Identifying support networks for ministers

Network analysis was selected as a paradigm for understanding the social relationships of ministers. Utilizing a technique similar to Carveth and Gottlieb (1979), ministers were surveyed to identify the composition and functions of their social networks. It was hypothesized that network composition affected the level and type of stress experienced by ministers and that the level of professional stress experienced by ministers would be greater than professional stress experienced by social workers. Items from a social work stress inventory were incorporated into the Ministerial Network Survey (developed by Alicia Byrd) and administered to 150 ministers from the Second Episcopal District of the AME Church.