The Statistics
Startling Numbers for Pastors
There are approximately 600,000 paid clergy in North America. Over 65% of them were abused as children, and most have not addressed that abuse. The average congregation in North America is between 100 and 700 members.
Pastoral Life in the Church
75% of pastors report they’ve had a significant stress-related crisis at least once
40% of pastors report serious congregational conflict at least once a month
20% of pastors indicate that they’d been forced out of ministry at least once during their ministry
Pastoral Burnout
Listen to Paula talk about the Pathological Busyness of Pastors
89% of pastors consider leaving the ministry at least once.
77% of pastors report marriage discontent.
71% of pastors state they are burned out, battle depression & fatigue on a daily/weekly basis.
57% of pastors would leave ministry if they had a better place to go-including secular work
Only 26% of pastors report regular personal devotions and report adequate personal and spiritual growth.
Only 23% of pastors feel happy and content spiritually, in their church, and at home!
“Tired”
“numb”
“weary”
“Overwhelmed”
The above are actual words of missionaries in describing the state of their souls during one of our classes.
Pastoral Personal Health
57% of pastors do not exercise or have a regular exercise plan
Only 56% of pastors regularly take a day off each week
46% of pastors experienced depression or burnout and needed to take a leave of absence.
21% of pastors do not take any days off
70% of pastors don’t consider that they have a close friend
Clergy Sexual Misconduct
51% of pastors say that Internet pornography is a possible temptation for them Approximately
20% of the monthly calls to Focus on the Family’s Pastoral Ministries Division are because of sexual misconduct and pornography
More than 30% of pastors are functionally addicted to Internet pornography (5)More than 15% of pastors engage in sexual behavior that they consider inappropriate (6)
10-14% of pastors have sexual contact with someone other than their spouse while employed as a minister (7)
There are an average of seven victims of clergy sexual misconduct per affected congregation (8)
Ministry Family Struggles
80% of pastors say they have insufficient time with spouse
48% of pastors think being in ministry is hazardous to family well-being
58% of pastors’ spouses work to supplement family income
66% of pastors’ families feel pressure to appear to be an ideal family
Congregational Expectations & Realities
On average, churchgoers expect their pastor to juggle an average of 16 major tasks each week.
Pastors working less than 50 hrs/week are 35% more likely to be fired
50 percent of all congregations in the United States are either plateauing or declining
The average pastor lasts only five years at a church. The typical pastor has his/her greatest ministry impact at a church in years 5 through 14 of his pastorate
90% of pastors feel inadequately trained to cope with ministry demands
31% of pastors indicated that their seminary or Bible college training did not prepare them to handle conflict
Ministry Spouses
56% of pastors’ spouses say they that they have no close friends
45% of pastors’ spouses say the greatest danger to them and their family is physical, emotional, mental and spiritual burnout
