Study after study confirms that ministers deal daily with higher than normal levels of stress. Many studies and statistics are available, but consider just the following seven statistics:

 

90% of pastors (all ages) said the ministry was completely different than what they thought it

would be like before they entered the ministry;

75% of pastors (all ages) say they are extremely or highly stressed;

40% say they have considered leaving their pastorates in the last three months;

33% of pastors (all ages) state that being in the ministry is clearly hazardous for their families;

45.5% of pastors have experienced depression to the point they had to take a break from ministry;

33% felt totally burned out within the first five years of ministry;

50% of ministers quit during the first five years of ministry. The 5-10-5 Rule. *

 

In a recent survey, Journey Pastoral Coaching asked Millennial ministers – Journey members and non-Journey members – to identify the external and internal stressors in their lives. Here we present the results of the survey on external stressors. The results of the survey on internal stressors will follow later.

Respondents include church planters, lead pastors, staff pastors, bi-vocational ministers, missionaries, parachurch ministry leaders, and college campus pastors.

We asked respondents to do two things: identify and weigh stressors from external sources, stressors brought to bear on them from one or more of the following four groups:

those to whom they minister;

those with whom they minister;

those who are over them in ministry;

those who in any way exercise some measure of influence over their life or ministry.

 

First, respondents identified external stressors by selecting sources of stress from a list compiled from similar surveys. We have labeled the stressors they selected, “Mentions”.

Second, respondents weighted external stressors by listing their top stressors in order of severity. These are labeled “Weighted,” as they indicate not only the stressors Millennial ministers deal with, but how severely each one is felt. A stressor may mentioned by fewer respondents, but felt more severely by the group as a whole. Likewise, though a stressor may be mentioned by more respondents it may be felt less deeply by the group as a whole.

Respondents also gave brief explanations of their selections.

 

SURVEY RESULTS

“Total Mentions” is a compilation of all the instances in which a Journey member listed a particular stressor on his or her list of greatest stressors.

“Weighted Score” is an accumulated score in which each mention of a stressor is weighted according to how high or low it was listed in the member’s list of greatest external stressors.

Results are indicated first as the total of all respondents, and second, by ministry position.

 

TOTAL MENTIONS

Which external stressors respondents selected as their top three. Behind each percentage we have listed the number one factor mentioned by respondents.

 

ORDER            STRESSOR                        % OF RESPONDENTS SELECTING

1                   WORKLOAD                                             60.0%

2                  SENSE OF PROGRESS                            54.3%

3                  FINANCIAL PRESSURE                         42.9%

4                  EXPECTATIONS OF OTHERS               40.0%

5                  INTERPERSONAL CONFLICT              28.6%

6                  CULTURE                                                   23.0%

7                  COLLEAGUES                                             17.1%

8                 THEIR DENOMINATION                          14.3%

9                 THEIR LEADER                                           11.4%

10               OFFICIAL BOARD                                       3.0%

 

WEIGHTED SCORES

Not only did respondents select their external stressors, but they listed them in order of “weight” or severity. “Total Mentions” indicates how many respondents selected an individual stressor, while the “Weighted Score” indicates how severely respondents feel each stressor.

ORDER                              STRESSOR                                               SCORE

 

1                                    WORKLOAD                                                        95

2                                    SENSE OF PROGRESS                                    89

3                                    EXPECTATIONS                                                83

4                                    FINANCES                                                          70

5                                    CONFLICT                                                          51

6                                    CULTURE                                                           39

7                                    COLLEAGUES                                                    31

8                                    DENOMINATION                                              25

9                                    LEADER                                                              19

10                                    BOARD                                                                5

 

BY MINISTRY POSITION

Listed below, in order, are the top 5 stressors by ministry position. As above, one list is for Total Mentions and one list is for Weighted Score.

 

BI-VOCATIONAL MINISTERS

MENTIONS                                         WEIGHTED SCORE

1  WORKLOAD                                            1  WORKLOAD

2  PROGRESS                                            2  PROGRESS

3  EXPECTATIONS                                   3  EXPECTATIONS

4  FINANCES                                              4  FINANCES

5  DENOMINATION                                  5  DENOMINATION

 

LEAD PASTORS

MENTIONS                                      WEIGHTED SCORE

1   EXPECTATIONS                               1   EXPECTATIONS

2   FINANCES                                         2  FINANCES

3  WORKLOAD                                     3  WORKLOAD

4  CONFLICT                                         4  PROGRESS

5   PROGRESS                                      5  DENOMINATION

 

MINISTERS OTHER

(Non-profit directors, pastoral coaches, campus pastors, evangelists)

MENTIONS                                     WEIGHTED SCORE

1    EXPECTATIONS                                   1  EXPECTATIONS

2   PROGRESS                                           2  PROGRESS

3   WORKLOAD                                         3  WORKLOAD

4   CULTURE                                              4  FINANCES

5   LEADER                                                 5  CULTURE

 

MISSIONARIES

MENTIONS                                   WEIGHTED SCORE

1   CULTURE                                               1   CULTURE

2   WORKLOAD                                        2   WORKLOAD

3  FINANCES                                              3   FINANCES

4  COLLEAGUES                                      4   COLLEAGUES

5   LEADER                                                5   DENOMINATION

 

