Exploring Uniting Reformed Church of South Africa African pastors’ well-being, calling and healing: An interactive qualitative analysis

Abstract

The caregiving focus of churches is on congregational members and communities, and often the well-being of the pastor is neglected. Emanating from the medical health model, the focus of caregiving in the past was on ill-being. Positive psychology introduces another focus in caregiving, which is well-being. This article reports that three primary drivers emerged during an interactive qualitative analysis (IQA) focus group activity with four African pastors from the Uniting Reformed Church of South Africa (URCSA). These drivers are the calling of the pastor, servant leadership and pastoral reflection. The first aim of this article is to describe the driving factors that were identified by the focus group as important in terms of their well-being in the ministry. The second aim is to describe how the construct ‘Calling’ has contributed to an identity of discipleship over and above diaconal healing for pastors.