The Epidemic of the Qutting/Fallen Pastor

[daniel9913]

I am only 29 years old. In 2010, I helped a friend begin a church with about 12 people. Today, God has done much, and as we passed our five year anniversary we have grown tremendously. I have only been officially brought into ordination in 2013. In other words, I am very much a newbie in my pastors ministry.

Nevertheless, in my short time in church planting and in ministry, I have seen an amazing amount of pastors fall out of ministry. Without exaggeration, there isn't a week or a month that goes by that I hear of either a local pastor falling, or something in the broader American Christian-church. It hurts and stings each time I hear it. But it keeps coming and coming.

Or you hear of a pastor using the word "burn-out" and suddenly they quit ministry. Sometimes even after periods as short as five years.

I think the last statistic I read says that pastors on average now last less than ten years in ministry before they either quit or disqualify themselves. I've read some that say it's an even shorter period of time. I know they say that ministry is difficult, which yes it is. It surely is. But the word epidemic is intentional, because these statistics of the quitting and falling pastor seems to be increasing as the years go by. It's increasing. And it can be devastating to Christ's bride.

Why is this? Would love to hear your thoughts.

 

[Ed Walsh]

Hi Daniel,

Do you have any real world statistics? It is a bit hard to answer what may be a somewhat subjective observation.

 

[Pergamum]

Here are some articles:

http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2014/04/pastor-will-you-burn-out.php

https://www.whitehorseinn.org/2010/09/horton-on-ministry-burnout-2/

http://dspace.learningnetworks.org/bitstream/1820/1222/1/BURNOUT%20AMONG%20DUTCH%20REFORMED%20PASTORS.pdf

http://wrfnet.org/resources/2011/10/ten-suggestions-avoiding-ministry-burnout-wrf-member-dave-wiedis


A link with a book recommendation: https://reformedreader.wordpress.com/2014/08/05/some-reasons-for-pastoral-burnout/


https://www.amazon.com/Brink-Grace-Burned-Out-Pastor-ebook/dp/B00M4M3FTK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468894500&sr=8-1&keywords=on+the+brink+clay+werner




May God preserve us all.

 

[daniel9913]

Here is a 9 Marks article quoting some research from the Schaffer Institute:

https://9marks.org/article/dont-make-your-pastor-a-statistic/

Some stats from the research:

50% of pastors will quit in 5 years
1 in 10 pastors will retire as a minister

 

[earl40]

I know in my neck of the woods we have all kind of fellows who think they ought to be pastors, and they start a small church that fail because The Lord did not call them to be such. I say this because I am getting older and wiser in that the proper way to become a pastor is best reflected in the Presbyterian form of government. Not to say Our Lord can work through the improper ways of men.

 

[iainduguid]

I'm always a bit skeptical of "statistics" that don't remotely match my personal experience. Do I know ministers who have left the office because of sexual or other serious sin? Yes, I think about three men out of the 100+ pastors who have served in the presbyteries I've been a part of. Do I know pastors whose marriages are in trouble? A few, though none have ended in divorce (except one of those mentioned above who committed sexual sin). I've known far more men honorably "retired" (though in some cases still serving just as profoundly) than I have seen men demit the ministry to do something else. Your experiences may be different from mine, but this doesn't seem to be an epidemic where I live. That's not to say that ministry isn't hard and that many men, including myself, wrestle with frustration, difficult relationships and even at times feel burned out. I certainly know what that feels like. But as I say, the statistics don't match my personal corner of the Reformed world. I'd be surprised if my experience is that different from those in other confessional reformed denominations.

 

[DMcFadden]

Dr. Duguid,

I believe that it may be a matter of what circles you travel in rather than bad stats. My "experience" was that broad evangelicals are far more prone to all of the items you mentioned (except for divorce which, in my "experience," still has higher incidence rates within the mainline community) than those in more confessional denominations.

Remember that there are 300,000 congregations in America and the OPC and PCA together only amount to around 400,000 members!

Polling, while subject to the skill of the pollster, is more objective than other methods. Even granting the reasons for errors (e.g. the infamous "Bradley" effect named after the fact that CA residents consistently polled more positively for Tom Bradley some decades ago than they voted in the pricacy of the polling booth), I have no trouble believing the high dropout rate among Protestant clergy generally. But, within more confessional circles, my observations parallel your own.

 

[Edward]

I'm always a bit skeptical of "statistics" that don't remotely match my personal experience.

Trying to draw broad general conclusions from very narrow personal experiences does not suggest academic rigor.

My anecdotal experiences are the exact opposite of yours, but any effort to draw broad brush conclusions therefrom would be no more or less valid.