Pastoral Burnout

Read and Weep.

Richard J. Krejcir. “Statistics on Pastors.” Francis A. Schaeffer Institute of Church Leadership. 2007.

In the last twenty years, the workload of a pastor has increased from over fifty hours a week to just over sixty hours a week.
Fifteen hundred pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout, or contention in their churches.
50% of pastors’ marriages will end in divorce.
80% of seminary and Bible school graduates who enter ministry will leave within the first five years.
70% of pastors constantly fight depression

During the course of compiling information for the article, “Statistics on Pastors,” Krejcir surveyed 1,050 pastors from two different conferences to gather data. The results from the survey are troubling.

90% of the pastors surveyed stated they are frequently fatigued and worn out on a weekly and even daily basis.
89% of the pastors surveyed stated they considered leaving ministry at one time.
57% of the pastors surveyed stated they would leave if they had a better place to go – including secular work.
77% of the pastors surveyed stated they felt they did not have a good marriage.
71% of the pastors surveyed stated they were burned out, and they battle depression beyond fatigue on a weekly and even daily basis