This is part two in a recent Journey Pastoral Coaching study of young ministers and the stressors that most affect their lives. In our most recent study we looked at external stressors, those stressors coming from these four sources:

 

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.

 

In part two we focus on internal stressors, those stressors arising from within the young minister as he or she processes life in ministry.

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 this second part of our study on stressors, Journey Pastoral Coaching asked Millennial ministers – Journey members and non-Journey members – to identify internal stressors in their lives. We now present the results of that survey.

Once again, 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 within themselves – internal sources as they process the early years of life in ministry.

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

Second, respondents weighted internal 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 be 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 respondent 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 respondent’s list of greatest internal stressors.

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

 

TOTAL MENTIONS

“Total Mentions” is an ordered list of the internal stressors that respondents selected as being among their top three.

 

ORDER            STRESSOR                                    % OF RESPONDENTS 

                                                                                SELECTING

1                       FINANCES                                                                53.1%

2                      INADEQUACY (IN DOING)                                   46.9%

3                      PERSONAL DISCIPLINE                                       43.8%

4                      INSECURITY (IN SELF)                                         37.5%

5                      PERSONAL DISCIPLESHIP                                  28.1%

5                      ISOLATION                                                               28.1%

7                      FAMILY                                                                      25.0%

8                      BI-VOCATIONAL LIFE                                           21.9%

9                      MARRIAGE                                                               12.5%

9                      WRESTLING WITH SIN                                         12.5%

11                     HEALTH ISSUES                                                      10.0%

12                    ROLE EXPECTATIONS                                            6.2%

13                   KNOWING THE WILL OF GOD                               3.1%

13                   RECOVERY FROM BURNOUT                                3.1%

 

WEIGHTED SCORES

In addition to selecting their internal stressors, respondents 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                         FINANCES                                                             94

2                        INADEQUACY (IN DOING)                                 88

3                        PERSONAL DISCIPLNE                                      76

4                        INSECURITY (IN BEING)                                    68

5                        ISOLATION                                                             56

6                        DISCIPLESHIP                                                      52

7                        BI-VOCATIONAL LIFE                                         44

8                        FAMILY                                                                   34

9                        SIN                                                                           22

9                        MARRIAGE                                                             22

10                       HEALTH                                                                  18

11                        ROLE EXPECTATIONS                                         12

12                       KNOWING THE WILL OF GOD                            6

12                       RECOVERY FROM BURNOUT                             6

 

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   FINANCIAL PRESSURE                                  1  FINANCIAL PRESSURE

2   BI-VOCATIONAL LIFE                                   2  BI-VOCATIONAL LIFE

3  DISCIPLINE                                                      3  DISCIPLINE

4   FAMILY                                                             4  FAMILY

5   INSECURITY & INADEQUACY (TIE)          5  INADEQUACY

 

MISSIONARIES

  MENTIONS                                            WEIGHTED SCORE

1   INADEQUACY                                                    1  INADEQUACY

2   DISCIPLINE                                                       2  DISCIPLINE

3  DISCIPLESHIP                                                   3  FINANCIAL PRESSURE

4  FINANCIAL PRESSURE                                   4  DISCIPLESHIP

5  FAMILY                                                                5  FAMILY

 

LEAD PASTORS

         MENTIONS                                               WEIGHTED SCORE

1   INADEQUACY                                                    1  INADEQUACY

2   DISCIPLINE                                                       2  DISCIPLINE

3   FINANCIAL PRESSURE                                 3  FINANCIAL PRESSURE

4   HEALTH                                                             4  HEALTH

5   INSECURITY                                                     5  INSECURITY

 

MINISTERS OTHER

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

        MENTIONS                                           WEIGHTED SCORE

1   FINANCIAL PRESSURE                                 1  FINANCIAL PRESSURE

2   BI-VOCATIONAL LIFE                                  2  BI-VOCATIONAL LIFE

3  FAMILY                                                             3  INSECURITY

4   INSECURITY                                                  4  FAMILY

5  INADEQUACY                                                 5  INADEQUACY

 

STAFF PASTORS

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

      MENTIONS                                         WEIGHTED SCORE

1   FINANCIAL PRESSURE                               1  FINANCIAL PRESSURE

2   DISCIPLINE                                                   2  DISCIPLINE

3  INADEQUACY                                                3 INADEQUACY

4  INSECURITY                                                  4  INSECURITY

5   BI-VOCATIONAL LIFE                                5  BI-VOCATIONAL LIFE

 

YOUTH PASTORS

      MENTIONS                                        WEIGHTED SCORE

1   FINANCIAL PRESSURE                             1  FINANCIAL PRESSURE

2   DISCIPLINE                                                 2  DISCIPLINE

3  INADEQUACY                                              3  INADEQUACY

4  BI-VOCATIONAL LIFE                               4  BI-VOCATIONAL LIFE

5  INSECURITY                                                5  INSECURITY

 

GENERAL CONCLUSONS

Two stressors, FINANCIAL PRESSURES and INADEQUACY were most often mentioned and most severely felt by Millennial ministers in our survey, with Financial Pressure being selected by 53.1% of respondents, and Inadequacy cited by 46.9% of respondents.

FINANCIAL PRESSURES:

 1. The pressure of paying high student loan debt and its effects on family budgets, given their entry-level salaries or their bi-vocational status – this is especially difficult for couples with two loans.

One respondent: “We don’t feel like we can ever tackle our student loan debt.” (NOTE: This is a primary reason why Journey provides NO COST coaching to our members.)

