Annual rate of pastors leaving for reasons other than retirement or death
Percent of evangelical and Black Protestant pastors per year, 2015 to 2025 (in percent)
Key finding
Down 0.1 points from 2015 to 2025.
- Latest reading (2025): 1.2%
- Earliest reading (2015): 1.3%
Source: Lifeway Research, Pastors Remain Committed to the Pulpit · Lifeway Research mixed-mode survey of 1,516 evangelical and Black Protestant pastors, April 1 - May 8, 2025. Article published 2025-05-29.
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Questions about this statistic
What does this statistic show?
Down 0.1 points from 2015 to 2025. Latest reading (2025): 1.2%. Earliest reading (2015): 1.3%.
Who published this data?
Lifeway Research, 2025. Source: Lifeway Research, Pastors Remain Committed to the Pulpit (https://research.lifeway.com/2025/05/29/pastors-remain-committed-to-the-pulpit/).
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- Drop in pastors considering quitting since the 2022 peak Leader Insights, 2026
- Evangelical pastors with some income outside of church work Lifeway Research, 2026
- Meaningful friendships among rural pastors Lifeway Research, 2026
- Other full-time ministers' pay after inflation Leader Insights, 2026
About this data
Leader Insights collects statistics about U.S. churches from published research by organizations such as Lifeway Research, Barna Group, Springtide, the American Bible Society and PRRI. Every number is checked against the wording of the original source before it is published, and each statistic links back to the study it came from. Figures are reproduced from the publishers named above; see the source for full methodology.