New Barna data shows that pastors’ confidence and satisfaction in their vocation has decreased significantly in the past few years, and two in five (41%) say they’ve considered quitting ministry in the last 12 months. What can be done to help pastors in crisis?

This article, an excerpt from the first release in Barna’s new Resilient Pastor series—part of the larger Resilient Pastor initiative and available exclusively on Barna Access Plus—offers new data on pastoral security. You can read the full article today on Barna Access Plus.

The COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on how we live our lives continues to unspool. The full impact of a crisis of its size probably won’t be truly understood for years or even decades, but we are starting to wrap our heads around some of the ways COVID has shaped new norms. For instance, many people came out of COVID with very different feelings about their jobs than they had going into it. And pastors are no exception.

The number of pastors who feel burnt out, lonely or unwell is growing: To put it bluntly, Barna Group’s current data does not paint a pretty picture of the state of the American pastor. Over the past few years, Protestant senior pastors have seen a drop in their job satisfaction, their confidence in their calling and their overall sense of well-being. The number of pastors who are feeling burnt out, lonely or unwell is on the rise, and this is especially true of young pastors. In short, things are a little bleak.

How bleak? For one example, our research shows that today’s pastors are deeply struggling with their sense of calling in the wake of COVID, with levels of pastoral self-doubt climbing to new highs. Consider that in 2015, when Barna conducted research for The State of Pastors, 72 percent of pastors said they felt “very satisfied” with their job as a pastor. By 2020, that number had dropped to 67 percent. Then, as of 2022, just 52 percent of pastors are “very satisfied” with their jobs.