2017 Pastor Burnout Statistics

Click to join the conversation with over 500,000 Pentecostal believers and scholars

Click to get our FREE MOBILE APP and stay connected

According to the New York Times (August 1, 2010) “Members of the clergy now suffer from obesity, hypertension and depression at rates higher than most Americans.  In the last decade, their use of antidepressants has risen, while their life expectancy has fallen.  Many would change jobs if they could.”

• 13% of active pastors are divorced.
• 23% have been fired or pressured to resign at least once in their careers.
• 25% don’t know where to turn when they have a family or personal conflict or issue.
• 25% of pastors’ wives see their husband’s work schedule as a source of conflict.
• 33% felt burned out within their first five years of ministry.
• 33% say that being in ministry is an outright hazard to their family.
• 40% of pastors and 47% of spouses are suffering from burnout, frantic schedules, and/or unrealistic expectations.
• 45% of pastors’ wives say the greatest danger to them and their family is physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual burnout.
• Though I can find no specific statistics (I’m sure they are out there), the pastorate is seeing a significant rise in the number of female pastors.
• 45% of pastors say that they’ve experienced depression or burnout to the extent that they needed to take a leave of absence from ministry.
• 50% feel unable to meet the needs of the job.
• 52% of pastors say they and their spouses believe that being in pastoral ministry is hazardous to their family’s well-being and health.
• 56% of pastors’ wives say that they have no close friends.
• 57% would leave the pastorate if they had somewhere else to go or some other vocation they could do.
• 70% don’t have any close friends.
• 75% report severe stress causing anguish, worry, bewilderment, anger, depression, fear, and alienation.
• 80% of pastors say they have insufficient time with their spouse.
• 80% believe that pastoral ministry affects their families negatively.
• 90% feel unqualified or poorly prepared for ministry.
• 90% work more than 50 hours a week.
• 94% feel under pressure to have a perfect family.
• 1,500 pastors leave their ministries each month due to burnout, conflict, or moral failure.

Pastor Burnout Statistics: The Rest of the Story

The hardest thing about these numbers is that they only tell half the story.  The other half is that congregations don’t know or understand the nature of pastoral stress.  And when a pastor breaks down or has a moral failure, congregations, for lack of a better word, “kick the pastor to the curb.” Whether you are a pastor, a former pastor, or a congregation member, I hope these clergy burnout statistics help clarify the problem.  And more importantly, I hope they help you focus your ministry to pastors. Pastor burnout statistics are only numbers.  Read some pastor burnout stories to put faces to the statistics.