not through their sending churches.
69
Other participants described the forms of support they received from sending churches as
taking the form of encouragement. For example, Bart said:
My sending church is supportive. They always send messages of support and
encouragement when I see them. And when I go to the church, I hear a lot of, ‘We’re
glad you’re here. We missed you.’ It feels good to really have a home church to go home
to at any point in time and know that you’re loved and cared for.
Bart was unsure about the role of ERI in the support he received: “Truthfully, I couldn’t tell you.
They’ve always been hospitable and caring and kind towards my family.”
Jenn described her sending church as “incredibly supportive early on with getting
approved and having people pray for me and send cards to me while I was at school. Now I think
they are still supportive, but it is less tangible than it was at first.” When asked about the impact
of her ERI on the kind of support she was receiving, Jenn offered the following:
I imagine that it impacts it greatly if not explicitly. I think from my experience with my
home congregation there’s a lot of internal bias and implicit bias that is not necessarily
addressed on the outset, but it’s implied through actions. I think the fact that I am a
young, White, Caucasian female that’s been shaped and formed in the congregation
makes it far easier for them to support and fully send me off into ordination because of
my racial and ethnic identity.
Three participants indicated that they felt unsupported by their sending churches. Susan
said, “I wouldn’t say that my church does anything to support my process.” Greg offered, “They
recertify me each year. That would be about it.” Lana described her sending church pastor as
supportive but “I don’t think anyone else in the congregation cares about my ordination process.”
Each of these participants identified their ERI and the predominant ERI of their sending church
70
as European American, but none of them indicated a perception that this impacted the lack of
support they felt from their sending church.
As this theme emerged, there was not a discernible connection between the presence of
mirrored ERI and the kind of support participants received from their sending churches. While
the study shared the findings of Miles and Proeschold-Bell (2013) that support takes many
different forms, and the findings of Eagle et al. (2022) that logistical support is less frequently
offered in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is not clear that mirrored ERI played a role in
these forms of sending church support. Next, there will be consideration of the behavior of
sending churches toward marginalized people groups and the impact this has on perceptions of
self-efficacy amongst participants in this study.
Treatment of Marginalized People Groups
Faith-based institutions, while often focused on language and hospitality, are often
responsible for marginalizing groups of people based on identity, belief, or access to resources
(Hayes, 2017). Hayes (2017) found that most often, this marginalization takes place toward
people of color, LGBTQ+ persons, and people living in poverty. Marginalization by faith-based
organizations can take active forms such as rejecting participation in community but can also be
passive in the form of lacking acceptance and intolerance of alternative perspectives (Karpov et
al., 2012). These marginalizing behaviors are especially challenging for emerging leaders
because it can perpetuate an alignment between these behaviors and the perspective of the
emerging leaders, even when the emerging leaders speak against the malicious behavior
(Bardwell, 2021).
Because a majority of the sending churches in this study represented a predominantly
European American ERI, there is a challenge in discerning the connection of marginalizing
71
behaviors and mirrored ERI; however, there is clarity that participants in the study are paying
attention when their sending churches behave in ways that marginalize others. Bart, a person of
color whose sending church is predominantly European American, discussed the ways he
experienced marginalization in his sending church because of his ethnoracial identity:
I was treated in ways that I couldn’t even fathom created in ways that were very
unconsciously racist and very deliberately and blatantly racist. Things pertaining to the
kind of car I drove to the fact that I have earrings in my ear. I wondered who could I go to
on leadership that can understand how to fix it, how to help me get through that? But
everyone was White. So, man, I was alone on an island by myself there.
In addition, Katy spoke of the treatment of ethnoracial diversity in her sending church,
saying, “most attempts at diversity in my church were about tokenized diversity instead of true
diversity.” Mary mentioned, “The lack of people of color in my church meant people felt free to
say and do things that weren’t just. It meant there was a pretty stark difference in what’s inside
the church and what should be inside the church.” Practices of marginalization of people based
on the color of their skin were noticed by participants in this study.
Participants also noted the treatment of LGBTQ+ persons by their sending churches. The
United Methodist Church has a sentence in its Book of Discipline that reads “homosexuality is
incompatible with Christian teaching” (Cropsey, 2013). This sentence has been the subject of
much debate and is at the center of schismatic behavior within the United Methodist Church
(Gilliland & Krull, 2022). Attitudes toward LGBTQ+ persons in sending churches were
observed by participants in this study. For example, Angela described her sending church as “not
having a clear enough stance on LGBTQ+ inclusion, which makes me uncertain if I would want
to serve a church like that.” Gabe mentioned that his sending church “is in the middle of a really
72
difficult and tumultuous time around LGBTQ+ inclusion and it just does not look particularly
encouraging to be a United Methodist elder at this point.” Allie said, “I probably won’t pursue
ordination until 2024 because I want to have a better idea of whether my church and churches
around me would welcome LGBTQ+ people and I don’t think I can do that until the General
Conference meets and maybe changes the Book of Discipline.” As Gilliland and Krull (2022)
noted, 2024 is the next session of the United Methodist General Conference, which is the body
that can modify the United Methodist Book of Discipline and is responsible for setting the beliefs
and practices of the United Methodist Church.
One other people group that participants observed marginalization toward is people living
in poverty. Eagle et al. (2022) discussed the prevalence of faith-based communities assigning
values to individuals based on the financial contributions they could offer to support the ministry
budget of those communities. Furthermore, Case (2018) found that predominantly White
congregations were more likely to have a negative perception of people living in poverty. In this
study, Angela said that her sending church was “incredibly privileged economically, and this
affluence often clouds our ability to be good neighbors. I don’t know that this has affected my
motivation so much as it has made be aware of my privilege.” Mary indicated “my sending
church has always been financially supportive of me because they know me. But my need isn’t
as great as other students from my community. So, while I’m grateful for the help, I wish it
would go to people who needed it more.” Bart shared, “I don’t think I can process the amount of
money at [sending church] disposal. And to have the attitude they have toward the poor, I would
say it is a hurdle to myself as a young person in the church.”
Sending churches serve as a home base for clergy candidates as they proceed through the
ordination process in the United Methodist Church. The ways sending churches treat people,
73
especially people groups that sending churches have a history of marginalizing, is noted by
participants in this study. In the next section, the role of the sending church in perpetuating
marginalizing behaviors, offering mirrored ERI, and sharing support with clergy candidates is
considered as these related to the self-efficacy of clergy candidates to complete the ordination
process in the United Methodist Church.
Discussion for Research Question 1
The three emerging themes from this research question all deal with the central
environmental focus of the research question, the sending church. The identities and behaviors of
sending churches were significant factors in each of the themes that emerged from this research
question. The ability of participants to located mirrored ERI in sending churches connects with
the ability to identify stories and narratives and to see themselves as leaders within these faith-
based institutions, which connects with the findings of Yu (2018) who discovered the importance
of ethnoracial representation in self-perception within faith-based communities.
Mirrored ERI did not have the same impacts on the kinds of support participants received
from their sending churches. Sending churches did not have a consistent blueprint for the kind of
support they offer participants, ranging from logistical and financial support to emotional and
spiritual support to offering no support at all. There was consistency, however, in the
predominant ERI of sending churches of participants being European American. The work of
Edwards (2014) and Dougherty et al. (2020) indicated an expectation that having a strongly
multiethnic or ethnoracially diverse congregation would be a predictor of having greater avenues
for social and emotional support, especially for BIPOC persons serving in areas of leadership.
Brown et al. (2016) extended this notion, finding that faith-based communities with a
strong sense of ethnoracial diversity were also communities that worked clearly against social
74
inequality and marginalization in faith-based communities. In this study, sending churches
presented a challenge with marginalizing people groups based on ethnoracial identity, sexual
orientation, and socioeconomic status. These behavioral inequalities, whether intentional or
accidental, have been noticed by participants and have caused some participants to question
openly their desire to continue in the United Methodist ordination process.
While there is connection across these themes of the impacts of sending churches on the
motivation of clergy candidates to complete the ordination process in the United Methodist
Church, each theme has a different connection with the role mirrored ERI plays in that
motivation. The links between presence, support, and behavior are varied, often dealing as much
with the traditions of sending churches as the ERI makeup of those same communities.
Additionally, the perceptions of participants are variable. None of the participants in this study
came from the same sending church, and because of the independent nature of participants, as
well as the varied geographies and perspectives of sending churches, it is possible that common
backgrounds have distinct outcomes. Now, the findings shift to the role of ethnoracial
representation in UMC leadership on the motivation of clergy candidates to complete the United
Methodist ordination process.
Research Question 2: How, if at All, Does Ethnoracial Representation in UMC Leadership
Impact the Motivation of Clergy Candidates to Complete the UMC Ordination Process?
The conceptual framework for this study is rooted in social cognitive theory, which
supposes there is triadic reciprocity between environment, cognition, and behavior (Bandura,
1989). This research question is designed to analyze the denominational level of environment as
it relates to the self-efficacy of clergy candidates to complete the UMC ordination process. The
Annual Conference is the body of the United Methodist Church that best represents the
75
leadership and connection between local churches and the global United Methodist denomination
(Cropsey, 2013). In this study, participants were all selected from the Virginia Annual
Conference, one of 54 Annual Conferences in the United States (Cropsey, 2013). The Virginia
Annual Conference is led by a Bishop, eight District Superintendents who serve regionally as an
extension of the Bishop’s office, and four ministry directors and support staff who are
responsible for the programming and support of churches and clergy throughout Virginia (White,
2021). Additionally, leadership is administered on a local level by ordained pastors who serve
local churches, but who are also asked to serve in a volunteer capacity as mentors for clergy
candidates and as members of the Board of Ordained Ministry, the credentialing body that is
responsible for ordaining clergy candidates.
Studies have shown that there is a connection in the role of the Annual Conference office,
specifically the denominational officials who represent that office, and the kind of support clergy
receive in their work. Sullins (2013) points out that clergy are challenged by denominational
leadership and feel a pressure to conform to the desires of those leaders. Failure to conform is
met with unwanted moves, withdrawal of financial support, and a perception of political loss
within the organization (Sullins, 2013). Fry (2021) found that this challenge is exacerbated
across gender lines, with female clergy working in opposition to the desires of their managers
being limited in the kinds of opportunities for professional progression they can receive. The
stress of nonconformity creates gaps in mental health performance that can lead to greater rates
of burnout and a lack of coping in clergy (Miles & Proeschold-Bell, 2013).
Denominational support becomes increasingly important as clergy candidates are going
through the ordination process, especially when those candidates hold BIPOC identities.
Bardwell (2021) describes the presence of BIPOC leadership as influential on systemic barriers
76
that may prevent BIPOC persons from finding space within an organization. McGuire et al.
(2017) offered that the religious upbringing of BIPOC individuals in predominantly White
congregations diminishes the self-efficacy of BIPOC persons to believe they can serve as clergy.
In cases where people discern a call to ordination, importance shifts to denominational officials
who can offer layers of support for BIPOC candidates that are frequently less supported by their
predominantly White local churches (McGuire et al., 2017).
In this study, participants were asked to reflect on the ethnoracial identity of
denominational officials and their personal ethnoracial identity. Furthermore, participants were
asked question about the kind of support they received from United Methodist leadership and
what their experience has been like to this point in the ordination process, a process which is
designed and sanctioned by denominational officials and led by ordained clergy serving in
volunteer mentoring and board member roles.
In their responses, four themes emerged around the role of ethnoracial representation in
the motivation of clergy candidates to complete the ordination process in the United Methodist
Church. First, there was the presence of mirrored ERI and the role this has on candidate
motivation. Next, a theme emerged around the role of mentoring from denomination officials
and the impacts this has on candidate motivation. The third theme present in the responses dealt
with the design of the ordination process and the ways that ERI influences the experience of the
ordination process. Finally, a theme emerged around the methods available to clergy candidates
for discernment of calling to ministry, especially when that discernment might shift in directions
other than originally intended. Findings will be presented in the context of these four themes.
77
Mirrored ERI in UMC Leadership
In the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church, there are a series of
denominational officials responsible for the oversight and supervision of clergy and candidates
for ordained ministry. Table 3 shows the role, number of people filling those positions, and the
ERI of people filling those positions.
Table 3
VAUMC Denominational Officials
Position Number of people serving in role ERI of people serving in role
Bishop 1 1 Black/African American
District superintendent 8 5 European American
1 Black/African American
1 Hispanic/Latinx
1 Korean
Ministry director 4 3 European American
1 Korean
78
The Bishop is the chief executive of the Annual Conference, responsible for overseeing
all the churches and clergy within the Annual Conference (Cropsey, 2013). The District
Superintendent serves as a regional extension of the Bishop, able to develop more personalized
relationships with churches and clergy in a specific geographic region. Ministry directors are
charged with oversight around particular programs and initiatives that engage clergy and
churches in efforts to become more effective, reach more people, or develop strategies for
growth and sustainability (White, 2021).
All participants noted that there was at least one denominational official who mirrored
their self-identified ERI. When asked about the importance of this, Mary said,
I think it’s great because I can see myself in them. I am mirrored in them. And I know if
people are a lot like me, both in how we look and identify, and they can do it, so can I.
Participants were asked a question about a greater presence of mirrored ERI amongst
denomination officials and themselves, and whether this would increase their motivation to
complete the ordination process. All four participants who self-identify as people of color
responded that increases in mirrored ERI would increase their motivation to complete the
ordination process. Katy shared,
I think it is motivating when you don’t have to sit and explain to someone step-by-step
what’s going on in your world. When there is a collective understanding about what’s
going on, it feels a little bit easier and doable.
Of the seven European American participants, only two indicated they would benefit
from an increase in mirrored ERI amongst denominational officials. Susan responded, “I think it
would be really hard for our conference office to get Whiter. And if it did, I think it would be a
red flag for me.” Susan’s response was echoed by several other participants. Angela offered,
79
“The majority of United Methodist leadership share my ethnic and racial heritage. I struggle with
the fact that our leadership in the Virginia Annual Conference is primarily White. Why don’t we
have a more diverse reflection of our state?” It was not clear that Angela would feel less
motivated to complete the ordination process because of the presence of mirrored ERI, but it was
discouraging for her. Angela was not the only participant to have challenges with the ERI
composition of UMC leadership in Virginia. Jenn noted, “As I’m thinking about the kind of
people that work for our conference, I’m realizing that there is still a lot of work to do with our
racial diversity given that we have so many White people representing the UMC but so many
other populations in Virginia that deserve to be represented better.”
