By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Sunday, May 10, 2026

While pastors have registered improvements in their mental health and feel more equipped for ministry than they were a decade ago, a growing share are reporting less satisfaction with their jobs, according to new research from Barna.

In their 2026 State of the Church series, conducted in partnership with leading technology platform Gloo, Barna researchers reported that feelings of inadequacy among pastors about their ability to do ministry hit the lowest level ever recorded.

The share of pastors who feel inadequately prepared to do their job has been steadily falling since 2015. Over the last three years, this sentiment fell 20%, from 64% in 2023 to 44% in 2026.

Fewer pastors are also reporting burnout compared to a decade ago, when it was 75%. Just over 60% of pastors now report that they frequently or sometimes feel emotionally or mentally exhausted.

When it comes to how satisfied they are with their "vocation as a pastor," just over half, 52%, say they're “very satisfied” today, a sharp decline compared with the 72% who said the same in 2015. The share of pastors reporting that they're “somewhat satisfied” with their jobs, however, has increased from 26% to 40% over the same period.  

Less than half of pastors, or 43%, also report being “very satisfied” with "your ministry at your current church" compared with 53% a decade ago. Over the same period, the share of pastors who now say they're “somewhat satisfied” with ministry at their church increased to 45%.

“Pastors are in the most emotionally healthy place they’ve been in a while regarding vocation,” Daniel Copeland, Barna’s vice president of research, said in a statement. “But the satisfaction data suggest they may be settling into a more sustainable — but less deeply fulfilling — experience of the work itself.”

While it doesn’t fully explain the satisfaction gap, previous Barna research on pastors experiencing burnout suggests that pastors could increase their satisfaction on the job if their role and responsibilities become better aligned with their strengths and gifts.

“The confidence rebound and declining feelings of inadequacy are genuinely encouraging,” Copeland said. “But if the job itself isn’t working — and the satisfaction data suggest it may not be — the right response is to listen to pastors, then empower them to show us what ministry could look like.”

Brad Hill, chief partner success officer at Gloo, said in a press release that the finding on pastoral satisfaction was a “wake-up call for leaders.”

“Two things can be true at the same time. Pastors are feeling more fit to lead than at any time in recent memory, yet they seem to be telling us that the role is less of a fit for them,” Hill stated.

“The role of pastoring today and tomorrow will likely look different than in the past. This research is a wake-up call for leaders to examine how we resource, equip, train and support pastors so they can fully live out their calling.”

News Source : https://www.christianpost.com/news/growing-share-of-pastors-dont-find-job-deeply-fulfilling.html