Block The Exits! Pastors Heading for the Doors!
In March 2023, The Barna Group reported the following:
“New Barna data shows that pastors’ confidence and satisfaction in their vocation has decreased significantly in the past few years, and two in five (41%) say they’ve considered quitting ministry in the last 12 months.” (Source: Excerpt: A Rapid Decline in Pastoral Security)
It is a sobering, even shocking revelation. One that must be addressed immediately.
Picture it this way. Imagine a gathering of 100 pastors, all seated in chairs in your church sanctuary. Fifty-nine of them sit facing the pulpit, awaiting the Word of the Lord with anticipation. Forty-one of them sit facing the exit doors – and leaning forward.
According to the Barna survey, that’s not just a possibility facing the church today; that’s the reality.
WHAT CAN BE DONE?
For starters, consider this:
“The most effective learning of all, more than all other forms combined, is going through hardship with support, and evaluation.” The Center for Creative Leadership
But what percentage of these pastors – especially the younger ones – are taking the proven prescription recommended by The Center for Creative Leadership:
“Go through hardship with support and evaluation?”
In other words, what percentage of the 41% who are ready to leave are processing life in ministry with mentors and pastoral coaches?
Not as many as you might think. Consider these three concerning stats from Barna’s study:
1. 65% of pastors today report feeling lonely in ministry. One wonders how many won’t admit it.
2. The percentage of pastors who “frequently” feel supported by others has dropped 28% since 2015.
3. In 2015, 37% of pastors received personal support from peers or a mentor every month. In 2022, that number had dropped to just 22%.
Add to this the fact that the church is hemorrhaging young ministers and the picture becomes even more serious. (You can read the whole story in my recent article, Fade to Gray.)
FINISHED? OR FINISHING WELL!
Still not convinced of the essential ministry of pastors pastoring pastors? Still not persuaded of the vital role of pastoral coaches and mentors? J. Robert Clinton, renowned expert in pastoral leadership and professor at Fuller Seminary, spent a lifetime studying ministers and minister health. In his must-read book, The Mentor Handbook, he reports his findings:
“Leadership studies among Christian leaders of various levels reveal that people who consider themselves to have finished well in ministry have had several mentoring relationships throughout their ministry. Conversely, one of the most common characteristics among those in ministry who did not finish well was a lack of mentoring relationships during their ministry tenure.”
“Those who finish well” vs those who don’t finish at all.
What made the difference?
Walking through hardship with support and evaluation provided in several mentoring relationships throughout their ministry.
Or walking without it.
IT’S TIME TO MAKE A MOVE
How do we get those 41 out of every 100 pastors to turn from the exit doors and not only move back toward the pulpit, but do so encouraged, strong, and confident in the Lord?
One of the keys is giving every pastor a pastor.
“Doctors need medical care. Lawyers need legal advice. Counselors need counseling. Pastors need pastoring.” Jimmy Dodd, Survive or Thrive
And no, Pastor, you cannot pastor yourself. You need a pastor, someone who can lead you to green pastures and still waters. Someone who can walk with you through the many lonely valleys of death in ministry. Someone who can help you receive God’s restoration for your soul, drinking in His goodness and mercy all the days of your life.
Journey Pastoral Coaching exists expressly to provide young ministers with this needed support and evaluation. For nine years now, day in and day out (and many evenings) on the phone, in Zoom gatherings, getaways for individuals and couples, resourcing, and our annual retreats, Journey helps young ministers not only survive but thrive. We help them build strong for a lifetime of healthy and effective ministry.
And, uniquely, our members do not pay for coaching with financial resources but by investing in each other: we are a mutual investment ministry. Usually in low-pay positions, often bi-vocational, still paying school debt, and just starting in life, young ministers most want but can least afford the very help advocated and demonstrated to be effective in studies.
How are we able to provide this proven-effective ministry to young ministers? Through churches like yours and individuals like you. We invite you to partner with us. Your church has a missions budget, a financial amount you designate to advancing the church’s mission around the world. Doesn’t it make sense that your church invests in the most essential resource of the church: pastors?
The days ahead for the church look to be challenging ones. That means challenging days for the pastors who lead it. One of the most effective steps you and I can take is to give these pastors what they need. Please consider supporting them by supporting the ministry of Journey Pastoral Coaching.
October is Pastor Appreciation Month. What better time to invest in this generation of young pastors?
To learn more or to partner with us financially, please email us at journeypastoralcoaching@gmail.com. Thank you for your consideration.
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Saddled with large student debt, just beginning to set up homes and start families, and serving in low paying first and second positions, Millennials are those who most desire but can least afford to pay for pastoral coaching.
We are able to do so thanks to the faithful and generous support of individuals and churches like yours who want to see young leaders not only enter the ministry, but remain in the ministry.
Now, more than ever, we need your help.
If you or your church would like to help Millennial ministers across the US and overseas build strong for a lifetime in ministry, please click here to support Journey monthly or with your one-time gift. Thank you.
We also invite you to click and subscribe to our twice-monthly blogs at journeypastoralcoaching.com
