9623562 Mueller This Dissertation Improvement research investigates job satisfaction and employment attachment of clergy in two Protestant denominations (United Church of Christ and Christian Church). Previous research has found three explanations for sources of job satisfaction and attachment of clergy employed in parish ministry. These include: (1) internal satisfaction--clergy have a strong service orientation and are responding to a "higher calling" to the ministry, (2) internal and external satisfaction--along with internal satisfaction there is the external family support and congregational paternalism involving discretionary benefits, and (3) professional model--the clergy are employees of organizations and work conditions influence job satisfaction and attachment like any other employees. This research will empirically assess these validity of the three explanations through developing an integrated model of clergy satisfaction and attachment that combines variables from all three. Data will be collected through a mail survey of a probability sample of approximately 2,400 clergy.
