BRENTWOOD, Tenn. — Pastors don’t believe their family and job often compete for their attention. If they ever do, however, pastors say they choose home life over church life.

A recent Lifeway Research study examining the rate at which evangelical and Black Protestant pastors leave the ministry also asked pastors about the relationship between their family and their church.

Sponsored by Houston’s First Baptist Church and Richard Dockins, an occupational medicine physician concerned about pastoral attrition, the study found 90% of pastors are married. Far fewer are single and never married (3%), divorced or separated (3%) or widowed (3%). 

Among married pastors, 9 in 10 (89%) say their spouse is enthusiastic about their life in ministry together.

“Overall, pastors are very positive about their family life and report that their spouse is as well,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “They are not describing a utopia — in fact, almost half give a rating lower than strongly agree when saying their spouse is enthusiastic about their life in ministry together — but pastors are saying that in most cases, both they and their spouse are fully committed to this work despite its difficulty.”

Family time

For evangelical and Black Protestant pastors, 4 in 5 (80%) consistently put their family first when they have time conflicts, while 18% disagree and 2% aren’t sure. Pastors younger than 45 are the most likely to agree (91%), while those 65 and older are the least likely (72%).

Among married pastors, 96% believe their spouse is very satisfied with their marriage today. Few disagree (3%) or aren’t sure (1%).

Those beliefs of satisfaction may stem from pastors saying they’re prioritizing time and attention for their spouse and family. More than 4 in 5 (82%) say in the past year they prayed regularly with their spouse for each other. A similar percentage (80%) took a vacation with their family for at least a week away from church in the past year.

Many pastors are also seeking to invest in their marriage. Two in 3 (66%) planned a date night alone with their spouse at least once a month during the last year. More than 1 in 5 (22%) attended a marriage retreat or conference with their spouse. Some (7%) attended marriage counseling with their spouse.

“A previous Lifeway Research study showed more than 2 in 5 pastors said they need to give attention to the balance between work and home,” said McConnell. “It takes a lot of work to excel at home and work simultaneously. Most pastors indicate they are putting that time and effort into their families, but every day brings choices that either help or hurt that goal.”

A 2017 Lifeway Research study of U.S. Protestant pastors’ spouses found they often agree about the health of their marriage. Four in 5 (80%) say they are extremely or very satisfied with their marriage. Seven in 10 (71%) spend quality time alone with their spouse, like a date night, at least once a month.

However, finding the time to invest in their families and marriages may be more difficult for small church pastors. Those leading congregations of fewer than 50 people are the least likely to have taken a vacation with their family (69%) and among the least likely to have planned a monthly date night with their spouse (60%) in the past year.

Church care and concerns

While only a third of evangelical and Black Protestant pastors (32%) say their congregation has an encouragement group that invests in the well-being of the pastor’s family, pastors feel encouraged by their churches. Almost 9 in 10 (89%) say their families regularly receive genuine encouragement from their churches.

African American pastors (46%) and those at congregations with 250 or more in attendance (45%) are the most likely to have a church group dedicated to family encouragement.

That doesn’t mean pastors aren’t dealing with some issues related to family and ministry. Almost half (46%) say they are often concerned about their families’ financial security. While 54% disagree, only 31% strongly disagree, which means around 7 in 10 pastors have some worries about their families’ finances.

Younger and middle-aged pastors may have more financial worries. Those aged 18 to 44 (48%) and 45 to 54 (53%) are more likely than those 65 and older (41%) to say they’re concerned about their families’ financial security.

Around 3 in 4 pastors (74%) report sharing their struggles with their spouses at least once a month, but this is down from 90% in 2015. Additionally, 3 in 10 pastors (31%) say the demands of ministry keep them from spending time with their families. This may be why 16% of pastors feel their families resent the demands of pastoral ministry.

According to the 2017 Lifeway Research study of pastors’ spouses, few share resentments toward the ministry, but they are more likely than their spouses to experience ministry and familial conflicts. Protestant pastors’ spouses are around twice as likely to say they often resent the demands of ministry on their families as evangelical and Black Protestant pastors are to say their families resent those demands (35% v. 16%).

Additionally, spouses are around twice as likely to say congregational demands interfere with their families’ free time together during the week as pastors are to say the demands of ministry keep them from spending time with their families (59% v. 31%).

“Few pastors leave the ministry each year, but among those who leave before retirement age, 12% are related to family issues,” said McConnell. “Pastors were not meant to lead alone. They need their families and congregations to be encouraging and lifting them up as they seek to invest in their homes and churches.”

For more information, view the complete report and visit LifewayResearch.com.

Methodology

The study was sponsored by Houston’s First Baptist Church and Richard Dockins, MD. The mixed-mode survey of 1,516 evangelical and Black Protestant pastors was conducted on April 1 — May 8, 2025, using both phone and online interviews. Phone: The calling list was a random sample, stratified by church membership, drawn from a list of all churches in all evangelical and Black Protestant religious traditions except Southern Baptists. Online: The email list was a random sample drawn from all Southern Baptist congregations with an email address. Invitations were emailed to the pastor by Lifeway Research, followed by two reminders. Each survey was completed by the senior pastor, minister or priest at the church contacted.

The completed sample is 1,516 surveys (1,010 phone, 506 online). Responses were weighted by region, church size, and denominational group to reflect the population more accurately. The sample provides 95% confidence that the sampling error does not exceed plus or minus 2.7%. This margin of error accounts for the effect of weighting. Margins of error are higher in sub-groups. Comparisons are made to two previous surveys conducted by Lifeway Research:

• A study using the same methodology of 1,576 evangelical and Black Protestant pastors conducted on Aug. 17 — Sept. 15, 2021, sponsored by Houston’s First Baptist Church and Richard Dockins, MD
• A phone survey of 1,500 evangelical and Black Protestant pastors conducted on March 5-18, 2015, sponsored by the North American Mission Board and Richard Dockins, MD