Your passion for what’s happening elsewhere is greater than your passion for what’s happening here.Your vision no longer lines up with the organization’s vision.You’ve ushered in all the change you can.There’s no other role on the team you can get excited about.Here are seven factors to consider when you’re wondering whether your time is up. In normal times, there are signs it’s time to leave.
Determine Whether the Things You’re Feeling are Temporary or Permanent The decisions you make when you’re down rarely help you, or anyone, get back up again. What you’ve been through takes a toll on the mind and the heart. If you read through the risk of burnout in the chart below, it almost perfectly describes what most pastors have been leading through for almost two years now. A few years ago in their State of Pastors Report, the Barna Group noted pastors who led a declining congregation were at four times greater risk of burnout than pastors who led growing churches. One mantra I’ve followed for years in leadership is to never quit on a bad day.Ĭonsider this. While every decision is personal and needs to be made carefully and prayerfully, there are factors that can help you make a wise decision no one will regret. Whether you exit should be a matter of careful prayer, discernment, and (I hope) influenced by the counsel of wise people who know you well and love you enough to tell you the truth.īut that doesn’t mean all outside guidance is unhelpful. Clearly, no one can answer that question for you in a blog post. So how do you know if it’s time for you to quit? (Here’s a thoughtful article on some of the reasons pastors are leaving.) While it’s hard to get accurate statistics about how many pastors and church leaders are quitting in 2021, conversations I’ve had with leaders give me the sense that many are exiting, and others are still thinking about it. In addition to people leaving, many churches haven’t been immune from the division, political schisms, and constant complaining that has become part of the last few years.Ī Barna poll from late 2020 revealed that 29% of pastors were seriously thinking of quitting ministry ( you can find the survey and some thoughts on it here). While many sectors have bounced back since the pandemic disrupted everything, churches have not seen the return leaders were hoping for. In my view, church leaders have had it somewhat harder than many other leaders. As in embracing a new vocation….Īll leaders have been in a pressure cooker unlike any in our lifetime. If you’re a pastor or on church staff, have you thought about leaving ministry lately? I don’t mean just going to another church, but leaving entirely.
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