The real reason pastors burn out
It’s an unsettling truth. Pastors burn out. In droves. When it comes to fire in ministry, most pastors begin with the hope of experiencing flames like the burning bush that Moses got to encounter which was evidence of God’s presence. In that moment, Moses was astonished because “the bush was on fire but was not consumed.” (Exodus 3:2) Sadly today, many pastors are on fire and unlike the bush, they burn up. To a crisp. None of us wants to burn out like that.
Continued studies (prior to COVID) reveal a conflagration happening in ministry:
75% of pastors report being “extremely stressed” or “highly stressed.”
90% work between 55 to 75 hours per week.
90% feel fatigued and worn out every week.
70% say they’re grossly underpaid.
40% report a serious conflict with a parishioner at least once a month.
78% were forced to resign from their church (63% at least twice), most commonly because of church conflict.
80% will not be in ministry ten years later and only a fraction make it a lifelong career. On average, seminary trained pastors last only five years in church ministry.
100% of 1,050 Reformed and Evangelical pastors had a colleague who had left the ministry because of burnout, church conflict, or moral failure.
91% have experienced some form of burnout in ministry and 18% say they are “fried to a crisp right now.”1
During the height of COVID (2020-2022) the stress of ministry exploded. Think of it as an ember that had caught a piece of paper on fire suddenly catching the surrounding forest on fire. Churches witness their pastors shifting from chronic stress to a crisis in serving in ministry. According to a Barna study, 42% of pastors considered quitting in 2022 alone.2
The pandemic may have been the highest stress moment for pastors in modern history. Pastors had to juggle disparate opinions in their congregations about masks, social distancing, politics, and worldwide anxiety itself becoming a pandemic. The following all contributed to the flames:
Political division in churches
Rapid digital pivot (online church overnight)
Health fears + funerals + crisis care
Declining attendance + giving
Constant criticism from both sides
My own church had met in Blacksburg Middle School since we were planted in 2003. The local school was beyond gracious with our 18 year stint of renting there. In March of 2020, when schools closed, and Virginia closed down public gatherings, we moved to live-streaming for the first time. After a few weeks passed, another local church generously offered the use of their facility on Sunday nights for our gathering.
We had begun construction of our first church building in the closing months of 2019, and during the rest of 2020 through spring of 2021, we met on Sunday afternoons at 5:00 p.m. By God’s grace, our construction was never slowed throughout those COVID months, and we worshiped for the first time in our new facility on Easter Sunday in 2021!
The stress and conflicting views related to COVID, the riots of summer 2020, the presidential election that fall all contributed to my own stress. I had (and have) strong opinions about masks, COVID management and politics.3 Serving in a community where a major university resides meant that our locality was saturated with left-leaning and often fearful (even hysterical) views during that these days. We lost church members over it. And yet our church experienced rapid growth since 2021.
In these post-COVID years, the percentage of pastors wanting to quit has dropped precipitously from 42% to 24%.4
Taken in historical comparison, pastoral burnout remained high. “An astonishing 40% of pastors now show a high risk of burnout, representing a nearly 400% increase since 2015…”5
Yet, just because there is stress, fatigue and what some may define as “burnout,” it does not equate to a mass exodus from ministry. In fact, burnout does not lead to quitting any more than it ever has. A Lifeway study revealed that in a study of Protestant pastors, only around 1 in 100 leave the ministry each year. “The percentage of pastors who leave 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.”6
What are some takeaways?
Burnout ≠ quitting. We don’t have a mass exodus problem. We have a silent exhaustion problem.
Conflict is a top driver. Whether societal or within the church, pastors cited conflict as a continuing source of stress.
COVID didn’t create burnout - it exposed it. I would argue that many pastors left ministry during 2021-2023 that some studies are not picking up. And yet, many who may have wanted to leave found fresh strength to serve with perseverance during that time. I attribute that to the prayers of God’s people for their leaders and to the humbling that occurred in many spiritual leaders as a result.
