The Pastor Health Study
Recently, in partnership with Texas Baptists, The Baptist Health Foundation San Antonio, STICH Ministries, San Antonio Baptist Association, Baptist Credit Union, Guidestone, and Grey Matter a “Pastor Health Study” was conducted. The study was conducted online among Texas Baptist Pastors. A total of 560 interviews were completed.
The primary intent of this study was to measure the physical, spiritual, relational, financial, and work health of pastors. This was done in a variety of ways. Pastors were asked about life satisfaction, work hours, diagnosed illnesses, financial stress, exercise habits, and a variety of other factors. Here is a very brief snapshot:
On a scale of 1 to 7, just 43% of pastors reported being highly satisfied with their overall quality of life, although 90% were on the positive side of the scale.
Forty-six percent of pastors do not get at least seven hours of sleep in a typical night. Thirteen percent typically get fewer than six hours.
Twenty-six percent of pastors generally don’t get at least 20 minutes of exercise at any point during a week. The average was 2.5 days per week.
The average pastor was 5’10½” and weighed 214 pounds. Only 14% qualified as having a healthy Body Mass Index (BMI), while 46% were considered obese, including 6% who qualified as extremely obese.
Diagnosed medical problems included high blood pressure (40%), high cholesterol (31%), diabetes (16%), depression/anxiety (12%), heart disease (10%), and stress disorder (2%). Just 38% had been diagnosed with none of these. Ten percent have had a heart attack, stroke, or other cardiac episode.
In the past six months, problems pastors have experienced include a reduced sense of personal accomplishment (39%), physical exhaustion (38%), emotional exhaustion (37%), significant self-doubts (26%), pessimism about their future (23%), and panic.
Forty-two percent of pastors have looked into leaving their current job in the past couple of years. This includes 18% who have actually applied for a job at a different church, 34% who have seriously considered applying for a job at a different church, and 23% who have seriously considered leaving the ministry for a secular job.
The areas pastors felt most in need of additional training or equipping were growing the church (82%), discipleship or disciple-making (76%), evangelism (70%), promoting stewardship or giving (68%), and organizational leadership (67%).