New Data Shows Hopeful Increases in Pastors’ Confidence & Satisfaction

Back in 2021, Barna discovered that nearly four in 10 pastors had considered quitting full-time ministry in the past year, a number that rose even higher in 2022.

It’s been a while since we’ve reported on how pastors are faring in their roles, and the data show that some hopeful changes have taken place.

This article features data from our newest report, The State of Pastors, Volume 2—created in partnership with World Vision, Brotherhood Mutual, RightNow Media and World Impact—to offer an updated view of pastors’ confidence and security in their role.

When we began imagining a follow up to The State of Pastors report, things for pastors were looking dire.

The Church had just weathered several unprecedented challenges, and Barna research found it much worse for wear. The COVID-19 pandemic had compromised churches’ ability to gather in person, forcing many communities to adopt uncomfortable new social distancing strategies including digital gatherings. A bitter political climate put a severe strain on many communities (when it didn’t split them outright). And dwindling resources left many pastors feeling spread thin, lacking the margin to fully attend to all the needs of their congregation, let alone the time to cultivate their personal well-being.

The destabilizing of U.S. pastors has perhaps been most evident in a dramatic surge in the number of pastors who said they were considering leaving their jobs—between January 2021 and March 2022 alone, this number rose from 29 percent to 42 percent.

In earlier reports on this data, we referred to this as a “burnout epidemic.” We saw a steep drop in the number of pastors who said they felt energized by their jobs and a large spike in the data indicating many pastors felt discouraged, depleted and defeated by their day-to-day work.

For a while, the day-to-day reality of U.S. pastors seemed quite grim. Recently, however, some signs of relief have begun to appear on the horizon.

Past Barna reporting showed that, as of 2022, just 35 percent of pastors said they were “more confident” in their calling than they had been when they started in ministry. In 2023, that number dramatically grew to 51 percent, with another 39 percent saying they are “just as confident.” While 14 percent said they were “less confident” in 2022, just 9 percent now say the same. Notably, these numbers are strong among both men (51%) and women (53%), as well as pastors over 45 (52%) and under 45 (50%).

In a similar vein, the number of pastors who say they are “very satisfied” with their vocation has grown to 59 percent (from 52% in 2022), a 7-point jump from the previous year. And 47 percent of pastors say they are “very satisfied” with their ministry at their current church (up from 38% in 2022), a significant increase from the last time Barna checked in.

Even more striking, while nearly half of pastors (47%) say they’re “very satisfied” with their ministry at their current church, female pastors and younger pastors (32% and 38%) are far less likely than male pastors and older pastors (49% and 50%) to feel this way. Age and gender discrepancies have long lingered within job satisfaction among pastors, and it seems the recent rebound has done little to narrow these gaps.

These positive jumps in pastoral confidence and satisfaction go hand in hand with the shift in the number of pastors who have contemplated leaving full-time ministry in the past year. As of March 2022, this number sat at 42 percent. In late 2023, the numbers of pastors who had considered this dropped to 33 percent. Today’s pastors are finding their footing after a prolonged period of destabilization.

Obviously, room for improvement remains. Among pastors for whom burnout or a desire to leave ministry persists, other dimensions of their lives also seem to be at risk. Clearly, challenges remain in these areas—and they are significant. But the general boost in pastoral job satisfaction suggests that change is possible and downward trends are reversible.

It should act as a wake-up call that younger and emerging pastors—the Church’s future leaders—seem to be the most vulnerable to the challenges of the vocation. And there is still much we don’t know about the disruptions of recent years. But we hope that by studying the factors behind this crisis, both in The State of Pastors, Volume 2 and beyond, and examining more recent positive developments, we can help turn the tide on pastoral burnout and equip a new generation of Christian leaders to minister to their communities with confidence and compassion.

Additional reading and resources:

• Barna launched The State of Pastors, Volume 2 with a free webcast event. You can click here to watch the webcast replay.
• Check out this blog post offering a recap of The State of Pastors, Volume 2 launch event, and discover six themes related to the future of pastoral leadership.