Steve Akins is my friend & Pastor. I was just reading some BARNA facts regarding Pastors in general and felt the need to give him a public shout-out. I appreciate you man!

....especially looking at these stats:

• 94 percent feel pressured to have an ideal family.
  
• 90 percent work more than forty-six hours a week.
  
• 81 percent say they have insufficient time with their spouses.
• 80 percent believe that pastoral ministry affects their family negatively.
  
• 70 percent do not have someone they consider a close friend.
• 70 percent have lower self-esteem than when they entered the ministry.
  
• 50 percent feel unable to meet the demands of the job.
• 80 percent are discouraged or deal with depression.
  
• More than 40 percent report that they are suffering from burnout, frantic schedules, and unrealistic expectations.
• 33 percent consider pastoral ministry an outright hazard to the family.
  
• 33 percent have seriously considered leaving their position in the past year.
  
• 40 percent of pastoral resignations are due to burnout.

Appreciate your Pastors folks...sounds like a tough gig.

jamie

This post edited to add this from Frank Viola:

The demands of the pastorate are crushing; they will drain any mortal dry. Imagine for a moment that you were working for a company that paid you on the basis of how good you made your people feel. What if your pay depended on how entertaining you were, how friendly you were, how popular your wife and children were, how well-dressed you were, and how perfect your behavior was?

Can you imagine the unmitigated stress this would cause you?

¶ 6/21/2009