Political divisions in church can drive pastors to burnout, poll shows

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A new study by conservative Christian polling group Bana reveals that many pastors are so stressed out by political divisions and excessive identification with political parties in their congregations that they have considered leaving the ministry over it, the Christian Post (CP) reports.

Conducting its survey in September this year, the Barna Research Group found that 56 percent of pastors cited “the immense stress of the job” as a principal cause of burnout, ” CP reports. Of those pastors who cited stress as a main cause of burnout, 38 percent said, “current political divisions” were a factor in driving them to consider leaving the ministry, CP reports.

Among those pastors who cited stress as a cause of burnout, 66 percent of mainline Protestant pastors and 53 percent of non-mainline pastors believe “Christians are more loyal to their political views than their faith,” CP said.

Forty-seven percent of mainline Protestant pastors said, “Christians’ political partisanship reflects poorly on the church,” compared to 42 percent of non-mainline pastors, CP reports.

Moreover, 39 percent of mainline pastors said the church was “too aligned with Christian nationalism,” compared to 26 percent of non-mainline pastors.

A further 29 percent of mainline pastors and 19 percent of non-mainline pastors said the church is “too aligned with political conservatism.” Only 8 percent of mainline and 4 percent of non-mainline pastors (4%) said “the church is too aligned with political liberalism,” CP reports.

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