The Pastor at Low Tide
Why are so many pastors leaving the ministry?
The following tweet hit me this morning:
As a fellow pastor, I was shocked and nodding in agreement at the same time. I can understand why so many pastors are throwing in the towel. COVID really placed some stress on pastors, so on one level, it’s not a surprise.
That said, I think COVID was more of an accelerant than a cause. A lot of the causes were taking place long before the lockdown. There are a lot of things happening in our culture that leave clergy feeling depressed, ignored and unappreciated. At some point, they just give up and leave.
I’m still hanging on. I haven’t given much thought to leaving the ministry-yet. But the last year has been depressing. There is this feeling that I’m doing all of this for nothing. You get the feeling that people don’t really care about faith, or about the congregation they belong to. I’ve been working in trying to help turn around a small church in the Twin Cities suburbs, but at times I wonder if the congregation really cares if the congregation…
