OUCH
50% of pastors’ marriages will end in divorce 80% of seminary graduates will leave ministry in the first 5 years 90% of pastors said their seminary or Bible school training did only a fair to poor job preparing them for ministry. 70% of pastors are grossly underpaid (compared to the amount of work they do) 80% of pastors’ spouses believe their spouse is overworked 50% of pastors feel unable to meet the needs of the job 80% of pastors say they have insufficient time with their family 56% of pastors’ spouses have no close friends 80% of pastors’ kids seek professional help for depression 5 years - the average tenure of a pastor at a church Pastors who work fewer than 50 hours a week are 35% more likely to be terminated The average church member expects the pastor to be able to juggle 16 major tasks Approximately 4,000 new churches begin each year while more than 7,000 churches close annually.
If there really is one area the church is completely screwing up on… it’s the way they treat their leaders!
Source:
JesusCreed and Maranathalife
3 responses so far ↓
Melissa Slocum
// Aug 19, 2008 at 9:21 pm
I was just talking to some parishioners and they were complaining about the fact that their pastor is not ‘a leader’ and does not do enough to ‘be involved’ in the life of the church. I asked them which funerals, worship services, weddings and baptisms they would like him to give up…then which hospital and nursing home visits, and home visits they would like him to give up (certainly not for their relatives), then which church meetings they would like him to skip (certainly not theirs), then which church events he should skip (certainly not theirs)…in order to be ‘more involved in the life of the church’ or to be more of ‘a leader.’
Pardon my sarcasm…they are still in the throes of ‘Pastor-Fetch’ and can’t seem to break themselves of the mentality that pastors are supposed to be all things to all people.
Adam Driscoll
// Aug 19, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Wait a minute here…
Are you saying that I, since I do after all put a few dollars in the plate a few times a year…, dont have the right to have my pastor be my personal god servant?
Now come on already ! I pay him good money (ok so its not a tithe) but he is supposed to be my pastor - I dont care about anyone else…
me me me …
(ok so I am sarcastic also)
Glenn - it makes me think of the post you wrote about where people want to buy the pastor…
We are not there to be bought - You pose a great question - what can we do to help those who are in ministry and just wont last… cant last…
Perhaps we need a 12 step program for anyone in ministry
(ok so theres your other post about Serenity now)
off to sleep…
Tom Bandy
// Aug 19, 2008 at 10:50 pm
via email to the admin:
I think a “hidden stat” would reveal that pastors that get beyond the “family church” model (and that model constitutes some 80% of churches) are less likely to drop out, burn out.
I suspect another hidden stat might reveal that pastors who get beyond the “program church” are less likely to experience depression or divorce.
For small church (family church) leaders, the remedy usually lies breaking co-dependencies, redeveloping worship to be truly exciting, and getting a support group.
For larger program type church leaders, the remedy has more to do with time management, staff delegation skills, and renewed spiritual life.
Tom Bandy
Leave a Comment