For participants who self-identify as people of color, the consequences of lacking
mirrored ERI involve a lack of understanding and a challenge to progress forward into spaces of
leadership. Allie said, “I go by an English name because I don’t want to deal with the assumption
that I might be a first-generation person. Whenever denominational officials make a connection
with me, they try to attach me to other first-generation people, who I don’t connect with as much.
That is the kind of nuance of generational identity that isn’t really understood by the
conference.” Bart shared, “I never knew a Black UMC pastor until the summer of my freshman
year of college. It’s great to have a Black Bishop but sometimes you have to travel a long way to
see that what you want to do is even possible for you.”
The connection between mirrored ERI with UMC leadership and motivation to complete
the UMC ordination process is clearer amongst participants of color than it is European
American participants. Participants of color articulated the challenges of minimal mirrored ERI
and the hopes of what could happen with an increase in people of color serving in
denominational leadership. European American participants ranged from indifference about
80
mirrored ERI to concern about what an increasingly White-led denomination would look like
and how it might operate. From this, it could be ascertained that an increase in ethnoracial
diversity amongst denominational leadership would be a welcome and motivating factor for
clergy candidates in the UMC to complete the UMC ordination process. Next, there is
consideration of the role mentoring plays in the motivation of clergy candidates to complete the
UMC ordination process, especially when those mentors offer mirrored ERI to clergy candidates.
Mentoring
Mentoring is an important aspect of the ordination process in the United Methodist
Church that takes place formally through denominational channels. While informal mentoring
can take place in sending churches and surrounding communities, clergy candidates are assigned
a clergy mentor once they become certified as candidates (Cropsey, 2013). LeGrand et al. (2013)
found that healthy mentoring relationships were a strong predictor of certified candidates
completing the ordination process in the United Methodist Church. While not within faith-based
settings, Chan et al. (2015) found that mirrored ERI plays a significant role in the development
of successful mentoring relationships amongst graduate-level students in university settings,
becoming a predictor of multidirectional interactions that function across contexts to create a
multicultural and relational model of mentoring.
In this study, mentoring relationships were a factor in the self-efficacy of participants to
complete the UMC ordination process. Every participant in the study received a
denominationally assigned mentor. Additionally, six participants disclosed that they had other,
informal mentors helping them in their process. Mary described,
81
My circle of mentors has taught me that I can do this process. One of my very first
mentors saw something in me before I saw it in myself. She was a Black woman serving
a White church, and hearing her experience opened my eyes to a lot.
Angela said,
The people assigned to me as mentors have helped me to feel support and confidence in
my ordination journey. It has been a struggle knowing our current Bishop is not an ally to
the LGBTQ community, but my mentors have helped me to grow beyond that.
Even in negative perceptions of mentoring relationships, there was an understanding that these
relationships have a capacity to shape self-efficacy among participants. As Lana shared,
I was assigned a mentor to get through certification who looked like he was over 80 and
actually fell asleep on multiple occasions while meeting with me. I felt like I was
interfering with his nap time, which didn’t give me much self-confidence about the
process.
While mentoring relationships had a general impact on participants self-efficacy to
complete the ordination process, the lack of mirrored ERI in mentoring relationships had a
negative consequence for two participants who self-identified as people of color. Katy shared,
I’ve been around one Hispanic pastor for a short-time, but otherwise I haven’t observed
that kind of person in the people that work with me. Maybe that means I could be the
first, but it raises questions for me about if I can do this or if I’m welcome to do this.
Tara had an extended thought about the lack of mirrored ERI in mentoring relationships:
There are so few [Hispanic/Latinx] people in leadership. When I looked for a mentor,
there are not many that know or understand the difference between being a White male
pursuing ordination and being a brown woman pursuing ordination. So, in that aspect, I
82
don’t think the United Methodist Church wants my participation. It was like we’re
lacking those resources, those foundation that would help people like me to do this
process in a more successful way.
European American participants did not have the same concerns about the role of
mirrored ERI in their mentoring relationships. No European American participant believed there
would be an impact in having more mentoring relationships with people who shared their ERI.
As it relates to motivation, mentoring relationships are at the center of distinguishing between
capacity, the ability to complete a task, and desire, the interest in completing a task (Taralynne-
Brewer et al., 2019). Each of the European American participants described their belief in their
capacity to complete the ordination process as high. Greg was a slight outlier in this, indicating
that “I am not sure I will stay with the United Methodist Church, but I know I will be in ministry
somewhere.” This was a reminder that there can be a distinction between the capacity of clergy
candidates to complete the UMC ordination process and the desire of clergy candidates to
complete the UMC ordination process. Next, there is consideration of the role the design of the
UMC ordination process plays in the motivation of clergy candidates to complete the UMC
ordination process, with special consideration given to the ways the ordination process may be
centered on a European American experience.
Ordination Process Design
The United Methodist Church sets standards for ordination in its Book of Discipline that
offer basic qualifications for people who are eligible for ordination in the United Methodist
Church. These standards include educational requirements, theological and ethical perspectives,
and understanding of the timing in which ordination can take place following the completion of
certification as a candidate for ministry (Cropsey, 2013). Beyond these minimum requirements,
83
each Annual Conference is eligible to form their own ordination process design (Cropsey, 2013).
In Virginia, candidates for ministry go through a process of certification alongside mentors in
district-level settings and can shift from this space into application for provisional clergy
membership after a period of at least 1 year (White, 2021). The time between candidacy
certification and provisional application is meant to be one of theological discernment where
candidates are exposed to different ministry settings and given the opportunity to explore their
calling in more depth (White, 2021).
Each participant in this study is in that “in-between” time, having been certified as a
candidate for ministry but not yet eligible to apply for provisional clergy membership. Eight
candidates were still needing to complete educational requirements in order to proceed in the
ordination process. The remaining three had different reasons for not yet applying. Jenn said, “I
wanted to have a year between finishing seminary and applying to get a better sense of what it is
like to work in the local church.” Angela indicated, “I won’t be applying to the process until it is
clear that the United Methodist Church is a safe space for LGBTQ people.” Edie shared, “I’ve
applied for provisional membership but had a negative experience with the credentialing agency
and was not successful. So now I am taking a step back from the process and deciding what the
best next step should be.”
Participants indicated that the ordination process is designed in a way that is inherently
beneficial to European American candidates. Seven participants indicated a concern about the
benefits European American candidates receive in the design of the ordination process. Greg
said:
84
My perception is the ordination process is not meant to be challenging for me but can be
more challenging for people of color. You don’t see many people of color in the
ordination process. I have a lot of questions as to why that might be.
Bart shared:
It seems that candidates of color are more likely to be continued a time or two compared
to European American colleagues. In a sense that makes me wonder if that feeds into why
you don’t see candidates of color that often in the United Methodist Church.
Allie offered, “I often notice that Korean candidates get grouped together in the ordination
process that feels very isolated and outside of the process. There is some nuance missing in the
process there.” Katy indicated, “My racial identity has been a source of stress for me in the
process. Even in filling out a demographic form, there isn’t a way for me to speak to my culture
and I feel reduced to a token.” Angela said:
I want to use the power and privilege I do have as a White person to create space for
voices that aren’t being heard in the ordination process. We need to support people who
don’t have access to the same support I do.
These perspectives support the work of Eagle and Mueller (2022), who found that while the
UMC claims to be an antiracist organization, there are often disparities in the ways processes to
become clergy are organized for people of color in comparison with their European American
counterparts. Finally, there is consideration of how mirrored ERI in UMC leadership impacts the
invitation to call discernment amongst participants in this study.
Discernment of Calling
While participants in this study are going through an ordination process, there are two
different types of ordination that can be pursued in the United Methodist Church. Ordained
85
Elders are individuals who are responsible for leading local churches, often serving as preachers,
teachers, and administrators in local church settings (Cropsey, 2013). Ordained Deacons are
individuals who are responsible for connecting local churches to the communities they serve,
often working as missionaries or advocates for social justice (Cropsey, 2013). Beyond these two
roles of ordination, certified candidates for ordained ministry can also choose to exit the
ordination process and serve in volunteer or paid lay ministry capacities in local settings.
Participants in this study are in a time of the ordination process where they have not yet been
required to select which form of ordination they feel called to pursue.
In the Virginia Annual Conference, there are 56 Ordained Deacons (White, 2021). Three
of these individuals are Asian and one is African American, with the other 52 self-identifying as
White (White, 2021). Of the 1,198 Ordained Elders in Virginia, 46 are African American, 60 are
Asian, seven are Hispanic, two are multiracial, and 979 are White (White, 2021). People of color
make up 7.1% of Ordained Deacons and 18.2% of Ordained Elders in the Virginia Annual
Conference.
In this study, participants offered insight into how their discernment for ordained ministry
was being guided by UMC leadership. Only one participant of color indicated there was
encouragement toward consideration of ordination as a Deacon in the United Methodist Church.
Katy shared:
In UMC leadership, some people don’t know what a Deacon is. That’s really hard
because I feel like I have a really good understanding of what my call is and how that
manifests. Constantly having to explain to people, who have been in ministry for a while,
that my call is valid even though I don’t want to be an Ordained Elder has been really
86
hard. And I’ve gotten questions about female leadership which I think is ridiculous. So
yeah, it’s been interesting to say the least.
The other three participants of color indicated they had only been invited to consider
ordination as an Elder by UMC leadership in Virginia. Of the European American participants in
the study, six indicated they had been invited to discern between ordination as a Deacon or
ordination as an Elder. Greg said, “My time has given me a lot of questions and what it means to
be called, and I’ve been invited to think about that from some different perspectives. It’s forced
me to wrestle with difficult questions.” Mary indicated, “I’ve seen how ordination can take
different shapes, but I specifically am called to be an ordained elder. This is very important to me
and feels like a non-negotiable with my vocation coming out of seminary.”
While there is a distinction between the work of an Ordained Deacon and an Ordained
Elder in the United Methodist Church, in this study people of color were not invited to consider
their options for how to move forward in the ordination process at the same rate as European
American participants. Now, this theme is taken into consideration with the other themes that
emerged in this research question.
Discussion for Research Question 2
The themes that emerged in this research question all connect with the role UMC
leadership plays in the self-efficacy of clergy candidates to complete the UMC ordination
process. The research question sought to discover the role of ethnoracial representation in UMC
leadership on this sense of self-efficacy. The themes that emerged told a story that the experience
of people of color related to UMC leadership is distinct from the experience of European
American participants. Eagle and Mueller (2022) indicated that there could be a distinction in the
87
experience of candidates of color due to the systemic disparities in earnings, job quality, and
advancement for people of color serving as clergy in the United Methodist Church.
These systemic challenges are a part of the thematic responses analyzed in this research
question. While participants have a variety of experiences with mirrored ERI, participants of
color indicate there is an increase in confidence in their ability to complete the ordination process
when they see leaders and mentors who share their self-identified ERI. This echoes the work of
Choi (2021), who found that shared ERI in United Methodist churches led to greater openness to
call discernment amongst participants in those churches, as well as inclusion of people from
different ethnoracial backgrounds and the LGBTQ+ community in formerly non-inclusive
churches.
Meanwhile, participants describe the ordination process in the UMC as being centered on
a European American experience. Allured (2022) found that historical roots of racism and
sexism in the ordination process of the UMC have been challenging to unravel, leading to
continuing challenges for people of color and women who have a call to ordained ministry in the
UMC. In this study, participants affirmed this in the ways they described the ordination process
as coming out of the experience of European American participants. Furthermore, there were not
equal opportunities for candidates of color to discern their options for ordination as compared to
their European American counterparts. While the historical roots of racism in the United
Methodist Church may have previously inhibited equal participation from people of color in the
leadership and development of the UMC, the sustaining of systemic racism in the design of the
ordination process and the directing of discernment can lead to continued oppression of people of
color in the UMC and an inability to create antiracist policies and communities (Eagle &
88
Mueller, 2022). Now the findings shift to the role of ethnoracial identity of local communities on
the motivation of clergy candidates to complete the UMC ordination process.
Research Question 3: What Is the Connection Between Personal Ethnoracial Identity and
Communal Ethnoracial Identity in Determining the Motivation of Clergy Candidates to
Complete the UMC Ordination Process?
The conceptual framework for this study is rooted in social cognitive theory, which
supposes there is triadic reciprocity between environment, cognition, and behavior (Bandura,
1989). This research question is designed to analyze mirrored ERI at the surrounding community
level of environment as it relates to the self-efficacy of clergy candidates to complete the UMC
ordination process. This recognizes that while the ordination process is rooted in the setting of
the United Methodist denomination and a local United Methodist church, those two
environments have the potential to impact neighborhoods that surround local churches regardless
of whether inhabitants of those neighborhoods attend those churches or adhere to United
Methodist values (Allen et al., 2014; Berrelleza, 2020; Stewart et al., 2013; Wright et al., 2015).
Historically, the local church has the capacity to impact neighborhood composition and behavior.
Valbousquet (2018) shared research that the lack of ERI integration in Catholic churches led to a
rise of antisemitic thinking and behavior in surrounding neighborhoods during World War II,
which still impacts communities in the modern era. In communities with a strong multiracial
church presence, there was a greater probability of upholding tolerant perspectives toward
LGBTQ+ persons and diverse political and cultural perspectives (Perry, 2012).
The influence of church on community is not monodirectional; rather, the community
that surrounds a church can impact the behavior and perspective of the local church and the
denomination or agency it represents (Peck-McClain, 2021). Communities with greater
89
ethnoracial diversity have a stronger sense of networking that can lead to greater facilitation of
knowledge transfer to local churches and networking amongst local clergy (Stansbury et al.,
2018). White and Kimmons (2019) found that the presence of ethnoracial diversity in
communities surrounding local churches increased the emotional intelligence and relatability of
the clergy serving churches in those communities.
