{"id":2498,"date":"2007-08-13T00:20:49","date_gmt":"2007-08-13T00:20:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/2007\/08\/burnout-for-pastors.html"},"modified":"2007-08-13T00:20:49","modified_gmt":"2007-08-13T00:20:49","slug":"burnout-for-pastors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2007\/08\/burnout-for-pastors.html","title":{"rendered":"Burnout for Pastors"},"content":{"rendered":"

I recently got the suggestion to make available information about a pastor’s retreat center from Jim Watters<\/a>. The report Jim sent me indicates why this is worth a conversation on this blog.
\nWhat are you doing? What can be done? Any suggestions?
\nI now reproduce the report.
\nStatistics from
\nPastors at Greater Risk<\/a><\/em>, H B London, Jr., and Neil B Wiseman, Regal Books, \u00a9 2003
\nThe American Church
\n*Churchgoers expect their pastor to juggle an average of 16 major tasks
\n*Pastors who work fewer than 50 hours a week are 35 percent more likely to be terminated.
\n*87 percent of Protestant churches have full-time paid pastors.
\n*50 percent of all congregations in the United States are either plateauing or declining
\n*Two-thirds of pastors reported that their congregation experienced a conflict during the past two years; more than 20 percent of those were significant enough that members left the congregation
\n*The typical pastor has his\/her greatest ministry impact at a church in years 5 through 14 of his pastorate; unfortunately, the average pastor lasts only five years at a church.
\nThe Culture
\n*53 percent of Americans say the nation\u2019s moral problems are greater than the nation\u2019s economic problems.
\n*78 percent of Americans rate the state of moral values in the United States as weak or very weak
\n*64 percent of adults say that truth is relative to the person and their circumstances
\n*44 percent of Americans who declare themselves to be Christians believe that Jesus sinned during His time on earth
\nThe Upside \u2013 Pastor\u2019s Life in the Church
\n*86 percent of pastors said they\u2019d choose ministry as their career if they had it to do over
\n*87 percent of pastors say a strong sense of God\u2019s call is why they chose ministry as a career
\n*91 percent of pastors feel very satisfied about being in ministry;
\n*75 percent say they want to stay in ministry
\nThe Downside \u2013 Pastor\u2019s Life in the Church
\n*90 percent of pastors work more than 46 hours a week.
\n*80 percent believe that pastoral ministry affects their families negatively
\n*75 percent report they\u2019ve had a significant stress-related crisis at least once in their ministry
\n*50 percent feel unable to meet the needs of the job.
\n*40 percent report a serious conflict with a parishioner at least once a month.
\n*40 percent of pastors say they have considered leaving their pastorates in the last three months.
\n*19 percent of pastors indicate that they\u2019d been forced out of ministry at least once during their ministry; another 6 percent said they\u2019d been fired from a ministry position
\nMarriage and Family
\n*33 percent of pastors confess \u201cinappropriate\u201d sexual behavior with someone in the church
\n*20 percent of pastors say they view pornography at least once a month
\n*According to Focus on the Family\u2019s Pastoral Ministries Division, approximately 20 percent of the monthly calls to their pastoral care line deal with sexual misconduct and pornography
\n*20 percent of pastors admit to having had an affair while in the ministry
\n*12 percent of pastors say that since they\u2019ve been in ministry, they\u2019ve had sexual intercourse with someone other than their spouse,
\n*51 percent of pastors say that Internet pornography is a possible temptation for them; 37 percent admit that it\u2019s a current struggle
\n*13 percent of pastors have been divorced
\n*48 percent of pastors think being in ministry is hazardous to family well-being
\n*33 percent say that being in ministry is an outright hazard to their family
\n*80 percent of pastors say they have insufficient time with spouse
\n*58 percent of pastors indicate that their spouse works either part-time or fulltime outside the home because the family need the income
\n*56 percent of pastors\u2019 wives say they that they have no close friends
\n*45 percent of pastors\u2019 wives say the greatest danger to them and family is physical, emotional, mental and spiritual burnout
\n*66 percent of pastors and their families feel pressure to model the ideal family to their congregations and communities
\n*53 percent of pastors spend time off from pastors\u2019 duties to do activities with their families; *21 percent spend time with hobbies or physical tasks
\nLongevity\/Spiritual Health
\n*55 percent of pastors indicate that they\u2019re a member of a small group that provides support and holds them accountable
\n*32 percent of pastors say that reading is the activity that provides sustained renewal in their spirit;
\n*31 percent say that renewal comes from being alone
\n*50 percent of pastors say they\u2019d see another pastor if they felt the need fro personal counseling;
\n*20.5 indicate they\u2019d see no one
\n*70 percent do not have someone they consider a close friend
\nPreparation
\n*31 percent of pastors indicated that conflict management was lacking in their seminary or Bible college training
\n*90 percent feel they\u2019re inadequately trained to cope with ministry demands
\nPersonal Health
\n*45.5 percent of pastors say that they\u2019ve experienced depression or burnout to the extent that they needed to take a leave of absence from ministry
\n*70 percent say they have a lower self-esteem now than when they started out
\n*57 percent of pastors do not have a regularly scheduled and implemented exercise routine
\n*56 percent of pastors regularly take off one day each week; 21 percent say that they do not get any days off<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recently got the suggestion to make available information about a pastor’s retreat center from Jim Watters. The report Jim sent me indicates why this is worth a conversation on this blog.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":298,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pastoring-and-preaching"],"yoast_head":"\nBurnout for Pastors - Jesus Creed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2007\/08\/burnout-for-pastors.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Burnout for Pastors - Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I recently got the suggestion to make available information about a pastor’s retreat center from Jim Watters. 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