Occupational Stress and Burnout among American Pastoral Musicians

Occupational burnout is a concern to the health and longevity of clergy and musician careers. However, no known study has assessed occupational burnout among pastoral musicians. A literature review revealed pastoral musicians anecdotally experienced multi-tasking, workplace politics, inequality of workload, competing liturgical styles, lack of job security, lack of financial security, and lack of rest, among other indicators of burnout. Therefore, the aims of this paper were to: (1) describe pastoral musicians as a population; (2) identify the prevalence rate of burnout among pastoral musicians; (3) investigate the relationship between pastoral musicians' burnout and religious coping; and (4) investigate the relationships between pastoral musicians' burnout and depression, anxiety, and stress. In 2021, an online questionnaire was designed to assess burnout among pastoral musicians. Dissemination techniques included emails to members of the Hymn Society of North America and via social media to collect data from pastoral music directors in the United States of America. The survey yielded n = 1,050 respondents: 83.8% experienced one or more symptoms of burnout (41.3% with low efficacy; 12.4% with high emotional exhaustion; 21.3% with high cynicism; 8.8% with burnout). Ineffectiveness was positively correlated with negative religious coping. Emotional exhaustion and cynicism were positively correlated with negative religious coping. COVID-19 affected 91.3% (n = 936) of pastoral musicians. This study contributed quantitative and qualitative analysis to pastoral musician research. Findings demonstrate burnout is prevalent among American pastoral musicians.