Hampton University Ministers’ Conference in Hampton, Va. is the oldest nondenominational African-American ministers conference in the country. The organization works to address the concerns of the African American church and its relationships to the community.

Charlyn M. Singleton is president of God’s Woman Conferences, based in Rialto, Calif. She is a motivational and revival speaker, working with youth, women and men at conferences, marriage events, retreats, workshops and worship services.

Cecil Williams has been the pastor of the 7,000-member Glide Memorial United Methodist Church, in San Francisco’s gritty Tenderloin district since 1963. He is a spiritual, political and social force in the Bay Area, and the church is a leading voice in promoting diversity of all sorts, social activism and community programs.

Brad Hoffmann is pastor at Cool Spring Baptist Church in Mechanicsville, Va., and co-author of Preventing Ministry Failure: A ShepherdCare Guide for Pastors, Ministers and Other Caregivers. He and co-author Michael Todd Wilson, a counselor, work with pastors removed from their place of service because of burnout or other problems.

Roy M. Oswald is an ordained Lutheran pastor and the executive director of a parachurch organization focused on effective leadership in the church, the Center for Emotional Intelligence and Human Relations Skills. Oswald, a former senior consultant with the Alban Institute, is the author of Clergy Self-Care: Finding a Balance for Effective Ministry. He lives in Boonsboro, […]

Robert Saler is director of the Lilly Endowment’s National Clergy Renewal Program, which provides grants to congregations offering their pastors breaks for rest and renewal. More than 700 congregations and their pastors have benefited.

Wayne Cordeiro is the founding pastor of New Hope Christian Fellowship, a fast-growing Honolulu megachurch. He served three decades in ministry before burnout caused him to take a break. That period of rest and reflection re-energized him, and he shared his experience in a 2009 book, Leading on Empty: Refilling Your Tank and Renewing Your Passion. Cordeiro’s […]

Read a Jan. 8, 2005, Resources for American Christianity interview about the state of pastoral leadership.

A national shortage of Protestant clergy is taking its toll on rural congregations, according to a Kansas City Star article published June 11, 2005, by The Washington Post.