Leaving the Adventist Ministry: A Study of the Process of Exiting

More than 180 pastors exited the Seventh-Day Adventist ministry in Australia and New Zealand between 1980 and 1988—a loss that is equivalent to 40 percent of the total annual Adventist ministerial workforce in those two countries. This volume examines the processes whereby conservative and committed sectarian pastors began to entertain doubts concerning the sectarian cause, questioned their occupational calling, and turned their backs on the ministry. Using the data gathered from in-depth interviews with 43 expastors and from other sources, the author develops detailed case study profiles, which highlight the personal, organizational, and social factors involved in their decision, and the types of experiences they associate with leaving the ministry. The first study of clergy fallout from a sectarian community, this volume makes a significant contribution to our understanding of exiting.