Ed Stetzer, president of Lifeway Research and adviser to www.BuildingChurchLeaders.com, released new research on pastors, which will be published soon in our sister publication, Leadership:
Pastors still believe in the church
Almost all pastors–88 percent–strongly agree that “If I had a friend who wanted to make a difference, I would encourage him or her to do so through their church.”
Pastors are investing in developing leaders–but the church may not be doing a good job at this
Among Lifeway’s respondents, 67 percent say they “strongly agree” and 26 “somewhat agree” to “I am intentionally investing in leaders who will emerge over the next 10 years.” However, those percentages drop (to 52 percent and 26 percent) for “The church does a good job fostering and developing new leaders.” Maybe this explains why so many pastors agreed (38 percent strongly, 37 percent somewhat) that “Our church struggles to reach young adults.”
Pastors feel they’re fulfilling their calling
When asked to respond to “I am currently in a season where I am living out my calling and making a difference,” 86 percent “strongly agree.” Lower but still strong percentages (53 percent “strongly agree” and 35 percent “somewhat agree”) respond to “I am satisfied with the way I am currently fulfilling my calling.”
Pastors’ roles and churches are changing
Lifeway asked for response to the intriguing statement: 10 years ago, I would not have expected to be in the ministry I am today. 30 percent “strongly agree” and 9 percent “somewhat agree.” And the future? “I expect to be in a very different role ten years from now” caused an almost even split:
33 percent strongly agree
23 percent somewhat agree
18 percent somewhat disagree
20 percent strongly disagree
And finally, “I expect my current church to look very different ten years from now”: 57 percent strongly agree, 26 percent somewhat agree.
What is next? Lifeway is doing initial research of 7,000 churches; find out more at www.transformationalchurch.com.
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