Annual Leaders Retreat
May 1-3, 2022
Pathways to Belonging:
Overcoming Clergy Loneliness
Overcoming Clergy Loneliness
Loneliness is an epidemic. According to a 2018 national survey by Cigna Insurance, almost half of us feel sometimes or always alone (47%), and about the same number feel left out (46%) at any given moment. Why would a health insurance company be interested in loneliness? Aside from the mental health implications, the physical consequences for premature death due to loneliness are statistically equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes per day. Loneliness takes both an emotional and physical toll.
At LeaderWise, Mark Sundby and Mary Kay DuChene have studied loneliness and pathways to belonging in clergy for the past two years. They recently authored a book on the subject which is scheduled to be published in the summer of 2022. In our time together, Mark will share what they have learned about loneliness for people in ministry and specific strategies which individual clergy and denominations can pursue to counter the epidemic.
About Our Speaker
Mark Sundby has served as a consultant, teacher, and counselor in the field of psychology for over 25 years. For the past 22 years, as executive director of LeaderWise/North Central Ministry Development Center, he has specialized in personality and leadership assessment, with an emphasis on health and wholeness, leadership development, and conflict skills training. The center works with denominations and seminaries across the country, and meets with about 750 to 1,000 individuals each year.
Mark is an ordained United Methodist pastor in the Wisconsin Conference and a licensed psychologist. He earned his doctorate in counseling psychology from the University of Minnesota, masters of divinity from the University of Chicago, and bachelors from St. Olaf College. In his personal life, Mark keeps busy with family, being married for over 35 years and having two adult sons, and pursuing interests in bicycling, hiking, exercising, cooking, reading, and spending time with friends.