“As the pastor goes, so goes the church.”

Research conducted by the Barna Group from 2015 to 2022 paints a troubling picture: satisfaction levels among pastors plummeting from 72% to 52% just over a seven year period. At the same time, there has been a noticeable decline in church attendance and engagement over the past decade.

This decline is not just statistical; it reflects the personal struggles and challenges experienced by pastors across America. Many pastors find themselves in a bind, feeling trapped and unable to leave their positions despite mounting dissatisfaction. This sense of entrapment can stem from a deep sense of responsibility to their congregation or a fear that their skills may not be applicable in other career paths.

This issue underscores the significance of prioritizing pastoral well-being for the health of the entire community. Addressing the needs of pastors is not only essential for their individual well-being but also crucial for the vitality and sustainability of the church as a whole.

Curtis meets with Mark Turman to explore this relationship between churches and their leaders. As a former pastor, current executive director of the Denison Forum, and vice president of Denison Ministries, Mark offers valuable insight into the struggles that have made so many pastors consider leaving their roles, and discusses practical ways that both church leaders and congregations can support and prioritize pastoral care.

This excerpt has been edited for length and clarity. 

CURTIS CHANG: You said that there’s a fear of failure and also a fear of harm. Say more about what the harm is that pastors may be guarding themselves against. What does that look like?

MARK TURMAN: Even if you come from a part of the church that is not particularly emotive, all of us are not only spiritually and mentally engaged, we’re obviously emotionally and relationally engaged.

Pastors know intuitively people are going to leave your church. They’re going to join your church and they’re going to leave your church. You know that intellectually, but when people that you are deeply invested in for years leave the church… That is a level of hurt. And sometimes I don’t think that hurt and harm are the same things, but it can become not just a deep hurt – It can also become a form of harm that is very, very damaging to many pastors. We don’t have a good structure for how people leave a church, and leave when they feel like they need to.

CURTIS CHANG: And yet we don’t see droves of pastors quitting, which suggests to me there’s some percentage of those pastors who are not happy with their jobs, who are feeling like this isn’t working out, but they feel trapped. They feel like, I can’t do anything else.

MARK TURMAN: I think that is really a lie that comes from the devil, and really feeds upon some of our greatest fears.

We also have some strange ideas at times about the sense of ministry calling, that if we sense a call to vocational ministry, we think that that’s in many ways narrowly defined and that it never changes.

Yes, we should have that conviction. God has saved me in Christ and that’s not ever going to change. I am in a permanent relationship with Him. And part of that relationship is He’s invited me to serve along with Him, and I’m not going to give that up. It doesn’t matter whether it is my job or not, whether I get paid or not, or whether it’s in a formal position or not. I am always – as a part of my wonderful, grace-founded relationship with Christ – I always get to be involved with Him.