Key Factor for Pastor Longevity: Sharing Personal Struggles with Congregation

September 26, 2025

A recent study by Lifeway Research shows that a key to a pastor’s longevity in the ministry is whether or not they share their personal struggles with others in their congregation.

Christianity Daily reports that the study analyzed data from two different surveys of current and former Protestant pastors earlier this year.

The research found that feelings of isolation were closely linked to burnout with 68% of the former pastors reporting they felt isolated in their roles.

However, pastors who reported regularly opening up to lay leaders, at least monthly, were 2.2 times more likely to continue in the ministry and those who engaged with a regular Bible study group were 3.9 times more likely to keep serving.

The report also found that pastors were more likely to stay in their positions if they had realistic expectations from their congregations, counseling experience and lower levels of church conflict.

Family dynamics were also discovered to play a crucial role in a pastor’s longevity with pastors who prioritized family time over pastoral duties being 1.7 times more likely to stay with their ministry.

According to Christianity Daily, age and church size also played a role in whether or not pastors left the ministry early or served until retirement.

Pastors between the ages of 55 and 64 were 2.6 times more likely to leave early while pastors with congregations below 250 or more members were 7.3 times more likely to leave than pastors with smaller congregations.

Lifeway research published a report last month on the reasons former pastors left their roles with 18% of former clergy citing church conflict as the reason they left and 16% pointing to burnout.

Photo: top, Credit: Unsplash/Nycholas Benaia