Meaningful friendships among rural pastors
Percent of rural pastors who invest in meaningful friendships with each group, 2026 (in percent)
Key finding
Highest: Church members (92%). Lowest: Believers at other churches (82%).
- Church members: 92%
- Other pastors: 88%
- Adults outside their community: 87%
Source: Lifeway Research, Woven Into the Web: Meaningful Friendships in Rural Ministry · Article published 2026-03-11.
See all 5 categories, the full chart and more
Free account: full chart, CSV and PNG downloads, ready-to-paste citation, branded share image, and a discussion question for your team.
Questions about this statistic
What does this statistic show?
Highest: Church members (92%). Lowest: Believers at other churches (82%). Church members: 92%. Other pastors: 88%. Adults outside their community: 87%.
Who published this data?
Lifeway Research, 2026. Source: Lifeway Research, Woven Into the Web: Meaningful Friendships in Rural Ministry (https://research.lifeway.com/2026/03/11/woven-into-the-web-meaningful-friendships-in-rural-ministry/).
Where can I get the full data and a citation?
Create a free Leader Insights account to open the full chart, download CSV or PNG, copy a citation and save the statistic to your own library.
More Pastors & Staff statistics
- Black Protestant clergy who support women's leadership in the Black church Public Religion Research Institute, 2026
- Decline in churches insuring their senior pastor Leader Insights, 2026
- Drop in pastors considering quitting since the 2022 peak Leader Insights, 2026
- Evangelical pastors with some income outside of church work Lifeway Research, 2026
- Other full-time ministers' pay after inflation Leader Insights, 2026
- Other insurance types Southern Baptist congregations provide Lifeway Research, 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.