Complaints of churchgoers who left a church over the pastor
Percent of churchgoers who left their previous church because of the pastor, Lifeway Research, 2024 (in percent)
Key finding
Highest: Pastor seemed hypocritical (36%). Lowest: Lacked firm beliefs (13%).
- Pastor seemed hypocritical: 36%
- Not a good preacher: 33%
- Pastor was judgmental of others: 30%
Source: Lifeway Research, Pastoral Hypocrisy and Bad Preaching Are a Turnoff to Churchgoers · Lifeway Research study of U.S. regular churchgoers who changed churches. Article published 2024-03-22.
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Questions about this statistic
What does this statistic show?
Highest: Pastor seemed hypocritical (36%). Lowest: Lacked firm beliefs (13%). Pastor seemed hypocritical: 36%. Not a good preacher: 33%. Pastor was judgmental of others: 30%.
Who published this data?
Lifeway Research, 2024. Source: Lifeway Research, Pastoral Hypocrisy and Bad Preaching Are a Turnoff to Churchgoers (https://research.lifeway.com/2024/03/22/pastoral-hypocrisy-and-bad-preaching-are-a-turnoff-to-churchgoers/).
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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.