2.  A large majority of pastors and staff members report they do not receive pay raises or have annual pay reviews.

3. Young lead pastors feel pressured to 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.

4. Missionaries cite the difficulty of raising their required budgets. Missionaries do not complain about the difficulty, but only cite it as a stressor with which they wrestle.

5. Bi-vocational ministers cite the financial challenge of working a secular job and serving in ministry. Often they feel compelled to supplement the financial needs of their ministries with the already small salaries they earn in their secular employment.

 

INADEQUACY:  

1  Respondents talked about struggling with their own personal development as followers of Christ and about the challenge of entering a world of institutional church ministry that is not what they had expected (NOTE: See the first stat listed in the intro to this article)

2   They wrestle with what they are not. They see the sin in their life – and yes, they know all     Christians wrestle with sin – but they wonder if their wrestling with sin/temptation disqualifies them from leading others in Christ.

3   Some respondents feel inadequate to live up to the standards of serving in ministry position in the institutional church. They look at the rules and policies these organizations establish but wonder two things: “are these standards biblical, and, how am I to ‘measure up’ when I don’t support these rules but do want to properly support my leaders?” It leads to feelings of inadequacy.

4  As they process the early years in ministry, many respondents wrestle with the many demands of ministry and question their ability to handle matters that come up while also providing a safe space for the people they lead and for their families.

5  Some state they are not adequate to handle all of the roles they are required to fill: multiple roles as a church staff member, early years of marriage, financial pressures. They are confronted on every front with the question of whether or not they “measure up” to expectations, those of others and their own.

6    Though they serve as leaders, they are still learning to be leaders. This is challenging when they feel they are not effective, especially in the area of motivating people to serve in ministry roles. Ineffectiveness in doing this makes them question themselves: inadequacy.

7    Bi-vocational ministers reference the many tasks they must manage, and manage well. It makes giving 100% to any of these tasks impossible. This leaves them feeling overwhelmed and often a failure.

 

Two stressors, PERSONAL DISCIPLINE and INSECURITY were also high on respondents’ lists of internal stressors with 43.8% of respondents selecting Finances as one of their top three internal stressors, and 37.5% of respondents selecting Expectations.

 

PERSONAL DISCIPLINE:

1  Time management in the face of many and varied responsibilities was by far the number one factor cited.

2  Some said they see the need for more personal discipline and have the desire to be more disciplined, but the busyness of ministry activities itself makes it difficult.

3  The early years in ministry have brought to light the need to learn and strengthen organizational skills in life, family and ministry.

4  Some respondents cited the go, go, go nature of ministry: “I’m always required to be somewhere doing something.” It’s hard to plan and live by a plan when your leader can call you at any time and tell you they have volunteered you for something else.

5  Several said the rigors of ministry leave them and their spouses exhausted so that at the end of the day, they seek rest and recuperation above the re-creation that comes through things like Word and prayer, other reading, exercise, even proper diet and sleeping.

 

INSECURITY:  

1  Young ministers talked about how life in ministry can lead to a question of self, and of their identity in Christ.

2  Several said it just like this: “Sometimes I think to myself, ‘I am simply not enough and I’ll never be enough to be the person I need to be to do this for God.’”

3  A number of respondents admit that their words and behaviors are affected by feelings of insecurity. Sadly, a surprising number cite their own need to be loved, approved, accepted, and even acknowledged by their fathers – they are fighting to find an identity that their fathers should have walked them into. The young ministers we talked with did say that this father ache in their souls has led them to seek their Heavenly Father and to secure themselves in Him and His favor.

4  A large number of respondents talked about the absence of appreciation in their churches and organizations: job well done is to be expected, making words of appreciation unnecessary. The silence of feedback on how they are doing makes it difficult to stand strong in who they are.

5  Some cited the quickness of leaders to criticize along with their slowness to commend, the frequency of criticism and the infrequency of correction and training: leaders tell staff members what they did wrong, but do not then tell/show them how to do it correctly. Young ministers said they have much to learn and they want to learn: that means correction. But criticism without correction freezes the and breaks their spirits, making them wonder about themselves. Insecurity.

 

WORTHY OF NOTING . . .

First, one reviewer of this survey noted the relatively low incidence of respondents citing “Isolation” as a primary internal stressor in their lives. Results showed that isolation is almost non-existent for respondents who walk with a pastoral coach and peer mentors while it is high for respondents who do not walk with a pastoral coach and peer mentors.

Second, in our survey of young ministers on external stressors, there was often a difference in order between Total Mentions and Weighted Score: one stressor may have been high on the list of mentions but at the same time was low on the weighted score. This was not the case in this survey of internal stressors: the order of internal stressors in the Total Mentions list and the Weighted Scores list were almost identical.

 

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION . . .

For the record, none of these four stressors are unique to young ministers. Those of all ages who serve in vocational ministry have met them and know them all too well. The minister who can’t identify with at least one of these four stressors is not being honest.

As we close, we must return to the seven statistics we listed at the beginning of this article:

 

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. *

 

To repeat what we wrote in our article on external stressors, the issue is not with Millennial ministers, but with the ministry. At issue is how we help, or rather, do not help young ministers transition into and through the early years of ministry. All evidence says we are not helping them survive, must less thrive – and we haven’t been doing so for a long time.

It’s time we ask three questions:

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

“How are young ministers going to thrive when the stats say ONE of TWO of them aren’t even going to survive?”

“How can the church thrive when it’s ministers aren’t thriving, when the average age of its ministers is now 60 years of age and aging, when ONE of TWO of its young ministers are walking away?”

It’s time to ask ourselves if we can continue to accept this as normal and healthy?

I, for one, am not.

 

 

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

 

______________

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