The song goes… “In the jungle, the mighty jungle… the lion sleeps tonight…” But in the Scripture it is written, “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8-9b)
For years I have wanted to minister to two groups of people; Hurting Ministers (Not just pastors) and Struggling Churches. As part of my process of researching this possibility for Onesiphorus Ministries I came upon these statistics from the Francis A. Schaeffer Institute of Church Ledership Development and Christianity Today’s Leadership Journal (Click here and here). These have to do with churches and pastors… and they were quite interesting. They affirmed for me the need to reach out, encourage, and build up those two groups.
70% of pastors are so stressed they regularly consider leaving the ministry. 35-40% of pastors leave the ministry, usually after just five years. 100% of pastors have had a friend that has left the ministry due to burnout, conflict in the church, or moral failure.
89% of pastors have considered leaving the ministry. 57% said they would leave if a better opportunity were available, including secular work. Most surveys state that only 60 to 80% of those who enter the ministry will be in it 10 years later and only a fraction will make it a lifetime career.
71% said they battle depression on a weekly basis. 50% of pastors marriages will end in divorce. 70% of pastors said they do not have a close personal friend. 90% of pastors are worn out on a daily or weekly basis.
Only 23% said they felt content or happy on a regular basis with who they are in Christ, in their home, and in the church they serve.
23% of pastors admit that they have either been fired… forced to resign… or left under pressure. When asked who forced them to resign, the answer was… “A small faction of people in the church.” When asked if the church was told why they were asked to resign, 63% said the church was not given a reason. When asked if the church had asked another or previous minister to resign, 62% said it had forced another or previous minister to resign.
When asked if they had it to do over again would they enter the ministry, 86% of pastors said they would!
What does all this mean? There are two groups that need ministry, encouragement, support, and help… pastors/ministers and churches. Something is wrong when these kind of statistics are reported year after year by research groups.
Satan’s goal is to divide and conquer. He wants to sow seeds of discord within the body of Christ. He loves it when there is division and disharmony in the church. And too many times we give him a stick to beat us with!
Sooner or later it has to stop. Ministers need to stop acting in an unchristian manner and churches must do the same thing. Sooner or later both must determine to come together… as family that loves one another… to work through whatever issues there are for restoration… so that God is glorified!
Otherwise Romans 2:24 will need to be hung over the door of every Sunday School Room… Choir Room… Pastor’s Study… and Church Exit. On the contrary Jesus said something important in John 13:35… “By this all men will know you are my Disciples… if you have love for one another.”
The sooner is now. Later must never come. It begins with one person… Me. It begins with one person… You. As it is written in Philippians 1:27… “Whatever happens, conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the Gospel.” Onesiphorus is a good model for us all to follow…
AMEN! I wish everyone I know could read this and think about how we all need to work together and build each other up, instead of tearing each other down. The statistics just break my heart. Churches are tearing themselves apart from the inside out……..not exactly what the world needs to see in the Christian community. Where will it all end? By the way, I sure do miss your sweet family and your sermons every Sunday (I just had to get that off my chest).
Alison
Thank you for your comment and especially your kind words! I hope you noticed the reason I put these statistics on my blog… there are two groups of people I believe I may very well be called to minister to. If you missed it they are hurting churches (!) and hurting ministers. Thus my mention of Onesiphorus. I also hope you saw the video below this post. God is good and I believe He has great blessings in store for you and your family my friend.
To add to your blog, I read the following from research from Focus on the Family on pastoral burnout reveals that:
Church-goers expect their pastor to juggle an average of 16 major tasks.
80 percent of pastors believe that pastoral ministry affects their families negatively.
40 percent of pastors say they have considered leaving the pastorate in the last three months.
90 percent feel they’re inadequately trained to cope with ministry demands
45.5 percent of pastors say they’ve experienced depression or burnout
70 percent say they have lower self-esteem now than when they started out.
(Adapted from Pastors at Greater Risk, H. B. London, Jr. and Neil B. Wiseman, Regal Books, 2003)
It is interesting to me that Purpose Driven Life devotional today is along the same line. A quote from it – “If a spiritual leader is walking toward oneness with Jesus, who is already one with the father, then is perfectly reasonable for us to move toward that same oneness with Jesus, meaning you swing into alignment behind your paster” It also says that we should pray for our leaders daily, that they continue to walk in the truth, and to find someway to bring them joy by letting them know that you are walking with them. I hope it brings you joy that we are praying for you daily, and that we are thankful that you are a spiritual leader that walks in the truth.
Wow, those numbers are DEPRESSING. I wonder how many of those ministers were actually called to the ministry. I say that only as a pastor, myself. I know this, there are many ministers who think they are called but they are not. THat may explain why some of those numbers are so extravagant.
Which leads me to a quote my father gave me when I informed him God called me to the ministry. He said, “The most miserable man on the earth is the man called to the ministry by God who is not following through with that call.” Then he added, “The second most miserable man on the earth is the man in the ministry who was not called by God.” He suggested I settle my call before I did anything else.