In this study, the surrounding community played an important role in the self-efficacy of
candidates to complete the ordination process. First, the presence of mirrored ERI in the
surrounding community is identified, but not substantiated as a significant factor in the self-
efficacy of participants to complete the UMC ordination process. Additionally, there was an
observation that the predominant ERI of the local church often was distinct from the
predominant ERI of the community surrounding the local church, which had an impact on the
perspective of participants. Finally, a theme emerged around the lack of modes of support in
surrounding communities and the role of ERI in that support.
Mirrored ERI in the Surrounding Community
Communities that surround local churches represent a wider population and, therefore,
are often populated with a wide variety of ethnoracial identities (Dougherty & Emerson, 2018).
This is a challenge for faith-based settings where greater ethnoracial homogeneity is practiced,
often resulting in harmful practices around resource allocation and reinforcement of harmful
socioeconomic inequities along ethnoracial identity lines (Wright et al., 2015). Munn (2019)
found that the presence of mirrored ERI in surrounding communities can create opportunities for
clergy candidates to building social capital and leadership capacity while also raising economic
support to fund academic and denominational requirements.
90
In this study, only three participants reflected on the presence of mirrored ERI in their
communities as being impactful to their self-efficacy to complete the ordination process. Two of
those participants are people of color while one self-identifies as European American. Allie said,
Where I live, there is a huge Asian American population where women are leading
successfully, but that doesn’t happen in a lot of the Asian American churches. Seeing
people like me be successful in our community is motivating for me.
Bart extended this thought:
In my neighborhood, a lot of the people of color that I saw were in positions where it
seemed that they oversaw franchises or some of them running their own business. Being
around people and community leaders of color who were in positions that seem to be
entrepreneurship-related roles plays into my discernment. I wonder how we can begin
things new and add different flavors and takes on existing structures. So that has
influenced my discernment.
Jenn offered a perspective blending her sending church and surrounding community:
There has never been a doubt that I could do it because I could see myself in any of those
roles, whether as a community leader in the neighborhood or in church partnership type
things. Because I had seen that model, it impacted my motivation I think in a positive
way.
While these three participants were able to articulate the impact of mirrored ERI on their
motivation to complete the UMC ordination process, none of the other participants offered a
clear indication that they felt motivated or unmotivated by the presence of mirrored ERI in their
surrounding communities. Though this element was not clear, the next theme demonstrates there
was abundant clarity that the predominant ERI of surrounding communities was distinct from the
91
predominant ERI of sending churches, and this was something that impacted motivation of
participants.
Distinction Between Community ERI and Church ERI
Historically, churches have not reflected the ERI of their surrounding communities. Over
60 years ago, Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “I think it is one of the tragedies of our nation, one of
the shameful tragedies, that eleven o’clock on Sunday morning is one of the most segregated
hours, if not the most segregated hours, in Christian America” (Brooks, 1960). Lindholm et al.
(2016) found that having to serve in congregations that were not reflective of the communities
they served was a barrier to finding healthy lifestyles for United Methodist clergy in Kansas.
Shifts between the predominant ERI in sending churches and in surrounding communities was a
factor in the shaping of public opinion around church trials in the United Methodist Church
against clergy for conducting same-gender weddings (Waldrep, 2012). In this study, there was
evidence that the predominant ERI of sending churches was distinct from the predominant ERI
of the surrounding communities of those sending churches.
Eight of eleven participants reported their sending churches did not reflect the ERI of
their surrounding community. Three out of four participants of color articulated the distinction
between the ERI of their sending church and surrounding community. Katy said, “The
community that surrounds my church is more diverse, ethnically at least. To put the church and
community side by side, I don’t think they really equate in ethnic diversity.” Tara shared, “The
church is White and, I don’t know the exact numbers, but I know the Hispanic community is the
biggest and growing the fastest. There is a disparity there.” Bart offered an extended reflection
on the disparity in his sending church and surrounding community:
92
The folks that were in the church did not identify with the community. The community
that we were surrounded by were mid to lower income homes and usually families of
color. There were a few families that were European American there too, but my church
has demographic and context with a lot of people that were retired or second/third career
entrepreneurs, lawyers, and consultants. Folks who are white collar, people who are
degreed and educated. In terms of identification with the community, there’s a huge gap
with a lot of different gaps but a huge gap in what’s in the church and what the
community looks like.
Amongst European American participants, there was a similar reflection. Jenn said, “The
church is predominantly White, but it sits among neighborhoods that are more multiracial. Most
of the congregation doesn’t live in those neighborhoods.” Mary shared, “We are probably the
exception. The surrounding communities are predominantly Black, and we are the White church
in the middle of a mostly Black community. But it isn’t just us. The other churches around are
predominantly White too.” Lana offered, “We’re not representative. I’d say we are 98% White
and [the city] is certainly not that. We have neighborhoods very close to us that we don’t reach
into because there is an unfriendly racial relationship.”
Of the participants that reported their sending church had a similar ERI to its surrounding
community, only one was a person of color. Allie reported, “The city seems to be pretty diverse,
and my sending church is a pretty mixed group of Anglo, Asian American, Hispanic, and other
identities. I think it is representative of the neighborhood.” Another outlier was Amanda, who
shared, “The neighborhood around my church is really White, and so is my church, so I think my
church is pretty representative of the neighborhood around it.” The other participant who shared
a different response was Edie, who said, “I would say my sending church is largely
93
representative of the community. It’s a small rural community that is mostly White, as is the
church.”
The impacts of the disparity between the ethnoracial composition of sending churches
and the communities surrounding those churches were various. European American participants
tended to be less hopeful. Greg said, “I don’t know how we get more diverse or if it matters. My
high school was more diverse and that didn’t really impact my friendships. I think we have a
mission, and this stuff distracts from it.” Lana communicated, “You have to have other people
hold the door in places of imbalance. Who is supposed to hold this door? Is that on the church or
community leaders? I’m not sure.”
Amongst participants of color, there was a different tone. For Tara, there was an
opportunity in the disparity. She said, “As a Hispanic woman, I’m able to connect well with the
Hispanic community. I can establish conversations and people can accept me. I hope that can
play a positive role in developing the community, but I don’t know if it helps the church.” Bart
shared, “How can we be the church and bring the church to people? We get so concerned about
bringing people to church but the racial, ethnic disparities probably make that space unsafe for a
lot of people like me. What would it be to go and say ‘I want to learn from you’ in communities
of color? That would be radical. I want to do that.” Navigating into the surrounding community
would be a method of developing external systems of support, something that participants in this
study noted was lacking, and a theme that is explored next.
Lacking Systems of Support
In the wake of disconnection between the predominant ERI of sending churches and the
predominant ERI of surrounding communities, one of the greatest challenges for participants in
this study was the inability to discover systems of support in their surrounding communities.
94
External systems of support for clergy have been found to be an essential element of developing
sentiments of self-compassion instead of self-criticism (Lee & Rosales, 2020). Biru et al. (2022)
found that having people to turn to outside of the local church was a factor in promoting the
utilization of mental health services in United Methodist clergy experiencing anxiety and
depression. Miles and Proeschold-Bell (2012) discovered that clergy serving in rural
environments often experience feelings of isolation and abandonment because of the inability to
find supportive connections outside of their local churches.
None of the participants in this study were able to articulate forms of support from
communities surrounding their sending churches in their UMC ordination processes.
Additionally, no participants articulated that they felt this was intentional or purposeful; rather,
there were sentiments that a lack of connection between the sending church and surrounding
community led to a lack of understanding about the ways clergy candidates might experience
calling or discernment. Susan offered,
Because I’m having to take classes at a slow pace, I don’t think anyone outside of my
church would realize that I’m pursuing ordination. So, I don’t think they can support me
if they don’t know that is a reality for me.
Tara shared, “The pandemic has had an impact on the kind of connections our church has in the
community. I don’t think the community knows much about what we do so I can’t expect them
to know me.” Bart said,
I don’t think people in our community know much more about the United Methodist
Church than the infighting we have that is public. I know in my generation people aren’t
going to care what is happening in the church when the church doesn’t act like a church.
95
There was not a sense in candidates that these lacking supports were connected to the ERI of
participants or communities; rather, the lack of support was linked more closely to a lack of
connection between sending churches and the communities they are purported to serve.
While this lack of support was a present reality for participants, there was a desire to see
this change into a discovery of greater community support in the ordination process amongst
study participants. Allie said, “If there were more support, especially from people who reflect my
identity, I know I would be more motivated in the [ordination] process. I’m not quite sure how,
but I think it would be beneficial.” Tara desired support from the community but imagined that
would be challenging:
A lot of the people in my community who share my ethnoracial identity are
undocumented immigrants. I just wonder if, because of some of the political positions
churches have taken, if it is even a possibility to connect with those populations. Because
I worry that if we do try to connect with that community, people from my church would
treat them more like immigrants and less like siblings. To have real support means we
must see and seek equity in our neighbors.
Katy echoed this,
It leaves a lot of room for critical thinking about leadership and what are we doing to
foster connections in our neighborhoods. It’s nice to know that you can have a shared
experience with your community, especially with people who have a background like
yours. That would be both a motivation and an inspiration.
Future connections with surrounding communities could extend levels of support,
especially for clergy candidates of color, which in turn could increase motivation to complete the
96
ordination process in the UMC. Now there is a discussion of the themes that emerged from the
third research question.
Discussion for Research Question 3
The impact of communal ERI and personal ERI on motivation to complete the ordination
process seems to be clearest in the ways it shows a mirror to the sending church and United
Methodist denomination. In this study, sending churches were frequently not reflective of the
predominant ERI of the communities they served. For candidates of color, this means that there
is a need to seek out support externally from the sending church. But because the sending church
has frequently not developed relationships in the surrounding community, there is a greater
challenge to people of color, having to find and develop their own relationships and systems
apart from the sending church. Trejo (2020) referred to this as the “minority tax,” describing the
burden placed on people of color to develop diversity and inclusion efforts that would offer
needed support rather than that work being shared equitably by European American counterparts.
Beyond this, the clarity that came from this research question is that participants are not
convinced that sending churches have much, if any, relationship in their surrounding
communities. Consistently, participants reflected a disconnection between their sending church
and the community surrounding the church. Because of this, it was challenging for some
participants to think about the surrounding community population. Furthermore, six of the 11
participants were in a seminary or educational environment that kept them from being present in
their sending church on a regular basis. Because of this, it was more challenging for those
participants to reflect on the dynamic between themselves, their sending church, and the
surrounding community. Now, the chapter shifts into a summary of key findings.
Summary
97
The research questions and subsequent themes resulted in four findings that will be
reflected in the next chapter. First, internal environments played a meaningful role in the
motivation of clergy candidates to complete the UMC ordination process. Internal environments
are defined by specificity (sending churches) and breadth (UMC denomination), as are external
environments, with specificity coming in surrounding neighborhoods and breadth coming in the
wide experience of persons through the lens of their ERI. This study demonstrated that mirrored
ERI in internal environments was functional to the self-efficacy of participants around the
ordination process but did not find as much clarity around the role of external environments in
that motivation. Additionally, the study found that candidates of color receive different levels of
support than their European American counterparts. This is reflected in the sending church and
denominational levels in the discernment of calling and mirrored ERI in official mentoring
spaces. Next, the ordination process centers the European American experience and creates
systematic favorability toward Whiteness. Factors such as the lack of consideration of
ethnoracial identity amongst European American candidates, process design reflecting
predominantly European American populations, ERI of sending church leadership, and ERI of
available mentors are considered. Finally, churches and their leaders struggle to reflect the ERI
of the communities they serve. In this finding, there is a consideration of the lack of multiracial
congregations in the Virginia Annual Conference, the heightened presence of predominantly
White congregations in multiracial neighborhoods, and the predominantly European American
denominational leadership. In all of this, there is a consideration of how these findings impact
the motivation of certified candidates for ordained ministry in the United Methodist Church to
complete the UMC ordination process.
98
Chapter Five: Discussion
This study addresses the problem of declining clergy recruitment in the United Methodist
Church. Specifically, the study is concerned with the role mirrored ethnoracial identity (ERI)
plays in the motivation of clergy candidates to complete the ordination process in the United
Methodist Church. The study looked at the ethnoracial composition of UMC churches,
ethnoracial representation in UMC leadership, the spaces where ethnoracial identity was
mirrored between clergy candidates, sending churches, and surrounding communities, and the
personalized ethnoracial identity of clergy candidates as lenses through which motivation to
complete the UMC ordination process can be studied. These factors are a part of a conceptual
framework rooted in social cognitive theory (SCT). SCT asserts there is an interrelation between
environmental, cognitive, and behavioral factors that determine human behavior (Bandura,
1989). These factors are believed to be interrelated, working in and around one another to create
impact in a manner known as triadic reciprocity (Bandura, 1989).
In this study, the conceptual framework was addressed through three research questions:
1. What is the role, if any, of ethnoracial composition of UMC sending churches in the
self-efficacy of clergy candidates to complete the UMC ordination process?
2. How, if at all, does ethnoracial representation in UMC leadership impact the
motivation of clergy candidates to complete the UMC ordination process?
3. What is the connection between personal ethnoracial identity and communal
ethnoracial identity in determining the motivation of clergy candidates to complete
the UMC ordination process?
The study utilized a qualitative methodological approach, with data collection happening
in interviews and observations. Participants in this study were selected through a snowball,
99
purposeful sampling approach, and interviews and observations were conducted in a four-week
period spanning August and September of 2022 over Zoom.
In this chapter, there will be a review of four findings that emerged in the study. First,
there will be a review of how internal environments played a meaningful role in the motivation
of participants, especially when compared with external environments. Next, there will be a
review of how candidates of color received different layers of logistical support than their
European American counterparts. Then, there will be a review of how the ordination process
centers the European American experience. Finally, there will be a review of how churches and
leaders do not reflect the ERI of the communities they serve.
Review of Findings
Finding 1: Internal Environments Played a Meaningful Role in the Motivation of
Participants, Especially When Compared With External Environments
In the conceptual framework for this study, environment was to be analyzed in the form
of sending churches, denominational leadership, and surrounding communities. During the study,
it emerged that there is a distinction between internal and external environments as they relate to
social cognitive theory. Aquino et al. (2009) found that situational factors present within internal
environments were distinct from those present in external environments, and this distinction
impacted the cognition and behavior of individuals faced with moral dilemmas.
