Where senior pastors began their ministry careers
Percent of senior pastors by first ministry role, Lifeway Research (in percent)
Key finding
Highest: Youth or student minister (44%). Lowest: Children or kids' minister (16%).
- Youth or student minister: 44%
- Assistant or associate pastor: 42%
- Some other ministry role: 18%
Source: Lifeway Research, Evangelical Pastors More Likely Than Others To Be Bivocational · Article published 2025-06-04.
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Questions about this statistic
What does this statistic show?
Highest: Youth or student minister (44%). Lowest: Children or kids' minister (16%). Youth or student minister: 44%. Assistant or associate pastor: 42%. Some other ministry role: 18%.
Who published this data?
Lifeway Research, 2025. Source: Lifeway Research, Evangelical Pastors More Likely Than Others To Be Bivocational (https://research.lifeway.com/2025/06/04/evangelical-pastors-more-likely-than-others-to-be-bivocational/).
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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.