In studies past, Barna has analyzed research surrounding mental and emotional health, specifically taking stock of the well-being of the next generation—young adults 18–35-years-old—in The Connected Generation. Recent data show that Millennials and Gen Z are living in an age of anxiety; in fact, two in five young adults around the world report anxiety about important decisions (40%), uncertainty about the future (40%), a fear of failure (40%) and a pressure to be successful (36%).

There is no doubt that a sense of unease has become even more widespread due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and not just among globally minded younger generations.

In this unprecedented time full of disruptions and uncertainty, Barna has continued to check in on pastors and church leaders across the U.S. In this article, we’ll look at the findings from this week’s national pastor panel data, featured on the latest ChurchPulse Weekly episode, to see what pastors have to say about their own mental and emotional well-being, as well as that of their congregants. You can watch the latest broadcast of ChurchPulse Weekly here, or you can listen to the most recent episode wherever you get your podcasts.

div class="embed-container"iframe title="ChurchPulse Weekly Live- April 13, 2020" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/407400909?dnt=1&app_id=122963" width="500" height="281" frameBorder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write"/iframeOverall, pastors say they (sort of) understand the immediate needs of their people Do leaders have a good grasp of the immediate needs of their people? As it relates to spiritual well-being, a majority of pastors (55%) says they “somewhat” understand their congregations’ needs, with another 43 percent saying they “definitely” know. Similar proportions feel they understand the current needs for  physical well-being in their faith community (35% definitely, 57% somewhat, 8% not really), while mental and emotional health (24% definitely, 65% somewhat, 11% not really) and financial well-being (14% definitely, 59% somewhat, 27% not really, 1% not at all) are less clear to them.