The Exodus of Church Leaders

Feeling the weight of church leadership changes post-pandemic? You're not alone. On today's episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, we uncover the startling rise in resignations among pastors and church staff, particularly the younger generation. Discover why this trend, often referred to as an exodus, is gaining momentum and what it means for the future of church leadership. We'll break down key findings from our latest Church Staff Health Assessment 2024, highlighting the unique challenges faced by younger pastors and the shifting definitions of 'calling' across generations.

Our conversation doesn't stop at identifying problems; we also explore actionable solutions. From the dwindling pipeline of future church leaders due to closures of seminaries and Christian colleges, to the urgent need for robust leadership development in local churches, we address the pressing issues head-on. Whether you're a senior pastor, associate pastor, or serve in any capacity, this episode offers important insights and practical steps to help navigate these turbulent times and ensure a healthy future for church staff across the nation. Don't miss this crucial discussion—download the Church Staff Health Assessment 2024 and join the conversation!

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:08

Hi there, welcome to the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. I'm your host, todd Rhodes, also one of the co-founders of OverChemistryStaffingcom, and I am so glad that you're here today. Today we are continuing our series. Yesterday we just released our Church Staff Health Assessment 2024 edition and you can download that right now. It's absolutely free. It's a substantial report. I need to check on the page number, but I think it's 85 plus pages of just chock full of information on the health of church staff in America. Matter of fact, we talked to over 1,200 church staff in America and compiled all of their answers and I think you'll find it really interesting. You can go to chemistrystaffingcom slash staffhealth chemistrystaffingcom slash staffhealth, to download that report today.

Speaker 1: 1:01

Now for the next two weeks, we're diving into some of the findings that we found from our survey this year and our assessment. And today we're diving into a topic we mentioned it just slightly yesterday on the podcast if you missed it, but it's been on the minds of many church leaders lately and it's the growing trend of pastors and church staff leaving their ministry roles and it's what some are calling an exodus. But it's the growing trend of pastors and church staff leaving their ministry roles and it's what some are calling an exodus, but it's having a significant impact on churches across the country and, whether you're a senior pastor or an associate pastor serving in any capacity, this trend affects us all, and my goal today here is on the podcast is just to shed a little light on what's happening, why it's happening and maybe a little bit about what we can do about it. Okay, so here are some top-level findings from the report. We're finding, first of all, increased resignations. More church staff members have retired early or left ministry altogether in the last five years since the pandemic, and this doesn't appear to be just a short-term blip. It's a significant shift in what we're seeing all across the pandemic. And this doesn't appear to be just a short-term blip. It's a significant shift in what we're seeing all across the board. Matter of fact, over half the pastors surveyed, I believe, in a recent Barna survey have admitted to considering leaving their roles, and that's a jump from just 37% a couple of years earlier. This is real. If it feels like there are less pastors and more people resigning from our churches, it's probably because it's happening not just at the church in general in the US, but also in your local church. Okay so, number two younger pastors are at risk and this is interesting. Younger pastors are more likely to consider leaving ministry than their older counterparts. Consider leaving ministry than their older counterparts. It's the stress, it's the shifting priorities. We saw that through the pandemic for sure. Perhaps it's the changing nature of ministry itself, but it seems to be taking a toll, a heavier toll, on younger pastors.

Speaker 1: 2:57

Calling I've discussed this before on the podcast. I think calling is defined differently by different generations. Podcast. I think Calling is defined differently by different generations and younger folks Older generations like mine, felt like they had a specific calling to church ministry. Younger generations a lot of times feel they have a calling, but it's maybe not. It's a little bit more general. So we're seeing a lot of younger pastors resign from full-time ministry, either go part-time or volunteer or maybe go to work at a local Christian nonprofit, those kind of things. Those are happening more often here in the last since the pandemic.

Speaker 1: 3:36

And then, third, there are some succession challenges. The trend just isn't about current staff, it's about the future too, and many churches are struggling to find mature, younger successors, because of what I just mentioned, for their retiring pastors. So the pipeline of future church leaders is it's looking a bit sparse right now. This is nothing new. We've seen this coming for about the last 25 years or so. We've needed to rebuild our bench and we just haven't been able to do it. Many seminaries and Christian colleges are closing down. We've not taken leadership development and called a ministry very seriously in a lot of our local churches and this is causing some real pipeline issues, particularly with those younger people that are hopefully going to go into the ministry.

