About one-third of you readers are laypersons. This article is for you. Of course, I know pastors and other vocational ministry leaders will be reading as well. Perhaps, more than my article, they will be reading your comments. They will be searching eagerly to see if anyone has a word of encouragement. They may be anticipating the responses will be a barrage of negativity they have become accustomed to receiving.
Please hear me clearly. The vast majority of pastors with whom our team communicates are saying they are considering quitting their churches. It’s a trend I have not seen in my lifetime. Some are just weeks away from making an announcement. They are looking for work in the secular world. Some will move to bivocational ministry. Some will move to marketplace ministry.
But many will move.
Why has this period of great discouragement ensued? Of course, it is connected to COVID-19, but the pandemic really just exacerbated trends already in place. We would have likely gotten to this point in the next three to five years regardless.
I also want you to know that these pastors do not think they will be leaving ministry. They just believe the current state of negativity and apathy in many local churches is not the most effective way they can be doing ministry.
So, they are leaving or getting ready to leave. There are many reasons why, but allow me to share the top six reasons, understanding that they are not mutually exclusive.
- Pastors are weary from the pandemic, just like everyone else. Pastors are not super humans. They miss their routines. They miss seeing people as they used to do so. They would like the world to return to normal, but they realize the old normal will not return.
- Pastors are greatly discouraged about the fighting taking place among church members about the post-quarantine church. Gather in person or wait? Masks or no masks? Social distancing or not? Too many church members have adopted the mindset of culture and made these issues political fights. Pastors deal daily with complaints about the decisions the church makes.
- Pastors are discouraged about losing members and attendance. For sure, it’s not all about the numbers. But imagine your own mindset if one-half or more of your friends stopped engaging with you. And pastors have already heard directly or indirectly from around one-fourth of the members that they do not plan to return at all.
- Pastors don’t know if their churches will be able to support ministries financially in the future. In the early stages of the pandemic, giving was largely healthy. Church members stepped up. Government infusion of funds for businesses and consumers helped as well. Now, the financial future is cloudy. Can the church continue to support the ministries they need to do? Will the church need to eliminate positions? These issues weigh heavily on pastors.
- Criticisms against pastors have increased significantly. One pastor recently shared with me the number of criticisms he receives are five times greater than the pre-pandemic era. Church members are worried. Church members are weary. And the most convenient target for their angst is their pastor.
- The workload for pastors has increased greatly. Almost every pastor with whom we communicate expresses surprise at their level of work since the pandemic began. It really makes sense. They are trying to serve the congregation the way they have in the past, but now they have the added responsibilities that have come with the digital world. And as expected, pastoral care needs among members have increased during the pandemic as well.
Pastors are burned out, beaten up, and downtrodden.
Many are about to quit.
You may be surprised to discover your pastor is among them.
Posted on August 31, 2020
With nearly 40 years of ministry experience, Thom Rainer has spent a lifetime committed to the growth and health of local churches across North America.
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427 Comments
Good article on pastors ready to quit.
I know several.
And I have a few things to say…
I was one of them.
In fact, I did quit.
I did NOT quit ministry.
I’m still called to it—was made for it.
But I quit the unreasonable and unrealistic expectations.
I quit the incredible load that became unbearable after 23 years.
I quit the CEO position of Christ’s church.
I have not shared my reasonings on here before, but I’ve spent countless hours pondering and praying and reading and talking with many pastors about these things over the past 10 years.
I’ve had dozens and dozens of questions swirling around my head about church and ministry and the pastorate.
And here is where I am:
We need to be asking a different set of questions than what we have been for many decades.
Especially now… for example:
Instead of “how do I get our members to watch our online services,” we should be asking,
“How do we effectively make disciples in a pandemic?”
I’m convinced the answer would be no different than if there was no pandemic.
I’m convinced the role of the pastor must adjust to training spiritual leaders/mentors instead of being the #1 guy preparing sermons week after week.
This maybe even be the higher priority.
What is most necessary in order to make disciples?
