According to a recent study by Lifeway Research, about 1 in 100 pastors, primarily evangelical and Black Protestant, leave the ministry each year, with the percentage remaining statistically stable over the past decade.
The study, supported by Houston’s First Baptist Church and occupational medicine physician Richard Dockins, surveyed over 1,500 pastors serving in evangelical or Black Protestant churches.
The median tenure at a single church is eight years, with 58% of pastors starting their current role within the last 10 years. Only 15% have been at their current church for 25 years or more, and 52% are serving for their first church, while 48% have previously served elsewhere.
Among churches that had pastors a decade ago, 44% still have the same pastor today—others have either retired, moved to a different church, or died. Research indicates that in the past decade, 7% of pastors have left the ministry to work in other roles, 3% in non-ministry positions, and 2% in unrelated fields, all contributing to the 1.2% annual attrition rate.
When asked why pastors left, the most common reasons were a change in calling (37%), church conflict (23%), and burnout (22%). Other reasons included poor fit with the church (17%), family issues (12%), illness (5%), financial difficulties (3%), and feeling unprepared (4%). Only 7% of those who leave cite moral or ethical issues.
Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, noted, “Today’s pastors don’t always know all the reasons their predecessors left their church, but the number of pastors describing the previous pastor at their church leaving because of burnout has doubled over the last 10 years (22% v. 10%).”
Many pastors who left their previous churches cited their reason for leaving as having taken their previous church as far as they could (50%), with others mentioning family needs (31%), church conflict (25%), or disagreement with the church’s approach (21%). Some decisions were made for them—13% were reassigned, and 8% were asked to leave.
Most pastors report conflicts in their previous churches, with 37% experiencing issues over proposed changes, 35% over lay leadership, and 35% facing personal attacks. About 27% clashed over leadership style, and 24% over expectations of their role. Fewer experienced conflicts over doctrinal differences (18%) or politics (9%), and 35% said they encountered no significant conflicts in their previous church.
Most current pastors believe they will remain in their ministry for the foreseeable future, with 91% confident they can stay as long as they want. However, 67% feel they must be “on-call” 24 hours a day—a sentiment that has decreased from 84% in 2015 and 71% in 2021. About 57% find their role frequently overwhelming, a slight increase from 54% in 2015 but a decrease from 63% in 2021.
Half (47%) of pastors often feel the demands are too much to handle, and 34% feel isolated as pastors, a number unchanged since 2015 but lower than during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. Additionally, 19% say their church has unrealistic expectations of them, a figure consistent with 2015 (21%) and lower than 2021 (23%).
