Most U.S. pastors don’t receive needed professional support, study finds

Over half of pastors surveyed by Christian research organization Barna Group do not utilize mentors, advisors, coaches, or counselors to support them in ministry, according to a report Tuesday. When they do seek support, they tend to turn to a personal mentor or spiritual advisor, according to the report. About 12% see a therapist for mental health reasons, while 3% see a marriage counselor and 9% see a professional counselor. The findings are part of Barna’s State of the Church report conducted in partnership with Gloo, a faith-based tech platform. Barna this summer is releasing reports specifically evaluating pastoral well-being and flourishing, which is based on research conducted by the Harvard Center for Human Flourishing. The group assessed flourishing by evaluating how individuals scored in the strength of their relationships, vocation, finances, health, and faith. Barna also combined participants’ overall flourishing score and found that pastors scored higher than the broader U.S. population of adults, but lower than practicing Christians.

What else did the study find? Pastors reported being strong in their faith and their score in the category outpaced the general population by 28 points. They also said they felt satisfied with their job security, employment stability, and income compared to their family’s needs. Pastors scored higher than U.S. adults on vocational flourishing, with the majority saying they felt more confident about their calling to pastoral work at the time of the study than when they first entered the ministry.

Physical, emotional, and mental well-being among pastors was lower than the general population and practicing Christians, and they scored the lowest on the strength of their relationships. Additionally, pastors aged 50 and older scored higher than their younger counterparts on all five metrics.

Dig deeper: Read my report about a survey that found the declining rate of Christians in America may have leveled off.