Isolation has and remains a match that ignites the fires of burnout. My executive pastor did his D.Min project on pastoral loneliness and observed the commonality of isolation and a sense of friendlessness among pastors.
There is an “emptiness problem.” When pastors are empty, their constant pouring out results in their own hollowness.
What is the real reason for burnout?
It is that last observation that I would identify as the real reason of burnout. The parental lesson that we’ve either heard or said ourselves is “you can’t play with fire and not expect to be burned.”
As pastors, we must remember the danger of “playing” with the fire of God. In scripture, God is described as a “consuming fire.”7 Hebrews 12:28-29 quotes that verse and qualifies that, “we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” Moses is not described as playfully attempting to jump over or through the burning bush.
Burnout gnaws at pastors because we’ve ceased serving God acceptably. We have neglected reverence and awe. We have begun to view people with frustration or anxiety, ministry as taxing, and pressures as overwhelming.
In Jeremiah 2:13, there’s a sobering description of what has happened when emptiness prevails in someone’s heart:
“They have abandoned me, the fountain of living water, and dug cisterns for themselves — cracked cisterns that cannot hold water.”
Pastors are empty because their cisterns are cracked. When that happens, it doesn’t matter how much water you seek to fill your cistern with. It will leak out.
Burnout is the natural result of cracked cisterns. Pastor, it is not the job that will satisfy you. It’s Jesus. Ministry satisfaction and fuel is not found in success, results, numbers or accolades. Do you want to see a bush that burns and is not consumed? Do you want to be safe beside the fire of God?
Take off your shoes today. God told Moses as he stood in consternation before the burning bush, “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:5) Moses was alone before God. Pastor, get alone before God, and take off your shoes. Recognize the holiness and privilege of coming before the King of universe. Worship Him again in humility and wonder, astonishment and confusion (for isn’t a burning bush confusing?). Bring your consternation, your confusion, your upset and emptiness before Him.
I’d recommend you toss it all on the flames there. Let God burn it up. Let Him remind you that He is sufficient for you. Let Him refine your calling again by burning away all the dross of ministry expectations and disappointments. Then listen carefully. He will send the surrendered heart back into ministry. In spite of your objections, insecurities and fears, God sends you. Moses heard God’s firm command, “Now go! I will help you speak and I will teach you what to say.” (Exodus 4:12)
Whatever you do, don’t quit. God is faithful. He will quench the burnout with living water. Trust and re-surrender to Him today.
“He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you will be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; you were called by him into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:8-9)
Pastor Stress Statistics, by Bill Gaultiere (Soul Shepherding)
Pastors Share Top Reasons They’ve Considered Quitting Ministry in the Past Year (Barna Research Group, April 27, 2022)
I read and researched comprehensively during 2020-2021. I blogged a series that I called COVID Chronicles. As I look back on that series of posts, I am thankful to be able to say that they have aged well.
Pastors Quitting Ministry: New Barna Data Shows a Shift (Barna Research Group, January 2026)
The Alarming State of Pastoral Burnout: Comprehensive Insights (Standing Stone Ministry, March 6, 2025)
Pastors Remain Committed to the Pulpit, by Aaron Earls (Lifeway Research, May 2025)
Deuteronomy 4:24
Good job Jeff on presenting this important topic. Pastors also need shepherds to support them, I think Deacons and Elders can have a role in encouraging, praying, and having supportive relationships.
Burn out exists in other staff positions too. I can only speak for myself but when I smelled that pungent smell of my electrical wiring overheating I took that as vivid signal to stop what I was doing and enter into my prayer closet. It was there that I did a self exam and reapplied that age old transferable concept that Campus Crusade for Christ established as a BASIC requirement for long life in ministry. What was that? Prayerfully remove yourself from the throne of your life and ask God to take control. In ministry a very subtle practice of our enemy is to make me and other ministers to not take the time to do a self evaluation to right the ship. Ask for forgiveness and ask God to help you avoid that trap again.