STAFF PASTORS

(Exec, Worship, Youth, Connections, Discipleship, Children, Family)

MENTIONS                                  WEIGHTED SCORE

1   WORKLOAD                                         1  WORKLOAD

2   PROGRESS                                          2  PROGRESS

3  FINANCES                                             3  FINANCES

4  CONFLICT                                            4  CONFLICT

5  EXPECTATIONS                                 5  EXPECTATIONS

 

YOUTH PASTORS

MENTIONS                                WEIGHTED SCORE

1   PROGRESS                                         1  PROGRESS

2   FINANCES                                          2  FINANCES

3   WORKLOAD                                     3  WORKLOAD

4   CONFLICT                                         4  CONFLICT

5  EXPECTATIONS                               5  EXPECTATIONS

 

GENERAL CONCLUSONS

Two stressors, Workload and Progress were most often mentioned and most severely felt by Millennial ministers in our survey, with Workload being selected by 60% of respondents, and Progress cited by 54.3% of respondents.

Under Workload, respondents’ comments indicated two specific stressors: the large number of responsibilities they are required to carry, and the number of hours required to work every week. Both are challenging to the minister and to his or her family. Being permitted adequate time off each week and time off for vacations are also cited. One staff pastor wrote that while he is bi-vocational, he is required to carry two portfolios (worship and youth) and to keep extensive office hours at the church. He has been married less than five years, has infant children, and is paying off student loan debt.

Under Progress, respondents said others are slow to acknowledge any progress/growth in their ministries, but are quick to criticize a perceived lack of progress – patience and understanding are rare commodities in the church world. The issue is not one of praise, but one of acknowledging progress and/or being critical when numbers, dollars, and number of events are not “sufficient.” Several staff pastors cited a constantly changing set of standards by which progress is measured.

Two stressors, Finances and Expectations were also high on respondents’ lists of external stressors with 42.9% of respondents selecting Finances as one of their top three external stressors, and 40% of respondents selecting Expectations.

Under Finances, respondents cited the pressure of paying high student loan debt and its effects on their family budgets, given their entry-level salaries or their bi-vocational status. A large majority of pastors and staff members report that they do not receive pay raises or have annual pay reviews. Young lead pastors unilaterally cut their own pay for the sake of the church. As a results, spouses of ministers are seeking employment in the secular world, requiring child care for infant children, a secondary, but highly significant, stressor for the family, and consequently, for the church or organization.

Under Expectations, respondents cited the many roles they are expected to fulfill, the high demands placed upon them to be experts in them all, and the demands for immediate results in numbers rather than a long term view of disciples being formed. Those whom they serve under can place pressure on them to perform even as they are vague in their expectations: “I don’t know what he wants and he gets upset when I ask.” Those whom they lead – congregants, parents – can also have unreasonable or conflicting expectations. One staff pastor reported that he carries a dual leadership portfolio that requires him to prepare for both ministries, lead the leadership teams of both ministries, be present for all meetings of both ministries, be a part of all pastoral staff meetings and disciplesip, and attend all other church meetings for other ministries, such as men’s ministries, missions ministries, workdays, outreaches, etc. He reports that if he makes them all but one, he is cited for not fulfilling expectations. It is both a workload issue and an expectations issue.

 

For Your Consideration . . .

We began this article with seven statistics representing the general population of pastors in America.

After our review above of Journey’s survey of young ministers are the most significant external stressors in their lives, it bears repeating those statistics again:

 

90% of pastors (all ages) said the ministry was completely different than what they thought it

           would be like before they entered the ministry;

75% of pastors (all ages) say they are extremely or highly stressed;

40% say they have considered leaving their pastorates in the last three months;

33% of pastors (all ages) state that being in the ministry is clearly hazardous for their families;

45.5% of pastors have experienced depression to the point they had to take a break from ministry;

33% felt totally burned out within the first five years of ministry;

50% of ministers quit during the first five years of ministry. The 5-10-5 Rule. *

 

In other words, the issue is not with Millennial ministers, but with the ministry. And the issue is how we help, or rather, do not help young ministers transition into and through the early years of ministry. All evidence says that we are not helping young ministers make it – and we haven’t been doing it for a long, long time.

Many of my peers from Bible College and seminary are no longer in the ministry. They were at least as gifted as me, just as committed, and believed themselves to be just as called. But where I survived, they didn’t. If you are in vocational ministry, you probably have the same experience.

Isn’t it time we ask the question, “Why? Why don’t more of these quality and called individuals survive? Why does the very ministry they gave their lives to, inevitably crush so many of them?”

Isn’t it time we ask the question, “Why? Why are we willing to accept the 5-10-5 Rule, the rule that says 5 of 10 young ministers today are quitting within 5 years of entering the ministry?”

I, for one, am not.

 

* All statistics are from The Francis A. Schaeffer Institute of Church Development

 

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NOTE: Journey Pastoral Coaching provides pastoral coaching to Millennial ministers.

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.

So we offer it to them at NO COST:  Member do not PAY for coaching; they EARN it.

We are able to do so through the faithful and generous gifts of friends who want to see young leaders not only enter the ministry, but remain in the ministry. If you or your church would like to help Millennial ministers in 21 US states and 5 nations build strong for a lifetime in ministry, please click here to contact us by email or 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