Pastors Report Lower Job Satisfaction Despite Resilience
A growing number of pastors are becoming less satisfied with the jobs, a new poll from Barna finds.
The share of pastors who feel inadequately prepared to do their job has been steadily falling since 2015. Over the last three years, this sentiment declined by 20 percent, from 64 percent in 2023 to 44 percent in 2026. The good news is that fewer pastors report burnout compared to a decade ago, when it was 75 percent. Just over six in 10 of pastors now report that they frequently or sometimes feel emotionally or mentally exhausted.
When it comes to how satisfied they are with their avocation as a pastor, 52 percent, say they’re very satisfied today, a sharp decline compared with the 72 percent who said the same in 2015. The percentage of pastors reporting that they’re somewhat satisfied with their jobs, however, has increased from 26 percent to 40 percent over the same period.
“Pastors are in the most emotionally healthy place they’ve been in a while regarding vocation,” said Daniel Copeland, Barna’s vice president of research. “But the satisfaction data suggest they may be settling into a more sustainable but less deeply fulfilling experience of the work itself.”
Previous Barna research on pastors experiencing burnout suggests that pastors could increase their satisfaction on the job if their role and responsibilities become better aligned with their strengths and gifts.
“The confidence rebound and declining feelings of inadequacy are genuinely encouraging,” Copeland said. “But if the job itself isn’t working — and the satisfaction data suggest it may not be — the right response is to listen to pastors, then empower them to show us what ministry could look like.”
Brad Hill, chief partner success officer at Gloo, said the finding on pastoral satisfaction was a wake-up call for leaders.
“Two things can be true at the same time,” he said. “Pastors are feeling more fit to lead than at any time in recent memory, yet they seem to be telling us that the role is less of a fit for them. The role of pastoring today and tomorrow will likely look different than in the past. This research is a wake-up call for leaders to examine how we resource, equip, train and support pastors so they can fully live out their calling.”
–Alan Goforth
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