(OPINION) New research reveals that a majority of pastors thinking about stepping away from ministry are concerned that Christians identify more with their political views than their faith, one of several factors causing church leaders to consider leaving their professions.
Officials from the Barna Research Group held a webinar Wednesday outlining two trends that reshaped ministry in 2022. One of the trends that reshaped ministry, based on research conducted by Barna, found that “many pastors are struggling, but a majority are staying the course.”
In September, Barna asked Protestant pastors if they had given “serious consideration to quitting being in full-time ministry within the last year.” Thirty-nine percent answered in the affirmative, a slight decline from the 42% who reported that they were considering leaving full-time ministry in October 2021 and an increase from the 29% who said the same in January 2021.
Barna identified “the immense stress of the job” as the leading cause of pastor burnout. Fifty-six percent of pastors who were considering quitting cited stress as a major reason for their discontent. Forty-three percent of pastors thinking of abandoning full-time ministry reported feeling “lonely and isolated,” while 38% pointed to “current political divisions” as a factor leading them to consider a career change.
Barna asked pastors to elaborate on how “current political divisions” have emerged as a source of stress, causing them to consider stepping away from full-time ministry. Majorities of both mainline (66%) and non-mainline Protestant pastors (53%) expressed concern that “Christians are more loyal to their political views than their faith.”
Overall, mainline Protestant pastors were more likely than their non-mainline counterparts to see political division as a problem affecting their ability to carry out their duties. Forty-seven percent of mainline pastors stated that “Christians’ political partisanship reflects poorly on the church” compared to 42% of non-mainline pastors.
Forty-two percent of mainline pastors and 38% of non-mainline pastors asserted that “the church should be a place of peace, not division.” When asked if the church was “too aligned with Christian nationalism,” 39% of mainline pastors answered in the affirmative, while 26% of non-mainline pastors agreed.
Roughly equal shares of mainline (21%) and non-mainline Protestants (16%) reported that “debates about racial justice issues has made it harder for me to lead.” Additionally, 29% of mainline pastors and 19% of non-mainline pastors maintained that “the church is too aligned with political conservatism.” Far smaller shares of both mainline (8%) and non-mainline pastors (4%) believed that “the church is too aligned with political liberalism.” (SOURCE)
