Equally important is a place to worship. This might involve attending evensong at the Anglican Cathedral, or say becoming part of a spirituality group. Holidays are necessary, too, and pose their own difficulties. It is usually impossible to plan too far in advance since we may be waiting on several other people s schedules. When a congregation has always had a minister who takes a specific month off to attend a family cottage, it can be confusing to have a single minister who needs to plan holiday time in other ways.
Single clergy bring unique and valuable gifts to the church.
One is flexibility. I have often been able to stay with someone in crisis until it was over, precisely because I did not have to meet children at the bus, or be home for a specific dinner hour. Secondly, we all must take responsibility for caring for ourselves. Single people learn to develop these skills. Without a supportive spouse to tell us when we are overloaded, we must monitor our own levels of stress and fatigue which offers us an opportunity to model that skill for the rest of the community.