In this study, the internal environments were faith-based environments. The sending
church represented a specified internal environment, unique to a particular geographical context.
The denomination, and denominational officials representing the denomination, represented a
broad internal environment, shared over a wider geographical context. The external environment
in this study was represented by surrounding neighborhoods, which embody a specified external
100
environment, unique to a particular geographical context. While this study did not develop a
particular broad external environment, this could be considered the global context in which all
humanity lives.
For participants in this study, there was a clear impact from internal environments, both
specified and broad, on motivation to complete the UMC ordination process, especially as
compared to external environments. Participants spoke frequently about the presence of mirrored
ERI in their sending churches and in UMC leadership as motivational factors for pursuing the
UMC ordination process while also noting that the absence of mirrored ERI internally was a
challenge to their process. Allie said, “Not seeing people like me in UMC leadership feels like a
subconscious deterrent to continuing in the process.” When asked about her motivation if
mirrored ERI were to be more substantial in UMC leadership, Allie responded, “It would
certainly be more encouraging because it wouldn’t feel like such a lonely road.” Jenn shared:
Each level of my home church and the United Methodist Church is reflective of my
ethnoracial identity as White person. That motivates me because it means I can do it, but
it also means there is a larger call to diversity and to consider how being a United
Methodist should be reflected in leadership at home and more broadly.
Bart offered:
It took me a long time to identify with the United Methodist Church because my context
growing up looking at my home church and the leaders in Virginia, it was hard to find
people to relate to who could understand what it’s like to be a person of color in a world
like this.
The presence of mirrored ERI in the sending church and UMC leadership environments
was something that participants identified as helpful and motivational in their ordination process
101
journey. The role of internal environments in motivation has been well documented, with studies
from Zhao et al. (2021), Sáiz-Pardo et al. (2021), and Hedlund et al. (2010) all focusing on the
ways that consistency and communication within organization provide motivation for growth
and development in employees. Considering the implications of this research in this study, it is
important for there to be a consistent presence of mirrored ERI in local churches and in UMC
leadership, and there is a need for communication in language and action that people from a
variety of ethnoracial identities are welcome in UMC leadership positions locally and
denominationally.
The role of the external environment in this study was less clear. Participants did not
highlight the mirrored ERI of the surrounding community as a major factor in their motivation to
complete the ordination process, nor did they share any forms of support they were receiving
from surrounding communities. On a broader external scale, each participant of color named that
they felt their ERI played a role in their motivation to complete the ordination process, while
none of the European American participants believed ERI played a role in their motivation to
complete the ordination process. Hameduddin (2021) found that in workplaces, external
environmental factors such as public opinion and political salience were often important in
increasing motivation in employees within those workplaces. Liu et al. (2022) shared that
ethnoracial diversity within organizations is a factor in shaping positive public opinion and
confidence that organizations will sustain their stated mission. This study was not able to
confirm or reject the premises of this research but does note the distinction in the role of
generalized ERI in participants of color and European American participants. The next finding
shares that, in this study, candidates of color received different layers of support than their
European American counterparts.
102
Finding 2: Candidates of Color Received Less Logistical Support Than Their European
American Counterparts
One of the important elements of this study was to understand how certified candidates
for ordained ministry received support from their sending churches, denominational leadership,
and surrounding communities. Support was a factor in the conceptual framework, specifically in
relating to how environment shapes cognition and behavior. Miles and Proeschold-Bell (2013)
shared that support usually takes place in two forms: spiritual and logistical. Spiritual support
most frequently takes place in the form of prayer and verbal guidance or mentoring while
logistical support in the forms of financial assistance, access to housing opportunities, or low-to-
no cost childcare (Miles & Proeschold-Bell, 2013).
In this study, all participants were likely to receive spiritual support at the sending church
and denominational levels. Edie shared, “My church has always been supportive of me. Ever
since I was a teenager discerning a call, they have found ways to uplift me.” Katy said,
“Relationally, I’ve had good support from the conference office. But never anything really
beyond that.” Bart offered, “The church always sends me messages of support and
encouragement when I see them. When I go to church they say, ‘We’re glad to see you.’ But
nothing really beyond that.”
Logistical support was a different matter. At the sending church level, only one
participant described forms of logistical support being offered by their sending church. Angela,
who is European American, shared, “I love my home charge and they love me. They love me.
Primarily my support through the ordination process and through seminary has been financial. I
have been given funds outright with no expectation of repayment and I’ve also had access to a
zero interest loans.” When asked about the role of her ERI in receiving that support, Angela said:
103
I’d like to say that I don’t think it does. But I think it’s easy to support me because I’m
familiar, like I don’t stand out. I don’t stick out in a negative way or in a way that the
congregation or pastoral staff would perceive as negative. Like I’m very much like status
quo.
At the denominational level, four out of seven European American participants reported
receiving some form of logistical support from the United Methodist Church, while no
participants of color reported receiving any form of logistical support. This issue has not been
unique to the United Methodist Church. According to Gardner and Marti (2022), the Southern
Baptist Convention has a longstanding issue with logistical support being offered to people of
color pursuing ordination. Furthermore, Martin et al. (2023) shared that adolescents of color
worshiping in local churches observed the lack of support their older peers experienced, leading
to a spirit of disillusionment with the church. Eagle and Mueller (2022) reported that a lack of
funding for theological education for students of color is leading to entrenched career pathways
along ethnoracial identity lines, meaning opportunities that are present for people of color are not
equitable to those present for their European American counterparts. Lacking equitable resources
in the forms of financial compensation, scholarships for education, and affordable housing
opportunities is a predictor that certified candidates will not only be less motivated to complete
the ordination process, but less able to do so as well (Eagle & Mueller, 2022; Eagle et al., 2019;
Ferguson, 2015).
There was another layer of agreement amongst all participants regarding forms of support
received from surrounding neighborhoods: there is a lack of support for certified candidates
coming from neighborhoods surrounding sending churches. Participants cited a lack of
understanding of activity happening within the church and a lack of interest in leadership
104
development from surrounding communities as a rationale for this lack of support, rarely
connecting the lack of support to a presence or lack of mirrored ERI. This is in competition with
the research of Lee et al. (2013), who argued that especially in communities where people of
color are in the majority, communities rally around emerging leaders to ensure they have the
support they need to advance within their organizations. Additionally, Sanchez et al. (2019)
found that mentoring relationships from community members were some of the greatest factors
in building self-efficacy in women of color. Next, the findings shift to an understanding of the
centering of the European American experience in the UMC ordination process in the Virginia
Annual Conference of the UMC.
Finding 3: The Ordination Process Centers the European American Experience
The research questions for this study were centered on understanding the role of mirrored
ERI in different environments on the motivation of certified candidates for ordained ministry in
the UMC to complete the UMC ordination process. A finding that emerged from the study was
that at the sending church and denominational leadership levels, the design of the ordination
process centers the experience of European American candidates. Systematically, this is
problematic because it can create favorability toward Whiteness, whether this takes place
implicitly or explicitly.
A few factors influenced this finding. First, all participants were asked questions about
whether an increase in mirrored ERI at the sending church, denominational leadership, and
surrounding community levels would impact their motivation to complete the ordination process
in the UMC. All European American candidates responded that there would be no impact to their
motivation due to an increase in mirrored ERI. This response was consistent across all three
levels of questioning. On the other hand, each participant of color responded that an increase in
105
mirrored ERI at each environmental level would impact their motivation to complete the UMC
ordination process, often indicating it would be a positive factor in that motivation. These
responses are consistent with the work of Eagle and Mueller (2022) and Ehret (2019), who assert
that the experience of clergy, to include candidates for ministry, is often disparate between
people of color and White or White-facing people. Often, the systems of clergy credentialing,
networking, and advancement are skewed to favor White clergy over people of color (Eagle &
Mueller, 2022; Ehret, 2019).
In this study, another factor in this finding was the limited number of people of color
serving in denominational leadership positions, as officially assigned mentors, and as leaders in
sending churches. Consistently, participants were unable to point to leaders of color in United
Methodist settings beyond the Virginia Conference Bishop and a handful of other
denominational and local church leaders. Furthermore, there were few examples of candidates of
color being mentored in official capacities by people of color. The challenges presented by this
are outlined extensively in the work of Oyakawa (2019), Martinez and Tamburello (2018), and
Newkirk and Cooper (2013), who assert collectively that a lack of people of color serving in
church leadership creates a negative mentality around people of color about the possibilities that
they are valued and seen with equity as compared to their White counterparts. Additionally,
Newkirk and Cooper (2013) found that a lack of mentors of color for people of color entering
ministry was a significant predictor that people of color would not complete credentialing
processes for churches.
For participants in this study, this created a sense that the ordination process centers the
experience of European Americans. Katy described:
106
The whole [process] is this vicious cycle. I know the church needs people like me to be
able to change and to heal, but then I have to subject myself to people who want me to be
someone I’m not, which means I have my own healing to do. It’s hard.
Bart offered:
It seems that candidates of color are more likely to be continued a time or two compared
to European American colleagues. In a sense that makes me wonder if that feeds into why
you don’t see candidates of color that often in the United Methodist Church.
European American candidates had a similar perspective. Greg shared:
I would say my perception of the ordination process is that it is not challenging for people
who are White like me, but it is more so for people of color. You don’t see very many
people of color in the ordination process.
Angela said, “I don’t think that people intended to make the process easier for White people, but
I’m who the game was designed for. I have an easier time because I’m White. There’s no nice
way to put it.” Susan communicated, “I’ve never questioned whether or not my ethnoracial
identity would hold me back or had an assumption that it would impact my process. That lack of
awareness or lack of an obstacle feels like the presence of something else.”
Eagle and Mueller (2022) reference the centering of the European American experience
in the United Methodist Church as a method of reproducing inequality, an observation that, gone
unchecked, predicts future inequities in the UMC for people of color. Additionally, Lee and
Rosales (2020) shared that inequities in the methodology of credentialing, especially inequities
centered on ethnoracial identity, can lead to a spirit of self-criticism amongst people of color.
Extant literature and data from this study shows that an ordination process centered on the
European American experience is neutral in motivating European American candidates for
107
ordained ministry while being a negative factor in the motivation of candidates of color. The
final finding from this study shares that sending churches rarely reflect the predominant
ethnoracial identity of the communities they serve.
Finding 4: Sending Churches Rarely Reflect the ERI of the Communities They Serve
In this study, participants reported their sending churches were predominantly reflective
of a European American ERI, while the neighborhoods surrounding those sending churches
frequently offered a greater sense of ethnoracial diversity. This created two challenges to
participant motivation to complete the UMC ordination process. First, the disparity in
predominant ERI of sending churches and surrounding communities was noted as a rationale for
why surrounding community support was low or non-existent. That lack of support was a
challenge, especially for candidates of color, to participant self-efficacy to complete the
ordination process in the UMC. Furthermore, the prevalence of European American identity in
sending churches created a challenge for candidates of color to find belonging in those churches
and believe in the possibility they could be successful as leaders in those churches.
Participants were consistent in naming their sending churches as having a predominantly
European American ERI. Only one European American participant named the surrounding
neighborhood of her sending church as also having a predominantly European American ERI.
This disparity is consistent with the findings of McGuire et al. (2017), Thomas (2017), Bowels et
al. (2017), and Swartz (2017), who all reported on the prevalence of European American
identities in local churches and the ways this manufactured divisions between churches and the
communities they were meant to serve. In this study, European American participants
highlighted the disparity as being troubling or incongruent with practice, while participants of
108
color named the disparity as a discouragement to their motivation and a reminder of the barriers
that exist in sending churches to people of color.
Another factor in this finding was the sense of belonging that was not fostered by the
absence of mirrored ERI for participants of color. Bart described this: “It took me a long time to
identify myself with the United Methodist Church because it’s kind of hard to find people in [my
sending church] to relate to who know what it’s like to be a person of color in a world like this.”
Additionally, Allie discussed the ways that being a leader of color and a mentor to young Asian
American females was providing something she never had growing up in the church. Cronshaw
(2019) reported that a sense of belonging was a key factor in engaging young people in churches
and creating meaningful connections between their lives and faith journeys. Krause and Bastida
(2011) found that mirrored ERI led to an increase in church-based social relationships and a
sense of belonging for persons immigrating from Central America. These relationships and
belonging not only fostered emotional well-being but were impactful in promoting the physical
health of those studied (Krause & Bastida, 2011). A lack of social networks fostered by
commonalities in ERI leads to people ages 18–35 being more likely to leave churches and their
faith behind (Niemela, 2015). The benefits of finding mirrored ERI in sending churches were
present to study participants and in the review of extant literature.
Participants reported that the solution they see coming from denominational leadership to
address the disparity between the predominant ERI of sending churches and their surrounding
communities is to offer a practice called “cross-racial appointment making.” This practice
involves sending a person who is not representative of the predominant ERI of the sending
church but is representative of the predominant ERI of the surrounding community to be the
pastor of the sending church (Cropsey, 2013). Dupree (2022) found that this practice is growing
109
in the United States as the UMC attempts to become an antiracist organization. However, Eagle
and Mueller (2022) reported that the cross-racial appointment efforts have had mixed results,
often creating a sense of individualized heroism toward the clergyperson that does not translate
to a shift in behaviors or population identity in sending churches. Shifting from policies of
sending an individual to sending churches to do the work of creating ethnoracial diversity to a
policy of sending a team to collaborate with sending churches and surrounding communities to
create greater ethnoracial diversity and extend partnerships and opportunities for engagement
would be one methodology of addressing this problem that negatively impacts the motivation of
candidates of color to complete the UMC ordination process.
Limitations
While the findings from this study represent implications that have emerged from data
formed through the qualitative, semistructured interview process that guided the pursuit of
information related to the research questions, there are some limitations present within this study.
There were 18 certified candidates whose information was made available and who were invited
to participate in this study, but only 11 interviews were conducted. This limited sample size is a
threat to the internal validity of the study because it can create bias around the results (Gibbs,
2018). Additionally, the researcher positionality, while clearly identified as a part of the research
protocol, has the potential to influence the data retrieved and the reaction of participants in the
study, which are threats to the internal validity of the study (Gibbs, 2018). In terms of external
validity, there is a threat present in the generalizability of the findings in the study. The study is
specific to the Virginia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, so the control
variable of denominational leadership would be different based on other geographical contexts.