One pastor preaching?
Or multiple pastors engaged in deep fellowship with smaller gatherings where relationships can best be made?
Share the load.
Spread the work among more and more people.
Think about this notion: there are more pastors in your church capable of being used magnificently by the Holy Spirit than just the one getting paid for it.
Plus, all that weight won’t be on your shoulders.
I know… I’ve been there.
And your people will become less of the consumer demanding their preferences be met and more of a disciple-maker seeking to populate heaven.
There are pastors out there, even reading this, who are amazing at what they do.
And they love it.
And I’m grateful.
But there are many more who are crumbling.
I think this topic will be my next book.
Chad, excellent advice. Thanks for reminding us pastors that we aren’t meant to carry the load all by ourselves. Jesus set the model of heavily investing in a group of 12 followers who then became ministers themselves. I believe we are meant to delegate : not just to relieve our own load, but to bring out the ministry gifts of others.
I know Pastors can get just as discouraged like everyone else. But they try to keep the faith and are always praying for their congregation like the congregation prays for their pastor
It’s like a give and take during this time of despair. And everyone is under stress because we are tired of putting up with all of this.
We just have to keep asking and talking to God to help us get through this pandemic and hoping some day it will go away.
Pastors are worried about whether the congregation will come back if they feel comfortable or not.
Our Pastor called every one in our church after we opened back up whether or not if they would feel comfortable coming back or not. That was very sweet of him. And it shows he cares about all of us.
We also have to sit 6 ft apart from each other and wear face masks.
There is one church in our city that doesnt require face masks. How dumb is that. ?,?
But every one has their rules.
But if we can just hold on and keep our faith maybe the Pastors will be less reluctant to leave their churches. People need their Pastors. And the Pastors need to be there for their people.
Of course the finances are different at every church
And it will be hard to get through that but we just need to hang in together and spiritually hold each other’s hands in this circle of the new normal and just be there for each other
I believe that is what God wants us to do
Thank you.
How can I continue to encourage those in a pastoral leadership position? It is true that they are bruised, beat up, and discouraged because of the pandemic, and the underlying political partisanship present in our country today! I am specifically praying for 5 different pastors, daily, in three different denominations because I believe that God is going to use them in a mighty way to effect a revival in this land.
If pastors are worried that the finances will run out, then they are not looking to God as the source of their supply. God owns the entire world, and do you not think that if He provides for you today, that He will not provide for you tomorrow? Where do you get that idea? Who told you that God would not provide for your tomorrows? Is He a god that will only take you so far and then quit on you? I don’t think so. He has promised never to leave us, never to forsake us, even until the end of the age.
Think of the story of the little boy picking up starfish on the shore of the sea, and throwing them back into the sea. An older man was walking with him and chided the little boy, saying, “You cannot possibly save all of the starfish! There are too many of them!”
The little boy did not say anything to the older gentlemen, but picked up another starfish and threw it back into the sea. He simply rep[lied, “I saved that one.”
If you as a pastor can help only one person to a saving relationship with Christ, then your labor is not in vain. Remain faithful, and your reward is close than you think. God is sending help for you as you speak!!
Remain true to your calling. god did not ask you to be a superman, He is asking you to be available. he qualifies the call, but does not call the qualified. I can personally tell you that business and secular jobs are more brutal than leading a church. I know, I have been tossed under the bus so to speak, because I refuse to compromise my integrity.
Please note that many pastors like myself are bi-vocational. When the pandemic hit, I lost 100% of my other income while the church was also on a financial decline. I spent the spring and summer fighting for my financial life–while also having to learn zoom, video editing, and deal with the constant mask/no masks political fights. I am certain people have fallen through the cracks. I am certain people have been neglected. I don’t know what else I could have done. The best advice for someone who needs or wants care is twofold: ask for it and get involved in a small group (even if it’s on zoom).
