The remaining 46% of pastors enjoy personal connections with 10 or more pastors, including 27% who say they personally know 10-15 and 19% who spend time with 16 or more.
“When it comes to pastors encouraging other pastors, there is strength in numbers,” said McConnell. “Knowing 10 or more local pastors increases the likelihood pastors can connect beyond the similarities in their role and makes them less vulnerable when a pastor friend leaves the area.”
Pastors’ perceptions of encouraging support from other local pastors are related to how many other local ministers they know and spend time with multiple times a year. Pastors who strongly agree they feel supported know and spend time with an average of 17 other local pastors. This decreases to 10 for those who somewhat agree they are supported. Pastors who somewhat disagree they feel supported by pastors in their area know and spend time with an average of eight other pastors, and those who strongly disagree know only five other pastors.
As with local support, smaller church pastors and those in areas with fewer Protestant churches are more likely to miss out on large numbers of pastoral friends. Protestant pastors in the South (23%) and Midwest (19%) are more likely than those in the Northeast (10%) to say they personally know 16 or more other area pastors. Small church pastors, those with less than 50 in attendance, are more likely to say they only know one to two other local pastors (12%) than those with worship attendance of 100-249 (6%) and 250 or more (5%).
Non-denominational (8 personal connections) and Restorationist Movement pastors (8) average fewer local pastor relationships than Pentecostal (17), Methodist (16), and Baptist pastors (12).
“While denominational connections may limit the variety of the types of relationships a pastor may have with neighboring pastors, belonging to a denomination does appear to aid in building relationships between pastors,” said McConnell.
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