110
Beyond threats to validity, there are additional limitations found in the setting and timing
of interviews. Interviews were conducted over Zoom, which limited the ability to notate the ways
participants were responding to questions, other than noting facial expressions and verbal
responses. Additionally, interviews took place in a four-week time period, which may have
limited some potential participants from taking part in the study, reducing the sample size and
the opportunity to collect more data. While the interview protocol connected with the research
questions and was applied consistently in interviews, there may have been other questions or
probes that would have supplied more data and perspective and could have influenced the
findings of this study. Now the chapter will shift to a discussion of implications for practice that
have emerged from this study.
Implications for Practice
This section addresses recommendations that address gaps in motivation of certified
candidates for ordained ministry in the United Methodist Church to complete the ordination
process. The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of mirrored ethnoracial identity on the
motivation of certified candidates for ordained ministry in the United Methodist Church to
complete the ordination process. Certified candidates for ordained ministry in the United
Methodist Church are individuals who have discerned a calling to professional ministry but have
not yet completed the educational requirements needed to enter the ordination process.
The findings of this study, along with a review of relevant literature, validated that the
presence of mirrored ethnoracial identity, especially in local churches and in United Methodist
Church leadership, increases motivation to complete the ordination process. On the other hand,
the absence of mirrored ethnoracial identity decreases motivation to complete the ordination
process. There are four recommendations offered in this section to increase the likelihood that
111
certified candidates from a diverse range of ethnoracial identities will be able to experience
mirrored ethnoracial identity in their ordination process and have greater motivation to complete
that process.
First, there is a recommendation to implement a team-based model for cross-racial clergy
appointments in sending churches. Then, there is a recommendation to intentionally recruit and
onboard people of color to executive leadership positions in the UMC by 2025. Next, there is a
recommendation to provide denominational and community mentors for certified candidates for
ordained ministry who share the candidate’s ethnoracial identity. Finally, there is a
recommendation to offer consistent logistical support to candidates regardless of ethnoracial
identity.
Recommendation 1: Implement a Team-Based Model for Cross-Racial Clergy
Appointments in Sending Churches
In this study, participants noted that there is a challenge with the current system for
making cross-racial clergy appointments in the United Methodist Church. A lack of mirrored
ERI in clergy leadership was a factor in the motivation of certified candidates to complete the
UMC ordination process. Approximately 15% of United Methodist clergy are appointed to serve
“cross-racial appointments,” where the ethnoracial identity of the clergyperson is distinct from
the ethnoracial identity of the majority of the church population (Barnes, 2010). Hsieh and
Nguyen (2020) found that individuals in pre-career and early career stages benefited from
mentoring relationships centered on mirrored ERI that happened with groups of people rather
than single individuals. Furthermore, when these team-based relationships would maintain over
periods of 6 years or longer, they would lead to greater performance in career benchmarking and
advancement (Hsieh & Nguyen, 2020). For clergy serving in cross-racial appointments, there are
112
additional challenges. Clergy assigned to cross-racial appointments demonstrated a 35% increase
in burnout rates compared to their peers, most frequently citing the stress of being the only
individual in their community representing their ethnoracial identity (Eagle & Mueller, 2022).
In practice, this recommendation would involve developing a community-based team to
offer support to clergy and sending churches where cross-racial appointments are taking place.
Denominational officials would work with leadership of sending churches to identify leaders in
the surrounding community of the sending church whose ERI mirrored that of the appointed
clergyperson. Requests would be made for monthly gatherings to reflect on leadership practices,
development of intentional DEI frameworks in the sending church, bridging participation gaps
between the sending church and surrounding community, and ensuring appropriate support for
the clergy serving in the cross-racial appointment. Marti (2010) and Najera (2009) found that
intentional ethnoracial integration in faith-based settings, especially in the form of leadership
support as suggested in this recommendation, was an important factor in shaping the racial
attitudes of faith-based communities.
This model would allow for intentional integration of the surrounding community into the
sending church while emphasizing the capacity of the sending church to reflect more accurately
the ERI of its surrounding community. The implementation of a cross-racial appointment model
that is team-based gives certified candidates multiple models of mirrored ERI within their
sending church context. Furthermore, it demonstrates a level of support for clergy that does not
require clergy to serve as solo, heroic leaders. This modeling, both in collaborative leadership
and multidimensionality, would represent a significant improvement over the current model for
cross-racial appointment making. Next, there is a recommendation to intentionally recruit and
onboard people of color to executive leadership positions in the UMC by 2025.
113
Recommendation 2: Intentionally Recruit and Onboard People of Color to Executive
Leadership Positions in the United Methodist Church by 2025
In this study, participants who were unable to observe persons of a similar ethnoracial
identity in executive leadership positions in the United Methodist Church communicated a
decrease in motivation to complete the ordination process. Van Hoye et al. (2019) discovered
that hiring practices amongst people of color, especially women, are a leading factor in
increasing rates of self-efficacy amongst participants looking for employment. Spencer (2016)
noted that people of color are less likely to be hired for work in denominational offices or in
denominational boards or agencies. People who are hired to work in denominational offices,
boards, and agencies have greater access to healthcare, pension, and retirement benefits than
their counterparts working in local congregations (Proeschold-Bell et al., 2011).
In practice, this recommendation would require an assessment of the current leadership
structures present in denominational offices and amongst denominational boards and agencies
and the extent to which people of color are invited to serve in those leadership capacities. Any
barriers to that invitation would need to be removed, and people of color would need to be
recruited intentionally to serve in executive leadership capacities, hired to those positions, and
then receive ongoing training and support to ensure success in their hired positions. The work of
De Beer and Naidoo (2016), Harris et al. (2021), and Yancey and Kim (2008) highlighted the
importance of identity-centered hiring practices in shaping faith-based organizational culture
around DEI efforts. When there are not people of color serving in leadership positions, it is
challenging for people of color to see themselves as having potential to be leaders in the church
(De Beer & Naidoo, 2016; Yancey & Kim, 2008).
114
A commitment to hiring people of color into leadership positions at denominational
offices and denominational boards and agencies creates a greater sense of mirrored ethnoracial
identity representation, which has the potential to increase rates of self-efficacy in certified
candidates for ordained ministry. It would be important to set a SMART goal such as hiring at
least three people of color to executive positions following an extensive recruitment process and
ensuring that onboarding of these persons takes place in a capacity where those who are hired are
set up for success within the organization. Doing this within the next 2 years would emphasize
the importance of these roles and would communicate that the UMC takes mirrored ERI
seriously as a motivational factor within the organization. Next, there is a recommendation to
provide denominational and community mentors for certified candidates who share the
candidate’s ERI.
Recommendation 3: Provide Denominational and Community Mentors for Certified
Candidates Who Share the Candidate’s ERI
The lack of significant mentoring relationships was a factor in the self-efficacy of study
participants to complete the ordination process. Frequently, participants of color did not have
access to a denominationally assigned mentor who shared their ERI. Furthermore, the
disconnected nature of sending churches and surrounding communities created a gap for
mentoring of candidates that could take place outside of faith-based settings.
LeGrand et al. (2013) found that healthy mentoring relationships were a strong predictor
of certified candidates completing the ordination process in the United Methodist Church. Peck-
McClain (2021) described effective mentoring relationships as including a shared sense of
ministerial purpose, theological perspectives, and relatable life experiences and ethnic heritages.
Chan et al. (2015) found that mirrored ERI plays a significant role in the development of
115
successful mentoring relationships amongst graduate-level students. Mirrored ERI is a predictor
of multidirectional interactions that function across contexts to create a multicultural and
relational model of mentoring.
In practice, this recommendation would need to involve collaboration between
denominational leadership and the surrounding community of sending churches. First,
denominational leadership would need to commit to assigning mentors to clergy candidates who
reflect their ERI. From there, denominational leadership would need to work with sending
churches and area leaders to identify willing community leaders who reflect the ERI of clergy
candidates and offer opportunities to those community leaders to serve as informal mentors for
the clergy candidate. Doing this ensures the clergy candidate has appropriate avenues for
mentoring with church and community leaders who reflect their ERI. Newkirk and Cooper
(2013) analyzed mentoring in preparation for faith-based leadership through the lens of shared
gender identity and found that clergy candidates who were mentored by someone who shared
their gender identity were more likely to complete the ordination process in the Baptist church.
While this recommendation centers ethnoracial identity in the United Methodist church, it is
possible that following this recommendation could yield similar results.
Prioritizing mentoring relationships with clergy who share elements of a candidate’s
ethnoracial identity can offer meaningful support to a candidate in the ordination process,
bridging the gap that exists around a lack of shared experiences. Furthermore, this has the
potential to create relationships of support that extend beyond the ordination process. Finally,
when these mentoring relationships extend into the surrounding community, they carry with
them the opportunity for a bridge to be built between sending churches and their surrounding
communities, creating the possibility that in a time not so far away, sending churches can better
116
reflect the predominant ERI of the communities they serve. Finally, there is a recommendation to
offer consistent logistical support to candidates regardless of ethnoracial identity.
Recommendation 4: Offer Consistent Logistical Support to Clergy Candidates Inclusive of
All Ethnoracial Identities
In this study, while participants received significant spiritual support from their sending
churches and denominational leadership, there was a disparity in the kinds of logistical support
candidates of color received, especially from denominational leadership, in comparison with
their European American counterparts. The absence of logistical support was a factor in the
motivation of candidates to complete the UMC ordination process.
Oakley (2017) found that lacking funding was one of the biggest barriers to students not
completing their seminary education, a requirement to complete the UMC ordination process.
Furthermore, Miles and Proeschold-Bell (2013) found that student debt maintenance was one of
the primary causes of stress amongst clergy in the United Methodist Church. Additionally, Case
et al. (2018) shared that having access to consistent, affordable childcare was a factor in the
ongoing mental health of people working toward ordination.
In practice, this recommendation would require denominational officials to agree upon a
standard form of logistical support for all clergy candidates. This would necessitate budget
adjustments and may require additional personnel support to ensure that funding streams,
housing, and childcare could all be offered with equity to clergy candidates of all ethnoracial
identities. Though this practice is not common in faith-based environments, Tuchman and Issacs
(2011) found that consistent logistical support for teachers in training was a predictor of
increased self-efficacy and motivation for trainees to complete their educational requirements.
117
The creation of a standard form of logistical support for clergy candidates inclusive of all
ethnoracial identities would allow for an equitable approach to ensuring clergy candidates have
needed resources to complete the UMC ordination process. This support could take the form of a
scholarship for seminary education, access to free or low-cost housing while completing the
ordination process, and access to consistent, affordable childcare during the ordination process.
Ensuring that these logistical supports are automatically offered to each clergy candidate, not
something candidates apply for or must learn about independently, can remove barriers to the
completion of the UMC ordination process. Now, the chapter pivots to a discussion of future
research that is needed because of this study.
Future Research
This study illuminates the need for continued research on the role mirrored ethnoracial
identity plays in motivation, specifically within faith-based organizations that select,
intentionally or unintentionally, to be segregated ethnoracially. First, there is a need for research
on the role mirrored ERI plays in the motivation of clergy candidates to complete the UMC
ordination process in other geographical areas of the UMC, especially those outside the US. This
study was limited to the Virginia Conference of the UMC. Looking at other geographic areas
may reveal other layers of motivation, being able to observe what happens when greater attention
is placed on mirrored ERI in sending churches, denominational leadership, and surrounding
communities. Other geographic areas also have variances in ethnoracial representation at the
sending church and denominational leadership levels, so being able to see this problem through
the lens of other contexts would be helpful.
Another area for future research is around methodologies for decentering the European
American experience in faith-based communities. While there is recent literature around the
118
concept of “decentering whiteness” in the public square, little attention has been offered to faith-
based contexts in this matter. Furthermore, this is an arena where the minority tax has been
applied: much of the research to this point has been conducted by researchers of color. The
challenges created for people of color by centering the European American experience are vast,
and to create a sense of responsibility on researchers of color for addressing those challenges
only perpetuates them. Critical research and thought around the ways systemic change can take
place in faith-based settings to amplify the voices of the marginalized and see the diaspora of
human experience will add value to this field.
Finally, there is a need for more research in the outcomes of intentional work in local
churches to reflect the predominant ERI of the communities they serve. Current research is
limited to reflections on the ethnoracial segregation of local church settings. In this research,
there are conclusions about the role that ethnoracial segregation in faith-based settings plays in
the surrounding community development and the ways that faith-based communities that
experience greater senses of ethnoracial integration have been able to support their communities.
There is limited research, however, around the methodologies of ethnoracial integration in faith-
based communities and how those settings can work to better reflect the predominant ERI of the
communities they serve. The chapter concludes with a summary of findings, recommendations,
and concluding remarks.
Conclusions
This study was designed to assess the role mirrored ethnoracial identity (ERI) plays in the
motivation of clergy candidates to complete the ordination process in the United Methodist
Church. The study looked at the ethnoracial composition of UMC churches, ethnoracial
representation in UMC leadership, the spaces where ethnoracial identity was mirrored between
119
clergy candidates, sending churches, and surrounding communities, and the personalized
ethnoracial identity of clergy candidates as lenses through which motivation to complete the
UMC ordination process can be studied. The conceptual framework for this study centered
around social cognitive theory (SCT), with environmental factors being the primary variables
impacting the cognition and behavior of participants. Qualitative, semistructured interviews were
conducted to analyze the research questions for this study.
Four principal findings emerged from the data collection process. First, internal
environments played a meaningful role in the motivation of participants, especially when
compared with external environments. Next, candidates of color received different layers of
logistical support than their European American counterparts. Then, the ordination process
centers the European American experience. Finally, churches and leaders do not reflect the ERI
of the communities they serve. Limitations to these findings such as population size and scope of
the study were addressed.
Recommendations for practice and future research were offered. In practice, there were
three recommendations. First, there was a recommendation to implement a team-based model for
cross-racial clergy appointments in sending churches. Then, there was a recommendation to
intentionally recruit and onboard people of color to executive leadership positions in the UMC
by 2025. Next, there was a recommendation to provide denominational and community mentors
for certified candidates for ordained ministry who share the candidate’s ethnoracial identity.
