PHOENIX (BP) - Most Protestant clergy are actively continuing their education through classes and/or seminars, according to a study released in the March/April edition of Facts & Trends magazine published by LifeWay.

While slightly under half of Protestant clergy say they are encouraged by their church's leaders to continue their education using church time and/or funds, most feel their budget for additional education is insufficient, according to the study by Ellison Research of Phoenix.

The Ellison study, utilizing a representative sample of 860 Protestant church ministers nationwide, asked pastors about their participation in classes, conferences and seminars as well as their church's budget for such activities.

Relatively few differences regarding the pastor's age or the church's region of the country were found in the study, although younger ministers are more likely than older ones to have focused on leadership or management skills as well as marriage and family ministry. Youth ministry and personal skills training are both particularly popular in the Northeast, while evangelism and outreach training is particularly popular in the South.

More complete data on the study is available at http://www.ellisonresearch.com.