Why So Few Pastors Quit Each Year, Even Though Most Are Exhausted

Quick question: How many pastors do you think leave full-time ministry each year? Based on headlines, especially since the pandemic, your estimate might be quite high. Yet the number is only 1.2%. That’s according to Lifeway Research’s 2025 study, which surveyed more than 1,500 evangelical and Black Protestant pastors. And it’s not an anomaly, because the number was 1.2% in 2025, 1.5% in 2021, and 1.3% in 2015. But in the same survey, 57% of pastors said their role often feels overwhelming. Two-thirds feel like they need to be reachable around the clock. Nearly half say the job’s demands regularly outpace their ability to keep up. So although pastors aren’t walking away in substantial numbers, a majority of them aren’t okay. For the same person, both facts are often true at the same time, often for years. If you lead a church or care about a pastor, know that pastor burnout is common but that leaving is rare. Learn how a congregation can act before a resignation letter forces the conversation. What the Research Says Much confusion about ministry burnout is the result of different research questions getting lumped together. Barna Group regularly asks pastors if they’ve seriously considered quitting full-time ministry in the past year. That number spiked after the pandemic, peaking at 42% in 2022. More recent tracking puts the figure closer to 24%, which Barna called “stabilization, not full recovery.” A related 2021 Barna survey of 507 senior pastors found that 38% had thought seriously about quitting, up from 29% just months earlier. Pastors under 45 considered quitting more often than did pastors who were older. Lifeway Research asked how many pastors actually leave. Its June 2025 study, sponsored by Houston’s First Baptist Church, put that number at 1.2% annually, and the figure has held steady for a decade. And when Lifeway asked pastors who had left why they did so, the top reason wasn’t burnout. It was a change in calling (37%), followed by church conflict (23%). Another 22% cited burnout. Christianity Today’s coverage of that data stated bluntly: “Despite burnout, just 1% of pastors leave each year.” Considering quitting and actually quitting aren’t the same measurement, and the two move independently of each other. Most pastors who seriously think about leaving stay anyway.