Pastors in Crisis: Reasons why so many ministers are considering quitting vocational ministry …

After a couple years of great challenges that have included weathering a global pandemic and its many effects, widespread and civil unrest, and a contentious election season among a string of issues, America is reeling as it begins to move into an unknown “new normal.”

One of the effects of the past two years is an unprecedented number of ministers saying they are considering quitting vocational ministry. Research conducted by Barna revealed that at least 38 percent of ministers said at some time in 2021 they considered quitting ministry. 2020 was an especially harsh year of ministry for pastors, and 2021 didn’t turn out to be much easier.

Scott Free Clinic has been working on the front lines of the mental health disaster and spiritual needs coming out of the pandemic, and part of that has included trying to respond to a record need and demand for “Pastor Care,” which is Christian clinical counseling specifically for vocational and bi-vocational ministers. In order to address ministers wrestling with whether or not to continue in ministry, we need to understand some of the reasons why they have been so deeply impacted by events over the past year. Following are some of the reasons Scott Free Clinic has seen as to why some ministers are so overwhelmed, based on our service to ministers, as well as other reports from other sources:

Depth of impact on lives, and therefore on ministry. For some people, the pandemic was a mild disruption — they were able to work from home, didn’t lose any income, and the hardest part of the past year were the social distancing restrictions, something some people actually thrived in. But for others, their lives were rocked to the core — family, friends, church staff and church members died from the COVID-19 virus, others became very sick from it and barely survived. Others lost jobs, incomes, homes, friends, and social connections; they became isolated and alone. Conflict between spouses and family members, as well as church members, increased. All of this demanded a massive amount of shepherding and pastoral care from ministers. For many pastors, the demand for shepherding was greater than they had ever experienced before, and that has led some to consider quitting.

Unparalleled criticism from their congregations. Criticism is a common consequence of being a church leader, but most pastors receive more support and encouragement than they do criticism (or else they don’t last long in that local church). But things have changed dramatically for many pastors over the last year, chiefly in the widespread level of unrestrained criticism they are receiving. Many pastors say it’s as if they “can’t do anything right” because they’re getting criticized for just about any direction they lead or decisions they make. If leaders require masks to attend a service they are criticized, if they don’t they are also criticized. If they only hold services online they are criticized, but if they have in-person services they are criticized. They’re criticized for wanting to continue online services even after in-person meetings resume, or they’re criticized for thinking online services won’t be as important then. The criticism has been so pervasive and persistent that this is a primary reason why some pastors are considering quitting.

Suddenness and scope of change. The pandemic didn’t force “slight” change, it forced dramatic changes. Pastors were forced to change some of their thinking about several things related to ministry, they were forced to learn new skills, they were forced to develop new habits, and they were forced to work longer and harder — all of this because the times demanded it. That has caused many pastors to feel so overwhelmed and disoriented some think quitting would be the way out.

Unprepared for change. For several years prior to the pandemic, “creativity” and “innovation” were popular buzzwords among church leadership circles, but when pastors were forced to be creative and innovative just to keep their local congregations connected, they learned just how habitual they were. Suddenly they had to be creative and innovative, for some more than they wanted to be (and for many, more than they knew how to be), to the point of considering quitting.

“First responder” trauma. Some pastors conducted more funerals during the past year than they have in all their years of ministry. Being a “first responder” comes with its own trauma of ministering to the trauma of others. For some, it has tempted them to consider quitting.

Sudden need for greater spiritual maturity. With the fear of death creeping across the globe, many people suddenly became interested in Christian faith, even if just temporarily. The number of people streaming church services skyrocketed, the sale of Bibles increased, and Kate Shellnutt, writing an article for Christianity Today, notes that “As people have been bombarded with headlines about the global pandemic, civil unrest, natural disasters, and religious persecution, Google searches for prayer rose to the highest levels on record …” And then those numbers of people logging online for church services declined. Barna Group reports that one in three practicing Christians stopped attending church during COVID-19. Other reports stated practicing Christians were reading their Bibles less, and their number one way of dealing with the pandemic was streaming movies. When greater spiritual maturity and faith was needed to see people through a challenging time, the masks of faith began to crack. Professing Christians leaving the church and/or failing at practicing their professed faith has been so disheartening for some pastors it makes them want to quit.

Greater tension between ministry life and home life. At a time when the demands of shepherding a local congregation increased dramatically, so did the demands of home life for many ministers. Like other families, their spouse may have lost a job, their children suddenly needed to he homeschooled, their own immediate and/or extended family members may have contracted COVID-19 or were struggling with fear and change. Trying to juggle an increased need for shepherding with an increased need to tend to their own families has been overwhelming for some pastors, enough to make them consider leaving ministry.

