By Patrick J. Daniels
Over 600,000. This is the estimate of the number of pastors in America.
According to several studies over a period of decades, 80 to 90% of the men who graduated from seminary will not retire being a pastor. According to Jimmy Lee Draper (who was the president of Lifeways ministries) said that for every twenty people who go into the pastorate only one retires from the ministry. Thus, only a small fraction of pastors who began in ministry will ever retire from the ministry. Many drop out within five years of being in the pastoral ministry. Several statistics have indicated there are as many as 1,500 pastors dropping out every month. If any school had that big of a failure rate, you have to ask what is going on?
According to a recent study 80% of pastors and 84% of their spouses feel unqualified and discouraged in the ministry.
About 80% of seminary and Bible school graduates who enter into the ministry will subsequently leave the ministry within the first five years. Approximately 70% of pastors feel under paid. Many pastors are stressed, and many as high as 80% feel as if their seminary training was insufficient for the pastor of task. Consequently 90% of pastors said the ministry was completely different than what they thought it would be.
According to one survey a high percentage of pastors surveyed stated that they felt unqualified and poorly trained by the seminary to lead and manage the church. Fuller Institute of Church Growth gave a survey out in 1991 that stated 90% of the pastors felt inadequately trained to cope with ministry demands. 50% of pastors feel unable to meet the demands of the job of being a pastor. Many denominations are reporting that they have many empty pulpits, but they cannot find people to fill the position of being a pastor.
Adding to this scenario of Pastors facing burnout, are the families who feel the pressure of trying to be perfect for the church, all the while suffering financial hardship and as well as stress on the family itself. A very high percentage of pastors in several surveys said that the ministry had affected their families a negative way.
These massive defections from the ministry could not have come at a worse time for America. Over 7000 churches close every year in America. America is rapidly becoming a pagan society, a society that needs a prophetic voice from the Word of God by men of God. America needs men who proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost, and the word of God to those who are Christians.
What does not show up in these surveys are the pastors who have poured their heart and soul into the ministry only to be washed up on the shores of depression and discouragement. There are men who have given their all, who were willing to work hard for Jesus Christ, but somehow it was not good enough. I have seen men sacrifice their time, their talent, gifts and abilities and even their families, only to be ultimately a casualty in the ministry. I have read about men who have given their all year after year only in the end to be thrown away. I have seen men who only moments before were smiling, began to weep because of the depth of discouragement in ministering to people. I knew a man who gave twenty years of his life to the church; leave that church, only to see that church close its doors for good within a few months of leaving it.
Some of the answers that I have read to solve this dilemma include the idea that pastors need to be godlier. Well we all need to be godlier, but I have seen godly man walk away from pastoral ministry.
Peter Drucker (who was a leading spokesman for leadership development) said that the four most difficult jobs in America are the president of the United States, the university president, a CEO of a hospital and the pastor.
There are three reasons for this drop out among pastors, and they are burn out, conflict and immorality.
But I believe there are answers- the answers may not be easy- but there are answers.
I have written this article as a pastor. I’ve been the ministry over 23 years and I’ve seen friends who were pastors fail morally. They were caught in an adulterous relationship and this sabotaged their ministry. I’ve seen pastors quit because of the pettiness of people. Scriptures tell us that Satan walks around seeking someone to devour. The evil one is after pastors!
I join with the voices of those who feel that their seminary experience was inadequate for the task of pastoral ministry.
Now, I would not trade my seminary education for anything-but it was inadequate. I do thank God for the professors that I had in seminary but, I’m willing to confront the fact that ministry is much more complex than simply preaching the word of God. Although I believe the preaching the Scriptures are paramount for the ministry, it’s imperative that we seek a well rounded view of what it takes to be a faithful pastor. What am I hoping to do in the next few months is to share with you the things I am learning about ministry.
The studies that I have read inform me seminaries as a whole are doing an inadequate job in preparing man for pastoral ministry. This is proven by the fact about 80% of the people who inter ministry feel totally inadequate and not prepared for ministry. This tells me that seminaries must examine the methods that they have used to prepare men for ministry. For example if you carefully read the course of study of many seminarians you find that it is heavily skewed toward intellectual study. Yet, intellectual study is the opposite of what the ministry actually consists of. I am not against intellectual pursuits, but we must be convinced that men and women and children are dying and going to hell forever, and with these eternal realities in mind there is a certain amount of compulsion comes with ministry.
