With rising discontent, more than half of American clergy seriously considered quitting: study

January 11, 2024

A new study from the Hartford Institute for Religion Research suggests that a growing number of American pastors have considered leaving the pastoral ministry since 2020, according to the Christian Post.

The study was part of a larger project titled “Exploring the Pandemic Impact on Congregations” and surveyed a group of 1700 clergy members and their congregations in the fall of 2023 and then compared their answers to earlier EPIC surveys. The study found that 53% of those religious leaders surveyed last fall have given serious consideration to leaving pastoral ministry at least once since 2020.

These findings represent a significantly from a similar survey administered in fall of 2021, in which 37% of pastors had expressed similar thoughts.

The study also showed that around 44% of pastors had considered leaving their congregations, at least once since 2020. Those numbers were roughly double the 21% of pastors who had expressed this sentiment in 2021. Researchers described the growing discontent among pastors as “disconcerting” evidence that suggests that “clergy are in the midst of a challenging time.”

In seeking explanations for the rising dissatisfaction among clergy, researchers also studied questions of overall health and wellness but found no connection between the discontent and physical or spiritual illness. What they did find was that a changing religious landscape in America has led to challenging circumstances for many pastors.

Declining in-church attendance and membership numbers have also contributed to pastors expressing spiritual exhaustion and questioning whether they are making an appreciable difference in the lives of their congregations.

The report also pointed to the impact that the pandemic has had on the commitment and connectivity as well as growing doubts among churchgoers. Researchers explains that, “Less than half of congregations have recovered to or surpassed their pre-pandemic reality across several key measurements, such as attendance numbers or financial health.”

The demographics of pastors who had seriously considered quitting their ministry appear to show this sentiment is more prevalent among Baby Boomers and Millennial age groups. Pastors from Gen X or the Silent Generation were less likely to think of leaving, possibly due to greater difficulty in changing vocations.

Likewise, pastors who served larger congregations and who had teams to assist them were less likely to consider leaving.

Photo, top: Credits: Getty Images