Speaker 1: 4:23

Let's analyze this just a little bit. Why are we seeing some of this exodus? Well, I think there's probably a few factors at play. First, there's burnout. Many pastors are overwhelmed by the constant demands and emotional energy that's required, but sometimes unrealistic expectations placed on them, and the pandemic only exasperated all of this. It added tons of stress, layers of stress and uncertainty to an already demanding role. We've talked to a lot of senior pastors that are retiring a little bit earlier or doing a succession plan a little bit earlier than they had planned pre-COVID, just because they said it's so different, it's so different now and I just don't know what to do. Or doing a succession plan a little bit earlier than they had planned pre-COVID, just because they said it's so different, it's so different now and I just don't know what to do. So there's also some just changing views on religion and church, and as the culture shifts, pastors find themselves in just a more challenging environment. What a challenging time to be a pastor and to be on a church staff, and a lot of times your role is not as clearly defined or as highly valued as it once was, and a lot of times this can lead to a sense of isolation and even questioning one's calling. We're seeing a lot of people do that.

Speaker 1: 5:33

So how do we improve this? How can churches improve this in the next year? Because this isn't just a national trend. This is something that's going to if it hasn't already, it's going to hit you and your church as well. And so how can we attract great staff? How can we keep the great staff that we have? Here are some thoughts, and none of this really is rocket science, but it's really important that you think about this, because replacing pastor, replacing staff, is increasingly difficult. So your best thing you can do is to make sure that you have a healthy place where people love to serve and love to be on staff.

Speaker 1: 6:10

So the ways that you can do that number one is prioritize well-being. It's huge. Churches need to make pastoral well-being a priority and this means encouraging time off and providing resources and counseling and creating a culture where pastors feel valued and appreciated. It's about recognizing that. Pastors, you can't go full bore all the time. You're not immune to stress and burnout. So prioritize well-meaning, foster collaboration. Break down those silos. We work with churches quite often that have different silos between the leadership team and the staff team and the elder team and the volunteers and the volunteer leaders. It's crazy. Encourage collaboration, share responsibility, be a team player and then invest in leadership development. We've got to be intentional about raising up the next generation of leaders. We really do.

Speaker 1: 7:09

There are less and less candidate pool to recruit from. And the best staff member at your church and this is weird for a staffing agency person to say the best staff person, next staff person for your church may already be attending your church. They may be a key volunteer right now and you might just have to provide some mentorship and training and opportunities, and we offer all of that at Chemistry Staffing. If you've got a high-level volunteer that you think just needs a little coaching and mentorship, reach out to me. I'd love to help you out there.

Speaker 1: 7:45

So here's the bottom line, what I want to talk about today the exodus of church leaders, people leaving ministry. It's real and it's something that absolutely we've got to pay attention to. But it's also an opportunity, and I'm always a both end kind of person Glass half full rather than glass ass Glass we won't care for their time. Glass half empty type of a person. So I do believe it's an opportunity. It's a chance to reshape the future of church leadership in a way that's healthier and more sustainable and more aligned to the needs of our congregations and our communities. So here's an action tape step for today, for this year. Take a look at your leadership team and ask yourself how are we supporting our pastors and our staff? And maybe it's time for a conversation about how you can better support each other and create a healthier environment for everyone so that the staff that you do have want to be a part of the team well into the future. Remember, the future of the church really depends on the health of its leaders.

Speaker 1: 8:48

This is just one of the things that we talk about in the Healthy Church Staff Assessment and you can download your free copy right now. It's absolutely free. It's a substantial download record. Pdf record. It's absolutely free. It's a substantial download record, pdf record. I think you'll enjoy reading it and seeing how you are doing compared to national averages and seeing how your church team is doing. You can download that today at chemistrystaffingcom slash staffhealth and you can always reach out to me. If there's any help that you need in your church or on your staff team, reach out to me. You's any help that you need in your church or on your staff team, reach out to me. You can email me at podcast at chemistry staffing. That's podcast at chemistry staffing dot com. All right, thanks so much. We will be back here tomorrow and we'll dive into a little bit more on what we learned from this year's church Staff Health Assessment.