Why do pastors leave the ministry?
There is a web site here that talks about pastor burn out. Some of the statistics are very hard to read. It shows a picture that as much as the average person in pew is hurting, so also are American pastors. Many report feeling unable to live up to others expectations, loneliness and burn out. Did you know that 1,500 minister leave the ministry each month due to burn out, moral failure or conflict. Many new pastors never reach their 5th year in ministry. I can tell you why I left just short of 5 years of ministry in the church. I can tell you that my expectations of working in the church were idealistic and complete fantasy land. I didn't realize how much other people put expectation on the pastor that are unrealistic and harsh. They seem to want someone who talks about family, but neglects his own, works as hard as a 20 year old, has the steadiness of a 40 year old and wisdom of a 60 year old. A pastor is never allowed to have a truly bad day and always must be