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Church Leadership

154 Pastors Told Me What’s Hardest About Pastoring

Joshua Gordon
By
Joshua Gordon
Joshua Gordon Senior Editor

I've spent 15+ years at the intersection of ministry, editorial leadership, and content strategy. As Editor at Black & White Zebra, I help church leaders build lasting ministries. I founded Lazarus Books, which produces books and content for mission-driven organizations. In 2020, I co-authored the bestseller Stunned by Grace. I studied Theology and Leadership at Rocky Mountain College and have served as a lay pastor since 2019.

More about Joshua
15+ years in ministry, editorial leadership, and Christian publishing.

57 out of 154 pastors (more than 30%) ranked spiritual apathy as more difficult than financial pressure or loneliness.

Spiritual apathy standard editorial post 17105

For the past year or so, I've been running an informal poll here at TheLeadPastor.com. I wanted to know what pastors find most difficult about their role.

154 Pastors Answered.

When I asked about the single biggest struggle in ministry, the answers caught me off guard. Tight budgets and harsh critics are always going to be part of the job, but the data seems to point to a deeper cultural problem - one that's taking a real toll on pastors.

Apathy Is The Surprising Number One Struggle

57 out of 154 pastors (more than 30%) ranked spiritual apathy as more difficult than financial pressure or loneliness.... Think about that for a second. We always hear about how broke or isolated pastors are, but the biggest drain is actually just trying to motivate people who don't seem to care.

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Does this match what you’re seeing in your own ministry? Do you have a different take? Let me know in the space below.

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Joshua Gordon
By Joshua Gordon

I've spent 15+ years at the intersection of ministry, editorial leadership, and content strategy. As Editor at Black & White Zebra, I help church leaders build lasting ministries. I founded Lazarus Books, which produces books and content for mission-driven organizations. In 2020, I co-authored the bestseller Stunned by Grace. I studied Theology and Leadership at Rocky Mountain College and have served as a lay pastor since 2019.

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