Finally, there was a recommendation to offer consistent logistical support to clergy candidates
regardless of ethnoracial identity.
For future research, there were three additional recommendations. First, there was a
recommendation for research on the role mirrored ERI plays in the motivation of clergy
120
candidates to complete the UMC ordination process in other geographical areas of the UMC,
especially those outside the US. Then, there was a recommendation around methodologies for
decentering the European American experience in faith-based communities. Finally, there was a
recommendation for more research in the outcomes of intentional work in local churches to
reflect the predominant ERI of the communities they serve.
There are clear benefits to creating greater ethnoracial diversity in faith-based
organizations. Churches are better able to align with the needs of the communities they serve
while also reflecting the identity of those communities. While this study focused on ethnoracial
representation, there are a wide range of positionalities that have often been suppressed by faith-
based environments rather than being included. These suppressions only serve to dampen the
witness and reach of faith-based organizations that are centered on the ideals of caring for people
and for creation. To expand into a more inclusive direction, faith-based communities must take
seriously the concept of representation, ensuring that every voice is valued and heard, and every
person is seen and loved.
121
References
Acar, S., Runco, M. A., & Ogurlu, U. (2018). Creativity and religiosity: A reanalysis with
regional predictors. Creativity Research Journal, 30(3), 316–321.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2018.1488349
Adams, C. J., Hough, H., Proeschold-Bell, R., Yao, J., & Kolkin, M. (2016). Clergy burnout: A
comparison study with other helping professions. Pastoral Psychology, 66(2), 147–175.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-016-0722-4
Ali, L., & Sonn, C. C. (2017). Strategies of resistance to anti-Islamic representations among
Australian Muslim women: An intersectional approach. International Journal of
Inclusive Education, 21(11), 1167–1181.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2017.1350323
Allen, J. D., Leyva, B., Torres, M. I., Ospino, H., Tom, L., Rustan, S., & Bartholomew, A.
(2014). Religious beliefs and cancer screening behaviors among catholic Latinos:
Implications for faith-based interventions. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and
Underserved, 25(2), 503–526.
Allured, J. L. (2022). Southern Methodist women and the fight for racial and gender justice,
1939–1990. Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, 38(2), 105–124.
https://doi.org/10.2979/jfemistudreli.38.2.08
Aquino, K., Freeman, D., Reed, A., Lim, V. K. G., & Felps, W. (2009). Testing a social-
cognitive model of moral behavior: The interactive influence of situations and moral
identity centrality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97(1), 123–141.
https://doi.org/10.1037/a0015406
122
Atchison, S. K. (2019). Flashpoint: The church and law enforcement in poor Black and White
communities. Journal of Hate Studies, 15(1), 203–231. https://doi.org/10.33972/jhs.168
Bandura, A. (1989). Human agency in social cognitive theory. The American Psychologist,
44(9), 1175–1184. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.44.9.1175
Bandura, A. (2012). On the functional properties of perceived self-efficacy revisited. Journal of
Management, 38(1), 9–44. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206311410606
Bardwell, K. (2021). Trump, Christian nationalism, and issue polarization: The attitudes and
activism of Iowa clergy in the 2020 caucuses. Politikologija Religije, 15(2), 331–349.
https://doi.org/10.54561/PRJ1502331B
Barnes, S. L. (2010). Theological, denominational, and organizational influences on ecumenical
involvement between Black and White churches. Journal of African American Studies
(New Brunswick, N.J.), 14(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12111-009-9086-5
Barron, J. M. (2016). Managed diversity: Race, place, and an urban church. Sociology of
Religion, 77(1), 18–36.
Basma, D., DeDiego, A. C., & Dafoe, E. (2021). Examining wellness, burnout, and
discrimination among BIPOC counseling students. Journal of Multicultural Counseling
and Development, 49(2), 74–86. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmcd.12207
Baumann, R. (2016). Political engagement meets the prosperity gospel: African American
Christian zionism and Black church politics. Sociology of Religion, 77(4), 359–385.
https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/srw050
Bengtson, V., Endacott, C., & Kang, S. (2018). Older adults in churches: Differences in
perceptions of clergy and older members. Journal of Religion, Spirituality & Aging,
30(2), 154–178. https://doi.org/10.1080/15528030.2017.1414727
123
Bernhart, J. A., Dunn, C. G., Wilcox, S., Saunders, R. P., Sharpe, P. A., & Stucker, J. (2019).
Church leaders’ barriers and facilitators before and after implementing a physical activity
and nutrition intervention. Health Education Research, 34(2), 188–199.
https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyy051
Berrelleza, E. (2020). Exclusion in upscaling institutions: The reproduction of neighborhood
segregation in an urban church. City & Community, 19(1), 1–24.
Biru, B., Yao, J., Plunket, J., Hybels, C. F., Kim, E. T., Eagle, D. E., Choi, J. Y., & Proeschold-
Bell, R. (2022). The gap in mental health service utilization among United Methodist
clergy with anxiety and depressive symptoms. Journal of Religion and Health, 61(6).
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-022-01699-y
Bowles, D., Clayton, O., & Hopps, J. G. (2017). Spirituality and social work practice at
historically Black colleges and universities. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social
Environment, 27(5), 424–437.
https://doi-org.libproxy1.usc.edu/10.1080/10911359.2016.1203384
Brooks, N. (moderator). (1960). Meet the Press [TV Show]. National Broadcasting Company.
Brown, R. E., Brown, R. K., Phoenix, D., & Jackson, J. S. (2016). Race, religion, and anti-
poverty policy attitudes. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 55(2), 308–323.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12258
Burga, R., Leblanc, J., & Rezania, D. (2020). Exploring student perceptions of their readiness for
project work: Utilizing social cognitive career theory. Project Management Journal,
51(2), 154–164. https://doi.org/10.1177/8756972819896697
124
Cafferata, G. (2017). Respect, challenges, and stress among protestant pastors closing a church:
Structural and identity theory perspectives. Pastoral Psychology, 66(3), 311–333.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-016-0751-z
Case, A. D., Eagle, D. E., Yao, J., & Proeschold-Bell, R. (2018). Disentangling race and
socioeconomic status in health disparities research: An examination of Black and White
clergy. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 5(5), 1014–1022.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-017-0449-7
Chan, A. W., Yeh, C. J., & Krumboltz, J. D. (2015). Mentoring ethnic minority counseling and
clinical psychology students: A multicultural, ecological, and relational model. Journal of
Counseling Psychology, 62(4), 592–607.
Choi, J. (2021). Loving my new neighbor: The Korean-American Methodists’ response to the
UMC debate over LGBTQ individuals in everyday life. Religions, 12(8), 561.
https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12080561
Choi, Y. J., Orpinas, P., Kim, I., & Kim, J. (2018). Korean American clergy: Knowledge,
attitude, self-efficacy, and behaviors related to the prevention of intimate partner
violence. Social Work and Christianity, 45(4), 41–60.
Collins, P. H. (2015). Intersectionality’s definitional dilemmas. Annual Review of Sociology,
41(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-073014-112142
Creswell, J. W. & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed
methods approaches. SAGE Publications, Inc.
Crockford, S. (2018). Thank God for the greatest country on earth: White supremacy, vigilantes,
and survivalists in the struggle to define the American nation. Religion, State & Society,
46(3), 224–242. https://doi.org/10.1080/09637494.2018.1483995
125
Cronshaw, D. (2019). “Growing young” in Australian Baptist churches: Surveying formation,
belonging and mission. Exchange (Leiden, Netherlands), 48(2), 156–181.
https://doi.org/10.1163/1572543X-12341519
Cropsey, M. W. (2013). The book of discipline of the United Methodist Church 2012. United
Methodist Publishing House.
De Beer, S., & Naidoo, M. (2016). Diversity: Negotiating difference in Christian communities.
Hervormde Teologiese Studies, 72(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v72i1.3525
Djupe, P. A., & Friesen, A. (2018). Moralizing to the choir: The moral foundations of American
clergy. Social Science Quarterly, 99(2), 665–682. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.12455
Djupe, P. A., & Neiheisel, J. R. (2012). How religious communities affect political participation
among Latinos. Social Science Quarterly, 93(2), 333–355.
Djupe, P. A., & Neiheisel, J. R. (2019). Political mobilization in American congregations: A
religious economies perspective. Politics and Religion, 12(1), 123–152.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755048318000512
Dougherty, K. D., Ferguson, T. W., & Marti, G. (2021). Racial dynamics of congregations and
communities: A longitudinal analysis of United Methodist congregations, 1990–2010.
Social Forces, 100(1), 345–374. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soaa124
Dougherty, K. D., Chaves, M., & Emerson, M. O. (2020). Racial diversity in U.S. congregations,
1998–2019. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 59(4), 651–662. https://doi-
org.libproxy1.usc.edu/10.1111/jssr.12681
Dupree, P. C. (2022). Methodist desegregation and inclusion: Polity vs. policy. Methodist
History, 60(2), 236–251. https://doi.org/10.5325/methodisthist.60.2.0236
126
Dyas, D., & Giles, K. (2021, March 1). Churches, COVID-19 and communities - churches and
covid. Churches, COVID-19, and Communities. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from
https://churchesandcovid.org/sites/churchesandcovid.org/files/2021-04/Churches-
Covid19-communties-full-report.pdf
Eagle, D. E., Hybels, C. F., & Proeschold-Bell, R. (2019). Perceived social support, received
social support, and depression among clergy. Journal of Social and Personal
Relationships, 36(7), 2055–2073. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407518776134
Eagle, D. E., Johnston, E., Headley, J., & Holleman, A. (2022). The financial impacts of
COVID-19 on United Methodist Churches in North Carolina: A qualitative study of
pastors’ perspectives and strategies. Review of Religious Research, 64(2), 399–420.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13644-021-00474-x
Eagle, D. E., & Mueller, C. (2022). Reproducing inequality in a formally antiracist organization:
The case of racialized career pathways in the United Methodist Church. The American
Journal of Sociology, 127(5), 1507–1550. https://doi.org/10.1086/719391
Edwards, K. L. (2014). Role strain theory and understanding the role of head clergy of racially
diverse churches. Sociology of Religion, 75(1), 57–79.
https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/srt047
Ehret, V. M. (2019). Contemporary religious changes in the U.S.: Responses to the fracturing of
religious life. Religions (Basel, Switzerland), 10(5), 295.
https://doi.org/10.3390/rel10050295
End of the Central Jurisdiction. GCAH. (2022). Retrieved February 21, 2022, from
http://gcah.org/history/central-jurisdiction
127
Ferguson, T. W. (2015). Failing to master divinity: How institutional type, financial debt,
community acceptance, and gender affect seminary graduates’ career choices. Review of
Religious Research, 57(3), 341–363. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13644-015-0209-2
Fiala, W. E., Bjorck, J. P., & Gorsuch, R. (2002). The religious support scale: Construction,
validation, and cross-validation. American Journal of Community Psychology, 30(6),
761–786. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020264718397
Fishman, R. M., Gervasoni, C., & Stater, K. J. (2015). Inequality and the altruistic life: A study
of the priestly vocation rate. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 54(3), 575–595.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12216
Flatt, K. N., Millard Haskell, D., & Burgoyne, S. (2018). Secularization and attribution: How
mainline protestant clergy and congregants explain church growth and decline. Sociology
of Religion, 79(1), 78–107. https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/srx044
Fry, A. D. J. (2021). Clergy, capital, and gender inequality: An assessment of how social and
spiritual capital are denied to women priests in the Church of England. Gender, Work,
and Organization, 28(6), 2091–2113. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12685
Gardner, A., & Martí, G. (2022). From ordaining women to combating White supremacy:
Oppositional shifts in social attitudes between the Southern Baptist convention and the
alliance of Baptists. Religion and American Culture, 32(2), 202–235.
https://doi.org/10.1017/rac.2022.7
Gholami, R. (2021). Critical race theory and islamophobia: Challenging inequity in higher
education. Race, Ethnicity and Education, 24(3), 319–337.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2021.1879770
Gibbs, G. (2018). Analyzing qualitative data. SAGE.
128
Gilliland, C. C., & Krull, L. M. (2022). Getting permission to break the rules: Clergy respond to
LGBTQ exclusion in the United Methodist Church. Sociology of Religion, 83(4), 480–
504. https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/srac005
Gindi, S. & Erlich Ron, R. (2021). Has religiosity become a key factor in Jewish Israelis’
attitudes toward minorities? A call for research. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion an
International Journal, 40(3), 259–272. https://doi-org.libproxy1.usc.edu/10.1108/EDI-
03-2020-0064
Gittelsohn, J., Anderson Steeves, E. T., Ho, J. J., Shin, A., Farner, H., & Summers, A. (2020). A
church-based diabetes risk factor prevention program improves psychosocial factors and
food-related behaviors. Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, 15(3), 295–310.
https://doi.org/10.1080/19320248.2018.1564720
Hahn, H. (2019, November 25). US dips below majority of membership. United Methodist News
Service. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from https://www.umnews.org/en/news/us-dips-
below-majority-of-membership
Hameduddin, T. (2021). Employee engagement among public employees: Exploring the role of
the (perceived) external environment. American Review of Public Administration, 51(7),
526–541. https://doi.org/10.1177/02750740211010346
Hamm, A. K., & Eagle, D. E. (2021). Clergy who leave congregational ministry: A review of the
literature. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 49(4), 291–307.
https://doi.org/10.1177/00916471211011597
Hardie, J. H., Pearce, L. D., & Denton, M. L. (2016). The dynamics and correlates of religious
service attendance in adolescence. Youth & Society, 48(2), 151–175.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X13483777
129
Harris, H., Gaynor, G., Cole, C., Cressy, V., Smith, N., Herridge, M., & Wills, L. (2021).
Addressing LGBTQ+ inclusion: Challenges, faith, and resilience in the church and her
people. Social Work and Christianity, 48(1), 75–105.
https://doi.org/10.34043/swc.v48i1.177
Harvey, G. (2016). If ‘spiritual but not religious’ people are not religious what difference do they
make? Journal for the Study of Spirituality, 6(2), 128–141.
https://doi.org/10.1080/20440243.2016.1235164
Haskell, D. M., Flatt, K. N., & Burgoyne, S. (2016). Theology matters: Comparing the traits of
growing and declining mainline protestant church attendees and clergy. Review of
Religious Research, 58(4), 515–541. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13644-016-0255-4
Hayes, S. W. (2017). Changing radicalization to resilience by understanding marginalization.
