Top ministry difficulty pastors most need to invest in
Percent of U.S. Protestant pastors naming each as the top difficulty, 2021 (in percent)
Key finding
Highest: Fostering connections with unchurched people (28%). Lowest: Challenging people where they lack obedience (11%).
- Fostering connections with unchurched people: 28%
- Developing leaders and volunteers: 25%
- Training church leaders and volunteers: 15%
Source: Lifeway Research, Pastors Concerned with Growing Leaders, Reaching Outsiders · Phone survey of 1,000 Protestant pastors, March 30 - April 22, 2021. Article published 2022-02-08.
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Questions about this statistic
What does this statistic show?
Highest: Fostering connections with unchurched people (28%). Lowest: Challenging people where they lack obedience (11%). Fostering connections with unchurched people: 28%. Developing leaders and volunteers: 25%. Training church leaders and volunteers: 15%.
Who published this data?
Lifeway Research, 2021. Source: Lifeway Research, Pastors Concerned with Growing Leaders, Reaching Outsiders (https://research.lifeway.com/2022/02/08/pastors-concerned-with-growing-leaders-reaching-outsiders/).
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- Greatest needs pastors say they need to address Lifeway Research, 2022
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.