Pastoral Ministry It’s Not Easy

Here’s some sad statistics that do not apply to all Pastors (as this survey was only taken in the United States)

Being a pastor is not an easy job…they are subject to live in the same world as anyone else and face the same temptations.  The only difference is…they have more expectations…which makes sense.  This stuff shouldn’t happen as often as it does in any country…but it still does.  Pastors need prayer too.

One-thousand and fifty pastors were surveyed by the Schaeffer Institute from two pastoral conferences, held in Orange County and Pasadena, CA: 416 pastors in 2005 and 634 in 2006. Consider the following statistics found by the survey:
•Three-hundred and ninety-nine (38%) of the pastors said they were divorced or currently in a divorce process.
•Three-hundred and fifteen (30%) said they had either been in an ongoing affair or a one-time sexual encounter with a parishioner.
•Only 270 (26%) said they had regular devotions and felt spiritually fed.
•Eight-hundred and two (71%) said they were burned out, and they battle depression beyond normal fatigue. (“Francis Schaeffer: Statistics on Pastors”: www.intothyword.org)

Barna Group, Focus on the Family and the Fuller Seminary concurred with the following information:
•Fifty-percent of pastor’s marriages will end in divorce.
•Eighty-percent of pastors feel unqualified for their roles.
•Nearly forty percent said they have had an extra marital affair since the beginning of their ministry.
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Not all pastors are like this…and that’s a good thing.  They are still human though.

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