Pastors' experiences of ministry stress
Percent of evangelical and historically black church pastors agreeing, 2015 (in percent)
Key finding
Highest: Are on call 24 hours a day (84%). Lowest: Say church has unrealistic expectations of them (21%).
- Are on call 24 hours a day: 84%
- Expect conflict in their church: 80%
- Find the role frequently overwhelming: 54%
Source: Lifeway Research, Despite Stresses, Few Pastors Give Up on Ministry · Lifeway Research survey of 1,500 pastors of evangelical and historically black churches. Article published 2015-09-01.
See all 6 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: Are on call 24 hours a day (84%). Lowest: Say church has unrealistic expectations of them (21%). Are on call 24 hours a day: 84%. Expect conflict in their church: 80%. Find the role frequently overwhelming: 54%.
Who published this data?
Lifeway Research, 2015. Source: Lifeway Research, Despite Stresses, Few Pastors Give Up on Ministry (https://research.lifeway.com/2015/09/01/despite-stresses-few-pastors-give-up-on-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 Mental Health & Well-being statistics
- Gen Alpha teens on feeling worse about themselves after social media Springtide Research Institute, 2026
- Pastors who feel isolated in their personal struggles Lifeway Research, 2026
- Pastors who struggle with consistently resting Lifeway Research, 2026
- Pastors who often feel ministry demands are more than they can handle Lifeway Research, 2016
- Americans who describe suicide as an epidemic in the United States Lifeway Research, 2015
- Church mental health resources, as reported by pastors Lifeway Research, 2014
All Mental Health & Well-being statistics · All 2015 statistics
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.