I am an ordained pastor and I would like to respond to lay people stating in the comments that they are disappointed that their pastors have not been responsive to them during COVID19. I have tried to contact every member of my congregation and many of them multiple times….what I experienced was lots of people who had not provided updated phone numbers or addresses or emails, lots of people who never returned my calls and a handful of people that were grateful for the contact. I have been learning technology and single-handedly running it all by myself as my small congregation was not equipped for this. I created a church website, a church app with online giving options, and run a Facebook page. Each week I recorded worship to be uploaded to the app and website, as well as doing Facebook live. I have snail-mailed my sermons/scriptures/prayers each week to a long list of people from my home using my own resources to do so. When we started drive-in worship, I got flack about not being in the sanctuary in spite of the fact that I did a double funeral for a couple that died of COVID19….so many of my people are virus phobic while many think it’s ridiculous and every thing in between. We cannot move into the sanctuary because it is not big enough to provide physical distancing for the number of people that attend….and many have told me that if the time comes, I better not tape off “their seat” so they have to move. Do you realize how overwhelming it is to keep in touch with hundreds of people when you are not regularly seeing any of them? Normally we would be checking in with people weekly or monthly as they attend worship, and would reach out to those who are homebound or not attending. Have any lay people ever considered calling your pastor if you want to talk to them? The phone line goes both ways, you know…. We love our people, but we cannot read their minds…and we are running as fast as we can during these times.
I pray God’s strength and encouragement may continue upon you.
The pastors in the building I attend were not responsive to me way before this pandemic even began. They avoid conflict and encourage cliques within the church building. They don’t reply to emails or return phone calls. I don’t feel welcome because not all sinners matter in their eyes. I no longer believe in a physical church because I have been bullied by the “acceptabe” people in the church. Pastors are too wimpy to deal with it and always have an excuse for their behavior. I have been so hurt by the church and continue to live with this pain on a daily basis that I can barely handle it on some days. Everyone is dealing with the stress related to COVID-19, not just pastors. I am not going to send notes of encouragement to pastors who won’t respond, destroyed a part of me, and left me off the calling list announced in March that all members would be called to see how they are doing.
I would like working for a church from home. But I have seizures not sure what from. I have been able to come off of the chemical seizure meds I had been on all my life for 52yr. That made me so sick and miserable I am very damaged by it I recently went through a divorce.I am so nervous with other people even my mom and dad.Dad wants to fight all the time I am afraid I am gonna get throwed out just for talking to him.I hope and pray we can all make it to the end or till our time comes.We all need Gods strength.I am not sure what Gods gonna do with me. I have been to brazil on a mission trip just waiting on Gods direction.amen
May God heal you and give you the opportunity to serve him
I fully agree with the overall premise of this article. AND…the comments posted just hammer in the point that pastors are the focal point of attacks from all sides. The laypeople are demanding to be “served more”, our fellows pastors (or staff if you have them) are looking for answers regarding what, where, and how to deal with everything, the “so-called” support structure just tells us we are all to blame because we have not being doing ministry properly. etc. etc.
YES, we pastors KNOW our ministries MUST change and are seeking to daily discover better ways to adapt in this current environment. BUT, all we get is complaints…complaints we are not doing enough, complaints we are going the wrong way, complaints, complaints, complaints. THAT is the exact reason why, as this article states, that pastors are burning out.
Let me just give you my example of the stress load I am dealing with currently. I am a bi-vocation (actually co-vocational) pastor. That means I am “it” at the church. Yes, the deacons seek to serve the people, but far as real ministry that seeks to help people grow in their faith and to encourage true change in seeking to reach our community, it is only myself and my family leading that charge. Yes I know this is not good, hence why we have been seeking to help change the mindset within our church people. Mucho, Mucho stress there folks. OH, my secular job is working at the largest state owned university in North Carolina as an “essential employee” That means my secular job load and stress also went through the roof. Basically, my stress level between the two is at insane levels. Let me through in a third caveat to the mix, my church is nearly dead and the deacons and I are floating the idea of a possible merger with another church in the area.
