Pastoral Ministry Crisis

2009 Statistics Of Why Pastors Leave the Ministry by Fuller Institute, George Barna and Pastoral Care Inc, Focus On The Family.

1,500 pastors leave the ministry permanently each month in America.

4,000 new churches start each year in America.

7,000 churches close each year in America.

25% of pastors’ marriages end in divorce, that rate has increased to 50%

70% of pastors continually battle depression.

75% of pastors will experience a significant personal crisis while serving in ministry

70% of pastors say they will not be in ministry 10 years from now.

80% of pastors and 85% of their spouses feel discouraged in their roles.

95% of pastors do not regularly pray with their spouses.

70% of pastors do not have a close friend, confidant, or mentor.

50% of pastors are so discouraged they would leave the ministry if they could.

80% of pastors spend under 15 minutes a day in prayer.

70% of pastors only study God’s Word when preparing a message.

40% of pastors have had an extra-marital affair since entering ministry.

80% of seminary graduates who enter ministry will leave the ministry within the first five years.

80% of pastors’ wives feel their husbands are overworked.

90% of pastors said their training was inadequate for ministry.

80% of pastors’ wives feel unappreciated by the congregation.

90% of pastors said ministry was completely different from what they thought it would be.

70% of pastors felt called of God into ministry when they began.

80% of pastors’ wives feel pressured to be someone they are not and do things they are not called to do in the church.

50% of pastors’ wives feel that their husbands entering ministry was the most destructive thing to ever happen to their families. Many pastor’s children do not attend church now because of what the church has done to their parents.

Only 1 out of every 10 ministers will actually retire as a minister in some form.

Source: From a sermon by Jimmy Haile, A Faithful Saying--5, 8/26/2012