Impact on their own already frayed mental health. Like so many other people around the world, ministers aren’t always the best about taking care of their mental health. Some pastors entered the pandemic with their own mental health issues, and some with a pre-existing mental illness, and the events of the past year only exacerbated their mental illness or mental health issues. For some, trying to minister to the impact of events on the spiritual, physical, and mental health of others while struggling with their own mental health issues or mental illness felt like more than they could handle. This has led some to think they need to leave vocational ministry.

Burnout. Many pastors were on the border of burnout before the onset of the pandemic, and the significantly heightened demand for shepherding their flock finally pushed them into fully burning out. This has caused some to want to quit.

Lack of support and increased loneliness. It’s almost shocking how many ministers suffer from loneliness. Add to that pre-existing reality the social distancing restrictions of a pandemic, along with less support as congregants became more critical, and that combination became a big push to some ministers to thinking about doing something other than vocational ministry.

Working harder to keep a dying church together no longer seems to make sense. Several thousand churches close permanently every year, and many more are in some stage of “dying.” Suddenly having to work even harder to try to keep a dying church going now doesn’t seem to make as much sense for some pastors, who began to think maybe it was time to either leave for a different ministry or just quit altogether.

Reliance on a failed ministry model suddenly collapsed, causing deep confusion. For decades, most churches have relied almost entirely on the attractional model as their form of “evangelism” or “church growth.” Suddenly faced with not being able to rely on bringing people to a building, many ministers found themselves deeply confused about how to “do ministry,” so much so they entertain the idea of just quitting.

Unwilling to learn new skills. You might be surprised at the number of churches that prior to the pandemic did not have a website. Or the number of pastors who mocked and ridiculed social media, vowing to have nothing to do with it. And then came the pandemic, forcing them to learn new skills. Some were willing to do so only until they can return to “the ways things used to be.” But there’s a lot of pressure on pastors to continue with some of the changes they’ve made over the past year, like streaming worship services and otherwise using technology to connect with people in various ways. So are so stubborn about not being willing to change how they “do ministry” they might quit rather than change.

Forced to re-assess what ministry is all about. For many years, some pastors have revamped ministry to mean working more like a CEO leading an organization rather than being a servant leading a family of faith. In a pandemic, people greatly need a leader — but a spiritual leader or servant leader, not a CEO. What some ministers got into ministry to “be” and do no longer fits in such a crisis setting, causing some to say, “This isn’t what I signed up for.” Some of these ministers will re-evaluate what ministry is all about and move forward, others will quit.

Confusion and fear of an unknown future. Many ministers have done reasonably well at navigating the demands of ministry in a pandemic, but are deeply confused and afraid of what future ministry will be, can be, and should be. This fear fosters a procrastination that is so deep for some they may be unwilling to continue in ministry and leave the future for others to deal with.

False guilt. False guilt has been a vicious tool of the enemy to dishearten and discourage so many ministers who have worked tirelessly serving others the past year but irrationally thinking they haven’t done enough for their congregations. Sometimes this false guilt is fueled by baseless criticism from church members. When sucked down into false guilt, some ministers begin to think, “Maybe I should just quit.”

Consequences of long-held habits of poor self-care and poor soul care. After years of not adequately caring for their own spiritual, mental, emotional, physical, and relational needs, many pastors felt overwhelmed to suddenly face the increased ministry demands of the past year. They were not prepared for it because they had not properly cared for themselves so they could confront and engage the increased pressures and leadership needs. For some, quitting seems to be the way to get through this.

Personal crisis of faith. Related to the item above, some ministers have not practiced what they preach for so long that the whirlwind of change has left them experiencing their own personal crisis of faith. This leaves them thinking they’re not in shape – spiritually and otherwise – to lead until they work through their own spiritual crisis.

The last straw. Some ministers have been unhappy in ministry for a long time for various reasons. The circumstances of 2020 and early 2021 were the “last straw” to push them into wanting to leave ministry.

And let me give you one more …

Several of the above items happening all at once! Some of these pastors have experienced multiple issues like those listed above, and has left them feeling emotionally overwhelmed. I can understand that, ANY one of us would likely feel the same way with that level of troubles happening all at once.

A few closing thoughts. So many ministers are godly men who love God and love others and are devoted to a life of following Christ and serving and loving others sacrificially; many have valiantly and courageously faced the challenges of the past two years and have been a profound blessing to their families, their congregations, and their communities. Some of these ministers are trying hard but withering under the challenges and criticism they face – some will overcome, some will leave for a different ministry, and some will quit. Others have been negligent in various ways for years and that is the greatest reason why they’re not responding well to moving forward in ministry (yet I know many of these can be helped to overcome if they would seek some help to go forward). A bottom line is these servants of God need their flocks to stopping criticizing them and start helping them shoulder the burdens of ministry together. We need to do all we can to help every pastor move forward and thrive in the ministry God has called them to.

Scotty