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5 Truths Your Pastor Wishes You Knew

5 Truths Your Pastor Wishes You Knew

Last updated on: October 10, 2024 at 5:00 am by Shaunti Feldhahn

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5 Truths Your Pastor Wishes You Knew 2024-10-09T14:52:36-04:00 Shaunti Feldhahn

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

In honor of Pastor Appreciation Sunday this weekend, I’d like to give a shout out to the creative, hard-working, servant-hearted pastors out there. Jeff and I speak in churches all over the country, and have met more of you than we could ever count.

Of course, we all can—and should—celebrate our pastors more than one day a year, and I want to shed light on practical ways we can do just that. Because the sobering truth is that a sense of being overwhelmed, discouraged and lonely are real aspects of ministry—and have gotten worse in recent years. (Think: COVID shutdowns, mask debates, politics, cancel culture …)

According to 2023 data from the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, more than half (53%) of pastors have seriously considered leaving pastoral ministry at least once since 2020.

Jeff and I were conducting research at a recent retreat for about 1,700 senior pastors and their spouses, and multiple attendees provided confidential thoughts for this blog. So here are 5 things your pastor wishes you knew—paired with doable steps you can take to tend to your pastor’s heart all year long.

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