Rural pastors: biggest obstacles
Percent of rural Protestant pastors citing each, 2025 (in percent)
Key finding
Lay leadership is the top challenge, ahead of money.
- Developing lay leaders: 60%
- Resistance to change: 50%
- Carrying others' pain: 47%
Source: Lifeway Research, Rural Church Pastors Face Obstacles With Optimism · n=1,003 rural Protestant pastors, Aug 5-27, 2025, MoE ±3.3.
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Questions about this statistic
What does this statistic show?
Lay leadership is the top challenge, ahead of money. Developing lay leaders: 60%. Resistance to change: 50%. Carrying others' pain: 47%.
Who published this data?
Lifeway Research, 2025. Source: Lifeway Research, Rural Church Pastors Face Obstacles With Optimism (https://news.lifeway.com/2025/10/23/rural-church-pastors-face-obstacles-with-optimism-according-to-lifeway-research/).
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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.