A new Barna ‘State of the Church’ report reveals that pastors continue to face challenges, particularly in relationships, emotional, physical, and mental health. However, most pastors do not get professional support for these struggles.
The report, conducted in partnership with Gloo, reveals that more than half (52%) of pastors do not receive any professional support from sources like mentors, advisors, coaches, or counselors.
When help is sought, it is usually on a more personal level, with 22% consulting a personal mentor and 17% seeking guidance from a spiritual advisor. 12% of pastors reported seeing a therapist, 11% consulting a professional mentor, 3% visiting a marriage counselor, and another 9% attending a professional counseling session.
Researchers scored how pastors are flourishing on a scale of 0 to 100 in key life categories, including relationships, vocation, finances, health, and faith.
In the category of relationships, pastors scored 67 compared to 79 for all U.S. adults and 85 for practicing Christians. For overall well-being, pastors scored 69, versus 73 for all adults and 79 for practicing Christians.
The report notes, “Perhaps most concerning is that pastors may be misidentifying their greatest needs. Despite scoring lowest in relationships (67) and well-being (69), pastors are most likely to say they need help with leadership development, spiritual growth, and finances — areas where they already demonstrate relative strength.”
The study underscores “important connections between support and flourishing,” noting that “pastors who receive more frequent spiritual support report higher vocational satisfaction. Conversely, pastors who struggle with work-life balance receive spiritual support less often.”
“These correlations highlight a concerning cycle for churches to note: Those who most need support may be least likely to access it, potentially due to time constraints, financial limitations or simply feeling too overwhelmed to seek help,” they added.
The report also highlights that pastors, particularly those under 40, are generally dissatisfied with their ability to retire.
It found that 64% of pastors today, with an average age of 52, have some confidence that they can retire when they want to, but only about 20% are ‘completely confident’ they will be able to do this. Additionally, a third (36%) said they were ‘not confident’ or ‘not sure’ about when they would be able to retire.
According to the report, 15% of pastors hope to retire within five years, and 27% plan to do so within the next decade. With more than a quarter of current pastors potentially retiring in the next ten years, the importance of church succession planning has become increasingly urgent.
