Job Satisfaction in Religious Education

Religious educators hold ministry positions in almostall major denominations. To many, these jobs areviewed as idyllic; imagine working all day withfellow believers in a church setting! However, inmany denominations, little research has been done toconfirm such joy and satisfaction.Research in job satisfaction has become a routineform of assessment to determine the satisfaction ofemployees in order to insure their physical andpsychological well-being. Many variables ofsatisfaction or dissatisfaction have also beenassociated with reasons for workers leaving theirjobs. In this book, Directors of Christian Educationin the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod were surveyedto determine if they were satisfied with their jobs;to provide an opportunity for Directors of ChristianEducation to evaluate their ministry skills and sharewhat additional competencies, if any, might be addedto their education to enhance job satisfaction; andto seek information regarding their likelihood toleave ministy in the next three years.The results are somewhat surprising! In addition tothis research, the author offers recommendations forkeeping these workers for the future.

Autorentext

James H. McConnell, PhD, a religious educator for over 30 years, is a professor of education and Director of the Christian Education program and major at Concordia University-Texas. He leads workshops on his research and on other areas of Christian Education.

Klappentext
Religious educators hold ministry positions in almost all major denominations. To many, these jobs are viewed as idyllic; imagine working all day with fellow believers in a church setting! However, in many denominations, little research has been done to confirm such joy and satisfaction. Research in job satisfaction has become a routine form of assessment to determine the satisfaction of employees in order to insure their physical and psychological well-being. Many variables of satisfaction or dissatisfaction have also been associated with reasons for workers leaving their jobs. In this book, Directors of Christian Education in the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod were surveyed to determine if they were satisfied with their jobs; to provide an opportunity for Directors of Christian Education to evaluate their ministry skills and share what additional competencies, if any, might be added to their education to enhance job satisfaction; and to seek information regarding their likelihood to leave ministy in the next three years. The results are somewhat surprising! In addition to this research, the author offers recommendations for keeping these workers for the future.