Peace Review, 29(2), 153–159. https://doi.org/10.1080/10402659.2017.1308190
Heard Harvey, C. C. C., & Ricard, R. J. (2018). Contextualizing the concept of intersectionality:
Layered identities of African American women and gay men in the Black church. Journal
of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 46(3), 206–218.
https://doi.org/10.1002/jmcd.12102
Hedlund, A., Åteg, M., Andersson, I., & Rosén, G. (2010). Assessing motivation for work
environment improvements: Internal consistency, reliability and factorial structure.
Journal of Safety Research, 41(2), 145–151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2009.12.005
Hegy, P. (2021). Worship and culture: Endogenous and exogenous factors in a local church. SN
Social Sciences, 1(5), 131. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-021-00156-z
Hockenbery, J. (2021). Supremacist thinking, epistemological despair, and Christian hope.
Dialog: A Journal of Theology, 60(1), 28–34. https://doi.org/10.1111/dial.12627
130
Hoover, B. C. (2021). Evaluating the moral framing of disaffiliation: Sociological and pastoral
perspectives on the rise of the “nones.” Religions (Basel, Switzerland), 12(6), 386.
https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12060386
Hough, H., Proeschold-Bell, R., Liu, X., Weisner, C., Turner, E. L., & Yao, J. (2018).
Relationships between sabbath observance and mental, physical, and spiritual health in
clergy. Pastoral Psychology, 68(2), 171–193. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-018-0838-9
Howell, F. M., Bartkowski, J. P., Hempel, L. M., & Porter, J. R. (2018). When faith, race, and
hate collide: Religious ecology, local hate cultures, and church burnings. Review of
Religious Research, 60(2), 223–245.
Hsieh, B., & Nguyen, H. T. (2020). Identity-informed mentoring to support acculturation of
female faculty of color in higher education: An Asian American female mentoring
relationship case study. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 13(2), 169–180.
https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000118
Hunt, L. L., & Hunt, M. O. (2001). Race, region, and religious involvement: A comparative
study of Whites and African Americans. Social Forces, 80(2), 605–631.
https://doi.org/10.1353/sof.2001.0098
Jemmott, L. S., Jemmott, J. B., Icard, L. D., & Hsu, J. (2020). Effects of church-based parent–
child abstinence-only interventions on adolescents’ sexual behaviors. Journal of
Adolescent Health, 66(1), 107–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2019.07.021
Johnston, E. F., Eagle, D. E., Headley, J., & Holleman, A. (2021). Pastoral ministry in unsettled
times: A qualitative study of the experiences of clergy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Review of Religious Research. 2021:1–23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13644-021-00465-y
131
Joynt, S. (2017). Exodus of clergy: The role of leadership in responding to the call. Hervormde
Teologiese Studies, 73(4), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v73i4.4625
Joynt, S. (2019). The cost of “not being heard” and clergy retention. Acta Theologica, 39(1),
110–134. https://doi.org/10.18820/23099089/act
Karpov, V., Lisovskaya, E., & Barry, D. (2012). Ethnodoxy: How popular ideologies fuse
religious and ethnic identities. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 51(4), 638–
655. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5906.2012.01678.x
Klaits, F., & Mclean, S. A. (2015). Valuing Black lives: Pentecostalism, charismatic gifts, and
human economies in a U.S. inner city. American Ethnologist, 42(4), 610–623.
https://doi.org/10.1111/amet12159
Kramarek, M. J., & Gautier, M. L. (2021). Survey of ordinands to the priesthood: A cara report
to the secretariat of clergy, consecrated life, and vocations. Center for Applied Research
in the Apostolate, 23(1), 3–4.
Krause, N., & Bastida, E. (2011). Church-based social relationships, belonging, and health
among older Mexican Americans. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 50(2),
397–409. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5906.2011.01575.x
Lanzi, R. G., Footman, A. P., Jackson, E., Araya, B. Y., Ott, C., Sterling, R. D., Kaiser, K. A.
(2019). Love with no exceptions: A statewide faith-based, university–community
partnership for faith-based HIV training and assessment of needs in the deep south. AIDS
and Behavior, 23(11), 2936–2945. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-019-02604-7
Lassiter, J. M., & Poteat, T. (2020). Religious coping and depressive symptoms among Black
Americans living with HIV: An intersectional approach. Psychology of Religion and
Spirituality, 12(3), 261–268. https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000284
132
Laster Pirtle, W. N. (2020). Racial capitalism: A fundamental cause of novel coronavirus
(COVID-19) pandemic inequities in the United States. Health Education & Behavior,
47(4), 504–508. https://doi.org/10.1177/1090198120922942
Lee, C., & Rosales, A. (2020). Self-regard in pastoral ministry: Self-compassion versus self-
criticism in a sample of United Methodist clergy. Journal of Psychology and Theology,
48(1), 18–33. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091647119870290
Lee, D. L., & Ahn, S. (2013). The relation of racial identity, ethnic identity, and racial
socialization to discrimination-distress: A meta-analysis of Black Americans. Journal of
Counseling Psychology, 60(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031275
LeGrand, S., Proeschold-Bell, R., James, J., & Wallace, A. (2013). Healthy leaders: Multilevel
health promotion considerations for diverse United Methodist Church pastors. Journal of
Community Psychology, 41(3), 303–321. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.21539
Lindholm, G., Johnston, J., Dong, F., Moore, K., & Ablah, E. (2016). Clergy wellness: An
assessment of perceived barriers to achieving healthier lifestyles. Journal of Religion and
Health, 55(1), 97–109. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-014-9976-2
Lingier, A., & Vandewiele, W. (2021). The decline of religious life in the twentieth century.
Religions (Basel, Switzerland), 12(6), 388. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12060388
Liu, Y., Wang, H., Liu, J., & Zhang, T. H. (2022). Racial diversity, majority–minority gap, and
confidence in the criminal justice system. Canadian Journal of Criminology and
Criminal Justice, 64(3), 26–48. https://doi.org/10.3138/cjccj.2021-0049
Maddox, M. (2013). Prosper, consume and be saved. Critical Research on Religion, 1(1), 108–
115. https://doi.org/10.1177/2050303213476108
133
Marshall, J., & Olson, D. V. A. (2018). Is ‘spiritual but not religious’ a replacement for religion
or just one step on the path between religion and non-religion? Review of Religious
Research, 60(4), 503–518. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13644-018-0342-9
Marti, G. (2010). The religious racial integration of African Americans into diverse churches.
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 49(2), 201–217.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5906.2010.01503.x
Martin, C. A., Rivera, D. E., Riley, W. T., Hekler, E. B., Buman, M. P., Adams, M. A., & King,
A. C. (2014). A dynamical systems model of social cognitive theory. Paper presented at
the American Control Conference. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACC.2014.6859463
Martin, P. P., Butler-Barnes, S., & Hope, M. O. (2023). Sitting in the pews: Theological beliefs
and racial/ethnic identity among African American adolescents. Youth & Society, 55(2),
300–320. https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X211046638
Martinez, B. C., & Tamburello, J. A. (2018). The role of Whites in lay leadership within Latino
churches. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 57(1), 39–57.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12497
McGuire, K. M., Cisneros, J., & McGuire, T. D. (2017). Intersections at a (heteronormative)
crossroad: Gender and sexuality among Black students’ spiritual-and-religious narratives.
Journal of College Student Development, 58(2), 175–197.
https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2017.0014
Mercadante, L. (2020). Spiritual struggles of nones and ‘spiritual but not religious’ (SBNRs).
Religions (Basel, Switzerland), 11(10), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11100513
Merriam, S. B., & Tisdell, E. J. (2016). Qualitative research: A guide to design and
implementation (4th ed.). Jossey-Bass.
134
Miles, A., & Proeschold-Bell, R. (2012). Are rural clergy worse off?: An examination of
occupational conditions and pastoral experiences in a sample of United Methodist clergy.
Sociology of Religion, 73(1), 23–45. https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/srr025
Miles, A., & Proeschold-Bell, R. (2013). Overcoming the challenges of pastoral work? Peer
support groups and psychological distress among United Methodist Church clergy.
Sociology of Religion, 74(2), 199–226. https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/srs055
Miller, R. L. (2021). “Agape love is justice”: Black clergies’ public and theological support of
Black gay men. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 1–16.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2021.1943533
Mueller, C. W., & McDuff, E. M. (2002). “Good” jobs and “bad” jobs: Differences in the clergy
employment relationship. Review of Religious Research, 44(2), 150–168.
https://doi.org/10.2307/3512513
Mueller, M. P. (2015). History lessons: Race and the LDS church. Journal of Mormon History,
41(1), 139–155.
Munn, C. W. (2019). Finding a seat at the table: How race shapes access to social capital.
Sociology of Religion, 80(4), 435–455. https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/sry042
Nájera, J. (2009). Practices of faith and racial integration in south Texas: A case study of
Mexican segregation. Cultural Dynamics, 21(1), 5–28.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0921374008100405
Newkirk, D., & Cooper, B. S. (2013). Preparing women for Baptist church leadership: Mentoring
impact on beliefs and practices of female ministers. Journal of Research on Christian
Education, 22(3), 323–343. https://doi.org/10.1080/10656219.2013.845120
135
Niemela, K. (2015). ‘No longer believing in belonging’: A longitudinal study of Finnish
generation Y from confirmation experience to church-leaving. Social Compass, 62(2),
172–186. https://doi.org/10.1177/0037768615571688
Nortomaa, A. (2016). Predicting ordination, early-career mobility, and career adaptation from
ministerial applicants’ psychological assessment results. Review of Religious Research,
58(4), 543–569. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13644-016-0254-5
Okuwobi, O. F. (2019). “Everything that i’ve done has always been multiethnic”: Biographical
work among leaders of multiracial churches. Sociology of Religion, 80(4), 478–495.
https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/sry058
Otaye-Ebede, L., Shaffakat, S., & Foster, S. (2019). A multilevel model examining the
relationships between workplace spirituality, ethical climate and outcomes: A social
cognitive theory perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 166(3), 611–626.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-019-04133-8
Oyakawa, M. (2019). Racial reconciliation as a suppressive frame in evangelical multiracial
churches. Sociology of Religion, 80(4), 496–517. https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/srz003
Ozyilmaz, A., Erdogan, B., & Karaeminogullari, A. (2018). Trust in organization as a moderator
of the relationship between self‐efficacy and workplace outcomes: A social cognitive
theory‐based examination. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology,
91(1), 181–204. https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12189
Park, H. R. (2014, September 24). Leadership style of UMC racial-ethnic lead pastors. GBHEM.
Retrieved February 21, 2022, from https://www.gbhem.org/wpcontent/uploads/2019/06/
Clergy_LeadershipStyle_HiRho2014.pdf
136
Park, J. J., & Bowman, N. A. (2015). Religion as bridging or bonding social capital: Race,
religion, and cross-racial interaction for college students. Sociology of Education, 88(1),
20–37. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038040714560172
Peck-McClain, E. (2021). Accompanying and learning from reconciling United Methodist youth
at a time of denominational upheaval. Religious Education, 116(5), 467–478.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00344087.2021.2004014
Perry, S. L. (2012). Racial diversity, religion, and morality: Examining the moral views of
multiracial church attendees. Review of Religious Research, 55(2), 355–376.
Perry, S. L. (2013). Social capital, race, and personal fundraising in evangelical outreach
ministries. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 52(1), 159–178.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12005
Perry, S. L., & Schleifer, C. (2019). Are bivocational clergy becoming the new normal? An
analysis of the current population survey, 1996–2017. Journal for the Scientific Study of
Religion, 58(2), 513–525. https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12593
Perry, S. L., & Whitehead, A. L. (2019). Christian America in Black and White: Racial identity,
religious-national group boundaries, and explanations for racial inequality. Sociology of
Religion, 80(3), 277–298. https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/sry046
Pew Research Forum. (2015). 2014 Religious landscape study [Data set]. Pew Research Forum.
https://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/
Pingel, E. S., & Bauermeister, J. A. (2018). ‘Church hurt can be the worst hurt’: Community
stakeholder perceptions of the role of Black churches in HIV prevention among young
Black gay and bisexual men. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 20(2), 218–231.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2017.1338756
137
Proeschold-Bell, R., LeGrand, S., James, J., Wallace, A., Adams, C., & Toole, D. (2011). A
theoretical model of the holistic health of United Methodist clergy. Journal of Religion
and Health, 50(3), 700–720. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-009-9250-1
Reinhart, R. (2021). Community found: Young adult catholic identity and commitment. Journal
for the Scientific Study of Religion, 60(2), 382–399. https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12714
Rimes, H., Nesbit, R., & Christensen, R. K. (2019). Giving at work: Exploring connections
between workplace giving campaigns and patterns of household charitable giving in the
USA. Voluntas (Manchester, England), 30(4), 828–840. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-
019-00125-4
Russell, T. B. (2019, July 18). The conundrum of counting churches. Vital Signs and Statistics.
Retrieved February 21, 2022, from https://carducc.wordpress.com/2019/07/22/the-
conundrum-of-counting-churches/
Sáiz-Pardo, M., Haro Domínguez, M. C., & Molina, L. M. (2021). Transactive memory systems
mediation role in the relationship between motivation and internal knowledge transfers in
a military environment. Journal of Knowledge Management, 25(10), 2396–2419.
https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-10-2020-0777
Sánchez, B., Pryce, J., Silverthorn, N., Deane, K. L., & DuBois, D. L. (2019). Do mentor support
for ethnic-racial identity and mentee cultural mistrust matter for girls of color? A
preliminary investigation. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, 25(4), 505–
514. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000213
Saunders, D., Norko, M., Fallon, B., Phillips, J., Nields, J., Majeed, S., & El-Gabalawi, F.
