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Hundreds Leave Pastorate

===========================================CHARISMA NEWS SERVICE Mon, Feb 26, 2001 Vol. 2 No. 249 ===========================================A Daily News Update from the editors of Charisma magazine

TODAY’S NEWS:

* Lead Story: Hundreds Leave Their Pastorate Each Month * News Brief: Supreme Court Has Last Word in Bible Case * News Brief: Gay Church Ousts ‘Resurrected Pastor’ * Persecution Watch: Indonesia * More News: Worship Is High Priority in Ski Church; Pastor Plants Church in Irreligious High-Tech Area

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LEAD STORY: by Eric Tiansay

Hundreds of Pastors Leave Their Ministry Each Month

Groups seek to find out why so many clergy quit and provide help to dropouts

Former Nazarene pastor Michael Ross didn’t know where to turn when he dropped out after more than 20 years of ministry. Today, he’s on a mission to find out why so many pastors quit.

According to estimates by the Alban Institute in Washington, D.C., at least 17 percent of clergy suffer from stress or burnout, “The Charlotte Observer” reported. About 1,400 ministers a year call a toll-free hot line of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), which counsels ministers through its LeaderCare program. Brooks Faulkner, a LeaderCare counselor, estimates that nearly 100 SBC pastors leave their ministry every month.

Sunscape Ministries of Colorado, which serves clergy in crises, reported that in all denominations nationwide, 1,600 ministers per month are terminated or forced to resign their pulpit, “The Abilene Reporter-News” reported. Although a sense of hurt is unavoidable for both pastor and congregation, it is particularly traumatic for a minister who steps down, Ross said.

“I think evangelical pastors struggle the most when they leave the ministry because they feel like the calling was for life,” Ross told “The Tennessean.”

Ross runs the nonprofit Pastors Institute in Indianapolis, which is conducting a nationwide study on the reasons disillusioned pastors leave the pulpit in such alarming numbers. Ross is urging former ministers in 13 cities to complete a confidential online questionnaire intended to explore their motivation.

Besides the Pastors Institute, displaced pastors can also get help elsewhere. Woundedshepherds.com is an online community for former pastors and their families, featuring a chat room and message board and confidential prayer requests. The Onesimus Project, a partnership between the Pastors Institute and Grace Ministries, an independent congregation in Indianapolis, is a study in how congregations can effectively minister to former pastors and their families.

The Church of Refuge, a SBC program in Texas, offers terminated pastors and their family a rent-free home for up to one year. Like the Pastors Institute, another group — sponsored by 12 denominations — is also conducting a pastor dropout study.

Experts say pastors leave their pastorate for a variety of reasons, including family pressure, needing more income, burnout, disillusionment, being forced out, discouragement and feelings of unfulfillment.

Faulkner said national research from the 1980s and 1990s revealed that the leading cause of pastor fallout was “the control and power factor.” “Who’s in charge was one that kept surfacing,” said Faulkner, who has 35 years experience counseling embittered pastors. “The second leading cause was lack of unity in the congregation. There’s a small, but powerful minority of members, and there are factions in the congregation. Both have to do with who’s in charge.”

Ross said the expectations on the pastor by today’s churchgoer are much different than a generation ago. “Churches are doing more marketing now, there’s more pressure to perform and entertain and succeed,” Ross told “The Tennessean.” “Ministers can’t be entertaining enough, so they drop out.”

Ross plans to take the findings of the survey and create programs to help ex-pastors. Ross will also share his research with denomination leaders so they can learn more about a pastor’s career that went awry.

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