Understanding Anxiety

Congregational anxiety is a real and growing phenomenon in the church. When asked what he thought of the new seminary applicants, one psychologist who administers psychological tests for a major seminary responded, "They are getting dumber and crazier."

Ministry and leadership are certainly not easy tasks. Conrad Weiser’s remarkable book Healers Harmed and Harmful⁵ describes the emotional pain that often accompanies congregational leadership. Every leader, regardless of his or her personality structure and values, is vulnerable. Upon reading this in-depth work, many readers will no doubt find Weiser’s comments closer to reality than they would care to admit. Recognizing these vulnerabilities, however, is the first step toward a healthier self and a healthier leadership style.

Systems Theory vs. Psychology

Leaders must not only understand how individuals respond to anxiety but also how systems—composed of a dynamic interrelationship of individuals within a group—respond to anxiety. The literature on this subject is diverse and there appears to be an ongoing tension between systems practitioners (who focus on the system’s functioning) and psychologists (who focus on the individual’s functioning).

Psychologists say the reasons for behaviors reside in the individual psyche, so they place the responsibility for anxiety on the individual. Heinz Kohut’s theory of psychodynamic psychology is dominant in this vein. Abraham Maslow’s emphasis on individual "self-actualization" and Erik Erikson’s "Hierarchy of Needs" are but some of the many psychological theories that focus on individual cognition and other psychological dimensions of behavior.

Systems practitioners, on the other hand, believe individual behavior is largely determined by the systems in which they live. Some systems theorists downplay—or even deny—the role of individual anxiety, claiming that anxious individual behaviors are solely due to the system’s response to anxiety.

5. Conrad W. Weiser, Healers: Harmed and Harmful (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1994).