~ Pastor’s Weekly Article ~
“Lifeway Research found about 1% of pastors leave the pastorate prior to retirement each year. To get this estimate, we surveyed 1,500 pastors. Each was asked who pastored their church 10 years ago and where was that pastor today—2% had left the ministry completely and 5% served in a role other than pastor in ministry. Among churches that existed and had a pastor 10 years ago, 13% are estimated to have left the pastorate for reasons other than death or retirement This is less than 250 a month.
Why do pastors leave the pastorate? When Michigan State Professor of Organizational Psychology, Rick DeShon, first studied the work of pastors, he agreed with earlier findings from Kuhne and Donaldson that “the pastor’s work activities are highly varied, taxing, fast-paced, unrelenting, and often fragmented.”
DeShon was no newcomer to analyzing jobs. This is his area of research expertise having analyzed the observable characteristics of countless jobs in diverse types of work. He concluded, “the breadth of tasks performed by local church pastors coupled with the rapid switching between task clusters and roles that appears prevalent in this position is unique. I have never encountered such a fast-paced job with such varied and impactful responsibilities.”
Consider for a moment the fact that almost every task a pastor has is by nature complex: studying for a sermon, giving marital advice, providing leadership to a volunteer organization, having budget responsibility, helping those who are grieving, etc. That diverse complexity alone is taxing.
What about your role in the ministry, does it have you exhausted, tired ready to take a break? Listen to the verse that has helped me stay motivated for over 31 years now. “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Gal 6:9
Pastor, Rev. Wayne Marcus
“Lifeway Research found about 1% of pastors leave the pastorate prior to retirement each year. To get this estimate, we surveyed 1,500 pastors. Each was asked who pastored their church 10 years ago and where was that pastor today—2% had left the ministry completely and 5% served in a role other than pastor in ministry. Among churches that existed and had a pastor 10 years ago, 13% are estimated to have left the pastorate for reasons other than death or retirement This is less than 250 a month.
Why do pastors leave the pastorate? When Michigan State Professor of Organizational Psychology, Rick DeShon, first studied the work of pastors, he agreed with earlier findings from Kuhne and Donaldson that “the pastor’s work activities are highly varied, taxing, fast-paced, unrelenting, and often fragmented.”
DeShon was no newcomer to analyzing jobs. This is his area of research expertise having analyzed the observable characteristics of countless jobs in diverse types of work. He concluded, “the breadth of tasks performed by local church pastors coupled with the rapid switching between task clusters and roles that appears prevalent in this position is unique. I have never encountered such a fast-paced job with such varied and impactful responsibilities.”
Consider for a moment the fact that almost every task a pastor has is by nature complex: studying for a sermon, giving marital advice, providing leadership to a volunteer organization, having budget responsibility, helping those who are grieving, etc. That diverse complexity alone is taxing.
What about your role in the ministry, does it have you exhausted, tired ready to take a break? Listen to the verse that has helped me stay motivated for over 31 years now. “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Gal 6:9
Pastor, Rev. Wayne Marcus
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