(2020). Varieties of religious (non)affiliation: A primer for mental health practitioners on
the “spiritual but not religious” and the “nones.” The Journal of Nervous and Mental
138
Disease; J Nerv Ment Dis, 208(5), 424–430.
https://doi.org/10.1097/NMD.0000000000001141
Scapp, R. (2021). Wednesday, January 6, 2021. Ethnic Studies Review, 44(1), 18.
Schaubroeck, J. M., Shen, Y., & Chong, S. (2017). A dual-stage moderated mediation model
linking authoritarian leadership to follower outcomes. Journal of Applied Psychology,
102(2), 203–214. https://doi-org.libproxy1.usc.edu/10.1037/apl0000165
Schleifer, C., & Chaves, M. (2016). The price of the calling: Exploring clergy compensation
using current population survey data. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 55(1),
130–152. https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12254
Schmitz, R. M., & Woodell, B. (2018). Complex processes of religion and spirituality among
midwestern LGBTQ homeless young adults. Sexuality & Culture, 22(3), 980–999.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-018-9504-8
Spencer, L. G. (2016). Bishop Leontine Turpeau Current Kelly: Toward an ironic prophetic
rhetoric. Western Journal of Communication, 80(5), 519–538.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10570314.2016.1187763
Stansbury, K. L., Marshall, G. L., Hall, J., Simpson, G. M., & Bullock, K. (2018). Community
engagement with African American clergy: Faith-based model for culturally competent
practice. Aging & Mental Health, 22(11), 1510–1515.
Stewart, J. M., Sommers, M. S., & Brawner, B. M. (2013). The Black church, sexual health, and
sexuality: A conceptual framework to promote health through faith-based organizations.
Family & Community Health, 36(3), 269–279.
Sturges, J. (2020). In God’s name: Calling, gender and career success in religious ministry.
Gender, Work, and Organization, 27(6), 971–987. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12424
139
Sullins, D. P. (2013). Institutional selection for conformity: The case of U.S. Catholic priests.
Sociology of Religion, 74(1), 56–81. https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/srs053
Sumerau, E. J. (2012). Mobilizing race, class, and gender discourses in a metropolitan
community church. Race, Gender & Class, 19(3), 93–112.
Swartz, D. R. (2017). Christ of the American road: E. Stanley jones, India, and civil rights.
Journal of American Studies, 51(4), 1117–1138.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021875816001420
Taralynne-Brewer, K., Cochran, J. K., Powers, R. A., & Sellers, C. S. (2019). Intimate partner
violence and the capacity and desire for self-control. Deviant Behavior, 40(7), 753–777.
https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2018.1438066
Terkun, K. (2021). Clergy attitudes toward credit/debt. The Journal of Applied Business and
Economics, 23(3), 114–140. https://doi.org/10.33423/jabe.v23i3.4345
Thomas, J. M. (2017). Race, place, and clusters: Current vision and possible strategies. Journal
of Bahá’i Studies, 27(3), 85–114. https://doi.org/10.31581/JBS-27.3.4(2017)
Trejo, J. (2020). The burden of service for faculty of color to achieve diversity and inclusion:
The minority tax. Molecular Biology of the Cell, 31(25), 2752–2754.
https://doi.org/10.1091/mbc.E20-08-0567
Tuchman, E., & Isaacs, J. (2011). The influence of formal and informal formative pre-service
experiences on teacher self-efficacy. Educational Psychology (Dorchester-on-Thames),
31(4), 413–433. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2011.560656
Uecker, J. E., Regnerus, M. D., & Margaret L. Vaaler. (2007). Losing my religion: The social
sources of religious decline in early adulthood. Social Forces, 85(4), 1667–1692.
https://doi.org/10.1353/sof.2007.0083
140
Umaña‐Taylor, A. J., Douglass, S., Updegraff, K. A., & Marsiglia, F. F. (2018). A Small‐scale
randomized efficacy trial of the identity project: Promoting adolescents’ ethnic–racial
identity exploration and resolution. Child Development, 89(3), 862–870.
https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12755
Valbousquet, N. (2018). Race and faith: The Catholic Church, clerical fascism, and the shaping
of Italian anti-semitism and racism. Journal of the Association for the Study of Modern
Italy, 23(4), 355–371.
van Hoye, G., Van Hooft, E. A. J., Stremersch, J., & Lievens, F. (2019). Specific job search self-
efficacy beliefs and behaviours of unemployed ethnic minority women. International
Journal of Selection and Assessment, 27(1), 9–20. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijsa.12231
Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church. (2020, August 17). Book of reports for the
238th session of the Virginia Annual Conference.
http://doc.vaumc.org/AC2020/2020BOR.pdf
Wade, M. (2016). Seeker-friendly: The hillsong megachurch as an enchanting total institution.
Journal of Sociology (Melbourne, Vic.), 52(4), 661–676.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1440783315575171
Waldrep, C. (2012). The use and abuse of the law: Public opinion and United Methodist Church
trials of ministers performing same-sex union ceremonies. Law and History Review,
30(4), 953–1005. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0738248012000545
Weems, L. (2021, November 1). A Lewis Center report on clergy age trends in the United
Methodist Church. Lewis Center for Church Leadership. Retrieved February 21, 2022,
from https://www.churchleadership.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Clergy-Age-
Trends-20210.pdf
141
White, D. A., & Kimmons, M. (2019). Clergy education and the development of emotional
intelligence: An analysis of United Methodist clergy in Kentucky. Christian Education
Journal, 16(2), 369–378. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739891319847701
White, M. (2021, June 19). Journal of the Virginia Annual Conference of the United Methodist
Church: The two hundred and thirty-ninth session.
https://doc.vaumc.org/Journal2021/2021Journal.pdf
Williams, R. M., Tagai, E. K., Santos, S. L. Z., Slade, J. L., Carter, R. L., & Holt, C. L. (2018).
The role of leadership support in a church-based cancer education implementation study.
Journal of Religion and Health, 57(1), 146–156. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-017-
0427-8
Woods, L. L. (2018). “The inevitable products of racial segregation”: Multigenerational
consequences of exclusionary housing policies on African Americans, 1910–1960. The
American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 77(3–4), 967–1012.
https://doi.org/10.1111/ajes.12229
Wright, B. R. E., Wallace, M., Wisnesky, A. S., Donnelly, C. M., Missari, S., & Zozula, C.
(2015). Religion, race, and discrimination: A field experiment of how American churches
welcome newcomers. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 54(2), 185.
Yancey, G., & Kim, Y. J. (2008). Racial diversity, gender equality, and SES diversity in
Christian congregations: Exploring the connections of racism, sexism, and classism in
multiracial and nonmultiracial churches. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion,
47(1), 103–111. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5906.2008.00394.x
142
Yu, S. (2018). “We are all children of god”: The intersectionality of religion, race and ethnicity,
and immigration in Chinese churches in Memphis, Tennessee. Papers in Applied
Geography, 4(3), 256–273. https://doi.org/10.1080/23754931.2018.1425634
Zhao, G., Chiu, H. H., Jiao, H., Cheng, M. Y., & Chen, Y. (2021). The effect of person-team
conscientiousness fit on knowledge sharing: The moderating role of internal team
environment. Group & Organization Management, 46(3), 498–529.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1059601120985663
143
Appendix A: Interview Protocol
Introduction to the interview: Hello, my name is Jonathan Page, and I am a student in the
Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California. I am conducting a study
that assesses the impact of ethnoracial identity on clergy recruitment in the United Methodist
Church. I am looking forward to learning about your background and experience and how your
responses in this interview might be a part of this study. Your participation in this study is
voluntary. At any point you can indicate that you would like to end the interview or that you
decline to answer questions. Additionally, know that you will be assigned a pseudonym to
protect your privacy and ensure that information obtained in this interview remains confidential.
Finally, please know that information obtained in this interview will be used only for the
purposes of this study.
As we begin, I’d like to ask for your consent to a couple of things related to this
interview. First, do I have your consent to use your perspectives in my research? (wait for
response) And then, do I have your consent to record this conversation? (wait for response)
Thank you for those responses. At any time during this interview, feel free to indicate your need
to pause or take a break, and feel free to ask any questions you may have. With that, are you
ready to begin? (wait for response)
144
Table A1
Interview Questions
Interview question Potential probes RQ
1. Thanks so much for participating in
this interview. What has your
experience been like in the ordination
process so far?
1, 2, 3
2. How would you assess your
motivation to complete the ordination
process in the United Methodist
Church at this point?
What factors, if any, would impact
your motivation to complete the
ordination process?
1, 2, 3
3. How would you describe your ethnic
heritage?
How would you describe your
racial identity?
3
4. How would you describe the
dominant ethnic heritage and racial
identity of your sending church?
How does that compare with the
community that surrounds the
sending church?
1, 3
5. How would you describe your racial
identity?
How does that compare with the
community that surrounds the
sending church?
1, 3
6. What role, if any, does your
ethnoracial identity have in your
external community relationships?
3
7. What level of support do you feel
from UMC leadership in completing
the ordination process?
What, if any, impact do you feel
your ethnoracial identity has on
that level of support?
2
145
Interview question Potential probes RQ
8. What level of support do you feel
your sending church has from UMC
leadership?
How, if at all, is that mitigated by
the ethnoracial identity of UMC
leaders?
How, if at all, is that mitigated by
the ethnoracial identity of UMC
sending churches?
1, 2
9. How, if at all, have you been able to
see people with a similar ethnoracial
identity as yourself in UMC
leadership?
How, if at all, has that impacted
your perceptions of the ordination
process?
2
10. What, if any, ways does your
sending church demonstrate support
for you in the ordination process?
How, if at all, do you perceive your
ethnoracial identity impacts that
support?
1
11. Have you been able to see people
with a similar ethnoracial identity as
yourself in your sending church?
What, if any, impact has this had on
your motivation to complete the
ordination process?
1
12. Have you been able to see people
with a similar ethnoracial identity as
yourself in UMC leadership?
What, if any, impact has this had on
your motivation to complete the
ordination process?
2
13. Have you been able to see people
with a similar ethnoracial identity as
yourself in the surrounding
community?
What, if any, impact has this had on
your motivation to complete the
ordination process?
3
146
Interview question Potential probes RQ
14. If the ethnoracial identity of your
sending church more closely mirrored
your ethnoracial identity, what
impacts do you believe that would
have on your motivation to complete
the ordination process?
If the ethnoracial identity of the
surrounding community of your
sending church more closely
mirrored your ethnoracial
identity, what impacts do you
believe that would have on your
motivation to complete the
ordination process?
If the ethnoracial identity of UMC
leadership more closely mirrored
your ethnoracial identity, what
impacts do you believe that
would have on your motivation to
complete the ordination process?
1, 2, 3
15. How, if at all, do you feel your
ethnoracial identity has influenced
your motivation to complete the
ordination process?
3
Conclusion of the interview: Before we close, I want to ask if you might be aware of any
other clergy candidates in VAUMC that you might recommend I interview as a part of this
study? (wait for response) That wraps up the questions I have for you today. This interview will
be helpful in the research study I am conducting. Thank you so much for your time and
transparency in responding to these questions.
Abstract (if available)
Linked assets
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
Conceptually similar
PDF
Access to ambulatory healthcare services for LGBTQ populations
PDF
Reducing employee turnover through organizational identity
PDF
Representation of gay Asian men in the media
PDF
Increasing representation of women in executive technology leadership roles
PDF
Europe, we have a problem: the experience of Black female leaders in Europe
PDF
Raising women leaders of Christian higher education: an innovation study
PDF
The impact of campus climate on community college student motivation
PDF
Inclusionary practices of leaders in a biotechnology company: a gap analysis innovation study
PDF
A phenomenological study of the impact of English language learner support services on students’ identity development
PDF
The importance of mentoring in leadership self-efficacy for women in supply chain: a qualitative study
PDF
Developmental education pathway success: a study on the intersection of adjunct faculty and teaching metacognition
PDF
Development of intraorganizational post-merger collaboration plan: an evaluation study
PDF
Shattering the glass ceiling: examining invisible barriers to women’s career progression in South Korean international schools
PDF
The impact of name, image, and likeness (NIL) legislation on the decision-making process regarding school attendance for student-athletes
PDF
Motivation for participating in virtual religious communities: developing social capital
PDF
Impact of training on leader's ability to effectively lead during a crisis
PDF
Disclosure of abuse to empowerment: exploring psychological safety as a leadership tool to support women struggling with workplace performance
PDF
Culturally relevant sex education for Black adolescents: a study of Black sexuality educators
PDF
Knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences within leadership development: a study of a business unit in a prominent technology company
PDF
An examination of the impact of diversity initiatives and their supporting roles on organizational culture: an experiential study from the perspective of diversity personnel
Asset Metadata
Creator
Page, Jonathan Joseph
(author)
Core Title
Representation matters: a study on the impact of mirrored ethnoracial identity on the motivation of clergy candidates to complete the ordination process in the United Methodist Church
School
Rossier School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Education
Degree Program
Organizational Change and Leadership (On Line)
Degree Conferral Date
2023-05
Publication Date
05/09/2023
Defense Date
03/27/2023
Publisher
University of Southern California
(original),
University of Southern California. Libraries
(digital)
Tag
candidacy,faith-based,leadership,mirrored ethnoracial identity,Motivation,OAI-PMH Harvest,Ordination,self-efficacy,United Methodist Church
Format
theses
(aat)
Language
English
Contributor
Electronically uploaded by the author
(provenance)
Advisor
Spann, Rufus Tony (
committee chair
), Ferrario, Kim (
committee member
), Ho, Mary (
committee member
)
Creator Email
jjpage@usc.edu,jonathanjpage@gmail.com
Permanent Link (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC113103787
Unique identifier
UC113103787
Identifier
etd-PageJonath-11806.pdf (filename)
Legacy Identifier
etd-PageJonath-11806
Document Type
Dissertation
Format
theses (aat)
Rights
Page, Jonathan Joseph
Internet Media Type
application/pdf
Type
texts
Source
20230509-usctheses-batch-1040
(batch),
University of Southern California
(contributing entity),
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
(collection)
Access Conditions
The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright.
Repository Name
University of Southern California Digital Library
Repository Location
USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA
Repository Email
cisadmin@lib.usc.edu
Tags
candidacy
faith-based
mirrored ethnoracial identity
self-efficacy