Ministry and other difficult jobs

Is there a pastoral version of the Great Resignation unfolding? If so, most people seem certain that it has to do with the unique challenges pastors face. Americans don’t attend church in the numbers or with the enthusiasm they once did. Our polarized political culture constrains pastoral freedom in the pulpit. Congregations struggle to offer adequate compensation to support national searches, long hours, and even simply making ends meet. Nonstop caring for people sucks the emotional well dry. In hushed tones at conferences and denominational meetings, pastors tell one another that these resignations are due to the unique challenges of pastoral ministry, often with the implication that meaningful work with better pay is just around the corner in other fields or for other people.

Perhaps this is a necessary fiction. An exhausted traveler needs to believe that there is rest on the other side of the next hill—and pastors are exhausted. But something necessary is not always true or ultimately helpful. Pastors, we suspect, are not that special—neither in their desire to make a meaningful contribution nor in their exhaustion. The challenges they face in their work are not terribly different from those crushing other helping, caring, and hospitality professions in the United States. Culture war madness, low pay and rising prices, lack of boundaries, ineffectual support and self-care—these issues characterize everything from public school teachers to nurses to service industry workers. Those who leave ordained ministry might find themselves jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

While pastoral quit rates do not stand out from other fields, several studies show worrying trends in pastoral attitudes toward the ministerial vocation. One Barna study found that 40 percent of pastors considered leaving full-time ministry in 2022, up from 29 percent in 2020. It’s an alarming number, but it passes the plausibility test. In church circles, we all know of congregations that lost pastors after the pandemic and clergy who have stepped into new careers. Those in ministry also know many clergy friends considering a move—and these stories seem more frequent than in the past.