I am not looking for your sympathy here, just trying to get you all to understand that we pastors, no matter where there at, are near the breaking point…exactly what this article is relating.
Don’t tell us what we need to do, that is the LAST thing we need right now…Instead, how about just being silent and be a Aaron or Hur to us as we are exhausted and are arms are failing us.
God bless you for all you are doing. I can’t even imagine. I hope and pray for peace for you.
After reading the article, and several of the comments by pastors, I wonder if the issues of the pandemic aren’t merely the tip of the iceberg? As Thom, and many other experts have been reporting for a few years now, the church is in trouble; it needs to change the way it operates if it has a heart to reach people with the Good News of Jesus.
I’ve been in ministry for 37 years. I announced I was stepping down from my church (after 30 years) this past February. My last Sunday was May 31, which was right in the middle of the pandemic. I did not know then, and I don’t know now (3 months later) what God has for me next, I just knew I needed to step down. I had been praying for a clear vision for the church for the previous 2 years and I got nothing. So I felt like I needed to step down and allow God to give a fresh vision to a new leader.
Lack of a clear vision was the primary reason for resigning, but close behind was the fact that my wife was really struggling at the church. The accumulation of hurts had come to a head and she was pulling away. Which I think is associated with point 4 of the article: Criticisms against pastors have increased significantly. Pastors endure a great deal of abuse–I could write a book–but I think most of us are able to compartmentalize the experiences and move on (I’m not suggesting that is healthy; we just do it). But our spouses, not only experience their own hurts at the hands of parishioners, they also experience our hurts. Often times they are not a part of the mending or reconciliation that we might experience–they are just left with the hurt. That has been going on, probably, for centuries. The accumulated affect is hard on the family. My point is, this is not new, unjust criticism of pastors has been happening forever.
My point is that you can go down this list, step back a decade, take the word pandemic out and put in another word and it would be just as accurate an article. Ministry is tough–but I can’t imagine doing anything else. When I resigned from my church I told them that I have experienced 3 great honors in my life: marrying my wife, raising 3 great kids and being pastor of this church. Even now, not knowing what is next for me, I struggle to imagine doing anything other than full-time ministry. I love the church and am eager to see how God will allow me to serve it in the furture.
With all that said, for however horrible this pandemic has been, I think there is a positive that will come from it: the church will reinvent itself and become the glorious church that Jesus will return for. Most of us agree that we need to do things differently, if we what to connect our communities to the redeeming work of Jesus, but we’ve not known how, and so we have been slow to change. This horrible pandemic may just be the instrument that God uses to help His church become what He wants it to be.
Just a thought!
I’m a pastor. I have realized that God allowed this pandemic and the resultant shakings to remove inaccurate representations of His nature and character in the institutional church. Most of what we have been busy with is not aligned to God’s intent of having mature sons in the Earth that represent Him accurately. It’s been more about keeping our institutions going as a business. The true church will emerge and the institutions are going to crumble. I’m resigning as the institution Pastor and will continue raising sons to maturity.
Re: #5. Church members indeed are frustrated & complaining because we as part of the body of Christ, His bride, are not being heard by our pastor or deacon body as they sit waiting on their backsides for the virus to go away. Many members are being neglected particularly the elderly who are not on social media or the internet or who have health issues that cause them to be cautious about coming to church. We can still be busy doing Kingdom work!
As a pastor who is “sitting on my backside” waiting for the virus to go away I can tell you my work load has gone up since the start of the social distancing not gone down. And the things that many pastors do to keep their sanity – retreats, interaction with spiritual advisors, being in a routine – have all but disappeared. Have you asked your pastor about their health? I am lucky enough to have a Parish that frequently keeps checking on my mental, spiritual, and physical health. Because they are concerned about me as much as I am about them I probably won’t leave unless God tells me otherwise.
Wow.
If you think your pastor has been “sitting on his or her backside waiting for the virus to go away” you:
a) Didn’t read the whole article;
b) Have unwarranted disdain for your pastor; and
c) Are contributing to the problem and likely to influence their decision to leave.
