National unemployment hovers around 10 percent. There are a lot of hurting individuals and households in the country as a result, but few have reported on the impact on clergy. The Wall Street Journal has released an article on the sharp rise in unemployment among pastors and the very hard realities of being an out-of-work church leader.

Here are some sobering stats:

Unemployed pastors in 2005: 2,000

Unemployed pastors in 2007: 3,000

Unemployed pastors in 2009: 5,000

30 percent of church attendees report reducing their giving since November 2009.

What makes matters more challenging for unemployed pastors is that because churches are not required to pay unemployment taxes, laid-off church workers can't collect benefits offered to other workers. In addition, the church sector may be one of the last to begin hiring again as staffing decisions are directly linked to giving, and giving is linked to the unemployment rates within the congregation. In other words, the people in the pews need jobs before ...