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Pastors in Crisis: Reasons Why So Many Ministers Are Considering Quitting Vocational Ministry

Working harder to keep a dying church together no longer seems to make sense.

Several thousand churches close permanently every year, and many more are in some stage of “dying.” Suddenly having to work even harder to try to keep a dying church going now doesn’t seem to make as much sense for some pastors, who began to think maybe it was time to either leave for a different ministry or just quit altogether.

Reliance on a failed ministry model suddenly collapsed, causing deep confusion.

For decades, most churches have relied almost entirely on the attractional model as their form of “evangelism” or “church growth.” Suddenly faced with not being able to rely on bringing people to a building, many ministers found themselves deeply confused about how to “do ministry,” so much so they entertain the idea of just quitting.

Unwilling to learn new skills.

You might be surprised at the number of churches that prior to the pandemic did not have a website. Or the number of pastors who mocked and ridiculed social media, vowing to have nothing to do with it. And then came the pandemic, forcing them to learn new skills. Some were willing to do so only until they can return to “the ways things used to be.” But there’s a lot of pressure on pastors to continue with some of the changes they’ve made over the past year, like streaming worship services and otherwise using technology to connect with people in various ways. So are so stubborn about not being willing to change how they “do ministry” they might quit rather than change.

Forced to re-assess what ministry is all about.

For many years, some pastors have revamped ministry to mean working more like a CEO leading an organization rather than being a servant leading a family of faith. In a pandemic, people greatly need a leader — but a spiritual leader or servant leader, not a CEO. What some ministers got into ministry to “be” and do no longer fits in such a crisis setting, causing some to say, “This isn’t what I signed up for.” Some of these ministers will re-evaluate what ministry is all about and move forward, others will quit.

Confusion and fear of an unknown future.

Many ministers have done reasonably well at navigating the demands of ministry in a pandemic, but are deeply confused and afraid of what future ministry will be, can be, and should be. This fear fosters a procrastination that is so deep for some they may be unwilling to continue in ministry and leave the future for others to deal with.

False guilt.

False guilt has been a vicious tool of the enemy to dishearten and discourage so many ministers who have worked tirelessly serving others the past year but irrationally thinking they haven’t done enough for their congregations. Sometimes this false guilt is fueled by baseless criticism from church members. When sucked down into false guilt, some ministers begin to think, “Maybe I should just quit.”

Consequences of long-held habits of poor self-care and poor soul care.

After years of not adequately caring for their own spiritual, mental, emotional, physical, and relational needs, many pastors felt overwhelmed to suddenly face the increased ministry demands of the past year. They were not prepared for it because they had not properly cared for themselves so they could confront and engage the increased pressures and leadership needs. For some, quitting seems to be the way to get through this.