Barna Research Reveals the Crisis No One Talks about among Struggling Pastors
Barna research showing that nearly one in five pastors has considered self-harm or suicide in the past year should compel the church to take seriously the daily support pastors need, says a former pastor and researcher. That survey showed that 18 percent of Protestant senior pastors said they had contemplated self-harm or suicide within the past year -- driven partially by a loneliness epidemic that is often hidden behind the pulpit. Nearly half (47 percent) of pastors say they feel lonely or isolated, Barna found.
"It's a staggering and sobering statistic," Joe Jensen, former pastor and a senior vice president at Barna, told Crosswalk Headlines.
The well-being of pastors is receiving renewed attention in May as the nation observes Mental Health Awareness Month. The survey included a bit of good news: Of the 18 percent, the large majority of pastors said such thoughts were fleeting or isolated. Even so, the findings underscore a deep need that often goes unnoticed.
Church members often don't realize their pastor is lonely, Jensen said. One reason, he explained, is that while members consistently draw from the pastor, the pastor often lacks a source of support themselves.
"For pastors, we think, just because we're around people, that we're connecting with people," he said. "And I believe a lot of pastors, they're performing the job of pastor, but they're not benefiting from the community that they're pastoring because of the very nature of the job."
The role of a pastor comes with massive expectations, Jensen said.
"What happens when you're not connected in deep community or friendships and you're not getting trusted counsel from a professional or from a close mentor? It's inevitable, because they're humans, and we forget sometimes that pastors are humans experiencing the same difficulties that we are. So they're isolated, they're alone because of the nature of their job [and] the expectations placed upon them as pastors --where they feel like they always kind of have to be on top of their game, have to have their life together. And so what happens is they retreat. They retreat because they feel the pressures of those expectations."
On Sunday morning, pastors project to the congregation that they "have it all together," Jensen said.
"It's kind of a vicious downward spiral that we're seeing, and that's what I think ultimately leads to pastors feeling like they just want to tap out and give up on ministry, and then, even worse, those pastors who feel like they want to tap out and give up on life," he said.
The broader body of Christ needs a fundamental shift in defining pastoral success, Jensen said.
"The expectations that are set out as a result of the pursuit of that scorecard of success means that they are going to be driving for that kind of outward expression of success, and sometimes they compromise the inward health of their soul in the process," Jensen said.
A church's leadership must take responsibility for fostering the well-being of its pastor, he said.
"We need to really be paying attention to, hey, elders and church board leaders -- how can you lead your pastor more effectively towards more holistic health?"
Similarly, church budgets should "put a high priority on pastor care," he said.
"A lot of times we're putting it towards ministry, programs, outreach, evangelism -- all those things are important, but they're not going to work if your pastor and your pastoral team is not healthy. So it's an investment," Jensen said.
Christian counseling is helpful, Jensen said, but it's not the "sole answer." Pastors also need mentoring and peer connection.
"I'm not going to just open up to my congregation about my deepest, darkest problems and secrets and struggles, but I know that there's a bunch of pastors in five square miles of me or 10 square miles of me that do understand what I'm going through," he said. "So we can start to link arms with other pastors in our cities, in our communities -- there's a great support system where I can sit across having coffee with a fellow pastor across town, and I already know that he or she understands what I'm going through, because they're going through it."
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Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
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Originally published May 15, 2025.
