Spiritual resources as antecedents of clergy well-being: The importance of occupationally specific variables

•We tested the importance of spiritual resources for clergy well-being.•Spiritual resources are considered an important personal resource for clergy at work.•SEM modeling of three-wave longitudinal data supported hypotheses.•Spiritual resources reduced clergy turnover intention mediated by work engagement.•Results support hypotheses and selected assumptions of the JD–R model.

This study tests the job demands–resources model's proposal that the prediction of well-being at work is improved by identifying the most salient cohort-specific resources. Spiritual resources, conceptualized as a subcategory of personal resources, are identified as a salient resource for clergy, and their longitudinal influence on the occupational well-being of clergy (n = 399) is examined in three waves of data collection over an 18-month period. Results supported the antecedent role of spiritual resources in relation to well-being at work. Spiritual resources positively predicted future work engagement, which in turn predicted reduced turnover intention. The negative indirect effect of spiritual resources on turnover intention was fully mediated by work engagement. The findings support the need to identify relevant resources for specific work cohorts. For clergy, spiritual resources are important for motivation and vocational longevity, suggesting the need for spiritual interventions among this at-risk and under-researched population.