99 percent of church pastors remain committed to their calling and work, according to latest research published (June 2) by Lifeway Research.
A survey of 1,500 evangelical and Black Protestant pastors found that only one in 100 pastors leave the ministry each year. At the same time, the percentage of pastors leaving for reasons other than retirement or death has remained statistically unchanged over the past decade: 1.3% in 2015, 1.5% in 2021 and 1.2% in 2025.
“The rate of pastors departing the pastorate is steady and quite low given the demands of the role,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “Many of those leaving the pastorate feel they are moving at God’s direction to another role of ministry.
"However, it’s easy for those outside and those inside the church to fixate on those who leave because of conflict, burnout or moral failure. Speculation always overstates these cases, yet these are the outcomes churches can seek to prevent.”
The 2025 study was sponsored by Houston’s First Baptist Church and Richard Dockins, an occupational medicine physician concerned about pastoral attrition. The median pastoral tenure at one church is eight years, according to a news release by Lifeway Research.
The survey revealed that 3 in 5 pastors (58%) started their role at their church in the last 10 years. At the same time, about 15% say their ministry at their current church dates back at least 25 years.
Half of pastors surveyed (52%) serve at their first church and 48% have served a previous church in that same role.
44 percent of churches at least 10 years old have retained the same pastor. Yet one in five have seen their previous pastor retired, with 16 percent pastoring another church and 7 percent died.
The data also showed that 7 percent of pastors left in the past decade, working in another role in church ministry rather than “pastor.” 3 percent work in a non-ministry role and 2 percent in something that is not ministry-related and not retirement age.
“These groups that leave the pastorate before retirement reveal a current annual attrition rate of 1.2% among evangelical and Black Protestant pastors,” stated the Lifeway Research article. “This means that in any given year since 2015, slightly more than 1 in 100 pastors walked away from the pulpit.”
Reasons given by current pastors for their predecessors leaving the ministry were a change in calling (37%), conflict in a church (23%) and burnout (22%). Others left because of a poor fit with a church (17%) or family issues (12%). A few pastors left because of an illness (5%) or personal finances (3%). Another 4% left because they weren’t prepared for the job. Of the 1.2% of pastors who leave the ministry each year, 7% are forced out due to moral or ethical issues.
“Today’s pastors don’t always know all the reasons their predecessors left their church, but the number of pastors describing the previous pastor at their church leaving because of burnout has doubled over the last 10 years (22% v. 10%),” said McConnell.
Most pastors who served a previous church left that fellowship of their own volition. 50 percent believed they “took the church as far as they could.” 31 percent wanted a change for their family and 25 percent reported a conflict in the church affected their decision and another 21 percent left because the “church did not embrace their approach to ministry.”
Another 17 percent cited unrealistic expectations in their previous congregation influencing the decision to move on. Related reasons were not a good fit for the church (17%) or sense of calling elsewhere (13%).
A further 13 percent were reassigned and 8% asked to leave the church, all for reasons not given.
“A pastor and congregation must work together,” said McConnell. “Maintaining unity is a biblical mandate that is easy to ignore when someone places too much importance on their own opinion.”
Most church pastors previously leading a different church experienced a level of conflict in the other congregation.
A third reported a conflict over proposed changes (37%) or with lay leaders (35%). Another 35% experienced a “significant personal attack.”
About a quarter of respondents suffered conflict about their leadership style (27%) or expectations about the pastor’s role (24%). Another 18 percent “clashed” with their previous congregation about doctrinal differences (18%) or national or local politics (9%). A third (35%) say they didn’t experience any of these conflicts in their earlier church.
“Most current pastors don’t foresee leaving the ministry behind for one of those reasons,” stated the Lifeway Research update. “Nine in 10 (91%) are sure they can stay at their church as long as they want. Still, that doesn’t mean pastors are naïve about potential future problems.”
