Around one-third of pastors who leave the ministry cite burnout or conflict with the church as the explanations, in line with a study by Lifeway Research.
Lifeway released a report on Tuesday based on the findings of a study of former pastors from 4 different Protestant denominations, examining why they left their vocation.
According to Lifeway, 18% of respondents cited conflict in a church as the explanation for quitting, with one other 16% citing “burnout” as the explanation.
The most typical reason given was a “change in calling,” with 40% of respondents citing this because the reason for their departure. Other cited reasons included family issues (10%), personal funds (10%), illness (6%), being a poor fit with a church (6%), denominational issues (4%), and the church closing attributable to the COVID-19 lockdowns (3%).
Regarding those that left attributable to a conflict, 45% of respondents reported experiencing significant conflict throughout the final yr they served as pastor.
Among former pastors, 87% faced “conflict sooner or later of their last congregation,” with 56% experiencing it over proposed changes and almost half (49%) saying they experienced a “significant personal attack” consequently.
Additionally, 43% reported leaving their positions as pastor after serving only one congregation, while one other 43% reported serving as a senior pastor for 10 years or less before leaving.
Lifeway also reported that, despite leaving the position of pastor, 53% of respondents said that they proceed to work in ministry, though in a special capability.
The data for the study were collected through a web-based survey of 730 former pastors conducted from May 6 through July 6. The denominations represented by the sample included the Assemblies of God, the Church of the Nazarene, The Wesleyan Church, and the Southern Baptist Convention.
Lifeway Research released an analogous study in 2021, which found that 32% of former pastors cited a “change in calling” as their reason for leaving, while 18% of respondents cited conflict of their church, and 13% cited burnout.
Although most clergy don’t resolve to quit prematurely of retirement age, many pastors have given serious consideration to doing so attributable to various aspects, including recent challenges like shepherding a church throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and protracted lockdowns.
According to a Hartford Institute for Religion Research report that drew from data collected in autumn 2023, 53% of clergy had seriously considered leaving their pastoral ministry a minimum of once since 2020.
 Around one-third of pastors who leave the ministry cite burnout or conflict with the church as the explanations, in line with a study...){kind=link}