Perhaps you’ll be happy about that. Good luck to your pastoral search committee.
YES, the vulnerable elderly without internet or social media access (perhaps a blessing in disguise trying to manage the onset of scamming especially of the elderly these days) — ministering to these folks weighs heavily on the concerns of clergy in my experience.
PLEASE give us some ideas about “Kingdom work” you yearn to do, and what you most need—-weekly sermons via the US mail? liturgy by phone? newsletters? phone calls? prayer? WHAT HELPS MOST? WHAT IS NEEDED MOST? Please ask your friends. Let us know. My parish has a vast offering of weekly gatherings for parishioners —- by phone for those who aren’t online, by Zoom for those who are. We are trying to meet the needs of folks via small intimate groups, as well as larger groups. None of us, including the laity, “are sitting on our backsides”.
I am a layperson who found your article interesting, because I recently decided that I will not be returning to my longtime church. That decision is not because I am no longer interested in live worship – it is directly related to the lack of parishioner contact from our pastors during this pandemic.
Sure, there were some emails from the youth ministers for the kids and a four week Zoom course. But the only direct communications I have received from my pastors not initiated by me were ads for their sermons and requests for money. Despite wide-spread secular reports about increases in depression and thoughts of suicide, nothing even though they know I live alone and despite the fact I responded to an online survey they sent out asking if I felt disconnected from God and the church, both of which I answered affirmatively. Basically, at my church, if you need your pastor, you need to jump up and down to get his or her attention and that is not always successful. And if you lose a family member – which I did – you hear nothing, but you get to see a lot of FB photos from your pastors letting you know that are enjoying their downtime with multiple visits to out of state family members.
I will miss my church family, but I need ministers who are invested in their congregations spiritual and emotional well-being, not just in the health of the member’s bank accounts. Sad to say, but my pastors probably won’t even notice I am gone as a person (after all, they have not seen me in nearly six months), but I am sure they will miss the $1350 per month tithe.
There are a number of church members who feel as I do, and we are using this time to sample online offerings from other churches.
Amen!!!
This is a perfect example of the layperson wanting the church to serve THEM.
While I understand your displeasure in not being contacted. I push back a little and ask if you’ve mentioned to your pastor or someone else on the staff that some members feel left out because they haven’t been contacted with in 6 months? The response you get to that statement will be telling. In an organization where we live on personal contact it is not always second nature to contact someone when you aren’t seeing anyone.
An observation – what is your tithe? Is it payment or gift to God? Every tithe, no matter the size, is equally important because it is a gift to God for the mission of the church.
I pray God’s strength and encouragement may continue upon you.
Not true and doesn’t apply to most pastors.
When you write a piece about pastors, you are saying you have knowledge of every church in every state. Some churches have a 15 minute sermon so pastors do very little. You also have zero footnotes which means you based your post on feelinfs instead of documented facts. Ouwe pastor leta others do the work.
Most pastors make ministry about themselves and no one else can do the work because we are not qualified because we don’t have a degree in ministry.
Our pastor is not weary from the pandemic and I don’t see them wearing masks.
Our pastor let several people walk out the door including an elder because they didn’t want to address racism. Didn’t want to address a lot of issues wrong in the church. And when you disagree, you get blocked on Facebook because they are not about reconciliation.
Truth be told – a good 15 minute sermon is harder to write than an okay 45 minute sermon.
Go away. And don’t come to our church with your selfish garbage.
I so hear you. You stated this much better than I did.
I’m a bivocational pastor and church planter. I can tell you every one of these things are absolutely true. It’s a battle, as we determine what a “relaunch” even looks like, and personally, if I can even do it again. Please pray.
Praying for you, Pastor Jason, as well as all pastors and church members who are experiencing a “dark night of the soul” right now. Between the pandemic, disagreements over how to address racial injustice, as well as the political divide that has reared its ugly head in our churches, it is getting harder to carry on. Let us lean fully into our Savior, and not give up hope.
Blessings!