Pastors who seriously considered leaving full-time ministry in the past year
Percent of U.S. senior Protestant pastors, 2026 (in percent)
Key finding
- Pastors who seriously considered leaving full-time ministry in the past year: 24%. Percent of U.S. senior Protestant pastors who say they seriously considered leaving full-time ministry within the past year
Source: Barna Group, Pastors Quitting Ministry: New Barna Data Shows a Shift · Article published 2026-01-27.
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Questions about this statistic
What does this statistic show?
Pastors who seriously considered leaving full-time ministry in the past year: 24%. Percent of U.S. senior Protestant pastors who say they seriously considered leaving full-time ministry within the past year.
Who published this data?
Barna Group, 2026. Source: Barna Group, Pastors Quitting Ministry: New Barna Data Shows a Shift (https://www.barna.com/trends/pastors-quitting-ministry-barna-data/).
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- 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.