Preventing Early Exits from Ministry

What Are The Top Reasons Why Pastors Exit Early from Ministry?
-
Discouragement
-
Fear of Failure
-
Lack of Denominational Support
-
Differences in Church theology and leadership
-
Isolation and Loneliness
-
Lack of Vision
-
Personal Financial Pressures
-
Church Financial Pressures
-
Stress and Burnout
-
Feeling Unappreciated
-
Pressure to be Perfect
-
Family Stress
-
Health and Medical Issues
-
Integrity Issues and Moral Failure
-
Pride, Power and Control Issues
-
Loss of interest, motivation, joy and passion for ministry
-
Discouragement over the critics in the church
-
Discouragement over the direction of the church
How About You?
-
What type of pressures have you felt during your tenure in ministry?
-
Have you ever contemplated leaving your position or the ministry completely?
-
What has driven any fellow church leaders you may have known out of ministry?
-
What is your personal plan for self-care and protecting your heart from the “mistresses of ministry”?
Recommendations for Prevention:
-
Establish boundaries that preserve your original goals and convictions
-
Establish boundaries that protect you from integrity failure
-
Maintain an active physical exercise, healthy eating and sleep schedule
-
Maintain an active level of connection and enjoyment of important relationships
-
Write out practical and achievable goals, both short term and long term.
-
Deepen your spiritual connection and growth
-
Offer yourself occasional “gentleness breaks” and “days of relaxation”
-
Don’t work in isolation.
-
Actively seek to have a mentor and professional support system.
Contact me if…
-
You would like to learn more about preventing an early exit from the ministry for you or others you care about
-
You would like for me to conduct a training in-service to your church leadership about the practical ways to prevent early exits from ministry
-
You would like to know about more resources available in regards to preventing early exits from the ministry
-
You have any questions or suggestions that are not covered in this section or the featured articles offered
Statistics
-
More than 1,700 pastors leave the ministry every month.
-
It is estimated that about 75% of all ministers live close to the poverty level.90% of the ministers report they feel inadequately trained to meet the demands of the ministry70% report having a lower self-image now than when they first started
-
50% of the ministers will not even last 5 years!
-
90% of ministers report working between 55 to 75 hours per week and most ministers do not exercise nor take regularly scheduled vacations.
-
40% of the ministers report having serious conflict with a parishioner at least once a month
(Click to view list)