According to the latest research published by Lifeway Research (June 2), 99% of church pastors are committed to their calling and work.
A survey of 1,500 evangelical and black Protestant pastors found that only one in every 100 pastors leave the ministry each year. At the same time, the proportion of pastors leaving for reasons other than retirement or death has not changed statistically over the past decade. It was 1.3% in 2015, 1.5% in 2021, and 1.2% in 2025.
“The percentage of pastors leaving pastors is stable and very low given role demands,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “Many of those leaving the pastor feel that they are moving in God’s direction.
“But it’s easy for people outside and those within the church to stick to those leaving because of conflict, burnout, or moral failure. Speculation always exaggerates these cases, but these are the consequences the church is trying to prevent.”
The 2025 study was sponsored by First Baptist Church in Houston and Richard Dockins, a professional medicine physician concerned about idyllic exhaustion. According to a Lifeway Research news release, the median idyllic tenure at one church is eight years.
The survey revealed that three in five pastors (58%) have started roles in the church over the past decade. At the same time, about 15% say that current church ministry dates back at least 25 years ago.
Half of pastors surveyed (52%) serve in the first church, with 48% serving their previous churches in the same role.
At least 44% of churches who are 10 years old hold the same pastor. However, one in five people have retired from their former pastors, 16% have pastors in another church, and 7% have died.
The data also showed that 7% of pastors have left over the past decade and are working in a different role in church ministry rather than in “pastors.” 3% work in non-missioned roles, while 2% work in non-retiremental ages that are not associated with the ministry.
“These groups leaving pastors before retirement reveal the current annual attrition rate of 1.2% among evangelical and black Protestant pastors,” a Lifeway study article states. “This means that in any year since 2015, more than one in 100 pastors left the pulpit.”
The reasons given to the current pastor for his predecessor leaving the ministry were changes in calling (37%), church conflict (23%) and burnout (22%). Others left because of poor compatibility with churches (17%) and family issues (12%). Several pastors remained due to illness (5%) or personal finances (3%). Another 4% remains as they weren’t prepared for the job. Of the 1.2% of pastors who leave the ministry each year, 7% are expelled due to moral or ethical issues.
“While pastors today don’t always know all the reasons why their predecessors left the church, the number of pastors who describe previous pastors who retired due to burnout has doubled in the past decade (22% v. 10%),” McConnell said.
Most pastors who served in the previous church left a fellowship of their own will. 50% believed that they “taken the church as much as they could.” 31% wanted a family change, 25% reported the remaining 21% because church conflicts had influenced their decisions, and 21% “didn’t accept the church’s approach to ministry.”
Another 17% cited unrealistic expectations in previous congregations that influenced their decision to move on. Related reasons were not suitable for churches (17%) or other callings (13%).
An additional 13% were reassigned, and 8% were asked to leave the church.
“The pastor and the congregation have to work together,” McConnell said. “Making unity is a Bible mandate that can be ignored when someone places too much importance on their own opinion.”
Pastors from most churches, who previously led different churches, experienced conflict at levels in other congregations.
The third reported conflict with proposed changes (37%) or ray leaders (35%). Another 35% experienced a “significant personal attack.”
Approximately a quarter of respondents were conflicted about leadership style (27%) or expectations about pastor’s role (24%). Another 18% “clashed” with previous congregations about doctrinal differences (18%) or national or local politics (9%). The third (35%) says he had experienced none of these conflicts in previous churches.
“Most pastors today do not foresee the departure of the ministry for one of these reasons,” says an update from Lifeway Research. “Nine in ten (91%) are sure they can stay in the church as long as they want. Still, that doesn’t mean that pastors are naive about potential future issues.”
