{"id":32704,"date":"2022-09-10T16:19:55","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:19:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/apathy-in-churches-looms-large-for-pastors\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T16:19:55","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:19:55","slug":"apathy-in-churches-looms-large-for-pastors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/apathy-in-churches-looms-large-for-pastors\/","title":{"rendered":"Apathy in Churches Looms Large for Pastors"},"content":{"rendered":"
Danique Tersmette photo – Unsplash <\/p>\n

Three in 4 U.S. Protestant pastors (75%) say apathy or lack of commitment is a people dynamic they find challenging in their churches.<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Aaron Earls<\/em><\/p>\n

Pastors often deal with churchgoers with strong opinions, but they\u2019re much more concerned about the people in their congregations who don\u2019t seem to care much at all.<\/p>\n

In the final release from Lifeway Research\u2019s 2022 Greatest Needs of Pastors study, most pastors say the primary people dynamic challenge they face in their churches is people\u2019s apathy or lack of commitment.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany people can be a member of a church, but not participate in the work of the church,\u201d said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. \u201cPastors see the potential of mobilizing everyone in the church to minister to others in the church and in their community.\u201d<\/p>\n

People dynamic challenges<\/strong><\/h3>\n

For the 2022 Greatest Needs of Pastors study, Lifeway Research interviewed 200 U.S. Protestant pastors who identified 44 issues related to their role and then surveyed 1,000 additional pastors to determine which of these needs was most prominent among pastors. The nearly four dozen needs were divided into seven categories: ministry difficulties, spiritual needs, skill development, self-care, personal life, mental health and people dynamics.<\/p>\n

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Among these categories, 22% of pastors say people dynamics in their congregations are the most challenging or require the most attention today. Skill development (23%) is the only category more pastors identify as their area of greatest need.<\/p>\n

3 in 4 U.S. Protestant pastors find apathy or lack of commitment a challenge in their congregations. Click To Tweet <\/p>\n

Six of the 44 total needs are classified as people dynamics, but pastors say apathy is by far the most pressing issue in this category. Three in 4 U.S. Protestant pastors (75%) say apathy or lack of commitment is a people dynamic they find challenging in their congregations. Among all 44 issues pastors identified, developing leaders and volunteers and fostering connections with unchurched people are the only issues more pastors say they recognize as a need.<\/p>\n

Close to half of pastors say they find it challenging in their ministries to deal with people\u2019s strong opinions about non-essentials (48%), resistance to change in the church (46%) and people\u2019s political views (44%). Around a third point to people\u2019s unrealistic expectations of the pastor (35%) and caring too much about people\u2019s approval or criticism (32%). Fewer than 1 in 10 (8%) say none of these are challenging for them as a pastor.<\/p>\n

\u201cCongregations are filled with many opinions,\u201d said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. \u201cIt is not easy to bring a congregation\u2019s focus to a few things to do together that matter. People’s obsession with non-essentials, politics and a dislike for change all hamper a pastor\u2019s ability to provide leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n

Young pastors, those 18-44, are frequently among the most likely to say they face challenging people dynamics at their church, including people\u2019s strong opinions about non-essentials (60%), people\u2019s political views (55%), resistance to change (52%), people\u2019s unrealistic expectations of the pastor (46%) and caring too much about people\u2019s approval or criticism (45%).<\/p>\n

White pastors are among those most likely to say they deal with strong opinions about non-essentials (50%), challenging political views (47%) and caring too much about people\u2019s approval or criticism (33%).<\/p>\n

Pastors in different denominational families are likely to struggle with different people dynamics in their congregations. Baptist (79%), non-denominational (78%) and Pentecostal pastors (77%) are among the most likely to say they find people\u2019s apathy challenging, while Lutheran (40%) and Methodist pastors (38%) are among the most likely to point to caring too much about people\u2019s approval or criticism as a ministry challenge.<\/p>\n

In facing strong opinions about non-essentials, Lutherans (58%) and Baptists (50%) are among the most likely to say they deal with this. Lutherans (54%), Presbyterian\/Reformed (51%), pastors in the Restorationist movement (51%) and Methodists (48%) are more likely than Baptists (35%) or Pentecostals (34%) to say they find people\u2019s political views to be a challenge in their congregations. Methodists (53%) and Presbyterian\/Reformed (50%) are among the most likely to say they see resistance to change in the church as a challenging people dynamic.<\/p>\n

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See also  Churches Still Recovering From Pandemic Losses<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Most challenging people dynamic<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When asked to narrow down all the people dynamics they identified as an issue, close to half of U.S. Protestant pastors (47%) say people\u2019s apathy or lack of commitment is the one they find most challenging.<\/p>\n

Around 1 in 9 pastors say the most pressing people dynamic for them is people\u2019s political views (13%) or resistance to change in the church (12%). Fewer than 1 in 10 pastors point to people\u2019s strong opinions about non-essentials (8%), caring too much about approval or criticism (6%) or unrealistic expectations of the pastor (6%). Another 9% say none of these are their most challenging people dynamic or they\u2019re not sure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe typical church is not overrun by politics or stuck in the past, but many are,\u201d said McConnell. \u201cA Christ-honoring church keeps its focus on the spiritual mission of bringing people in their community the good news of what Jesus Christ has done for them. When this focus shifts to personal agendas, pastors are burdened to shift it back to the gospel.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the focus of a church shifts to personal agendas, pastors are burdened to shift it back to the gospel. \u2014 @smcconn Click To Tweet <\/p>\n

Evangelical pastors (51%) are more likely than mainline pastors (42%) to say their primary people dynamic challenge is people\u2019s apathy. Similarly, pastors 65 and older (51%) are more likely than pastors 18-44 years old (42%) to say apathy is their greatest issue in this area.<\/p>\n

At least half of Pentecostal (55%), Baptist (52%) and non-denominational pastors (52%) identify apathy as their top people dynamic concern.<\/p>\n

The more the education, the less likely a pastor is to say their greatest people dynamic challenge is people\u2019s lack of commitment: pastors with no college degree (58%), Bachelor\u2019s degree (52%), Master\u2019s degree (43%) and doctoral degree (39%).<\/p>\n

African American pastors (22%) are the most likely to say their primary challenge with people dynamics is resistance to change in the church. Pastors at churches with fewer than 50 in attendance (15%) are more likely than pastors at churches with 250 or more (7%) to say resistance to change is their top concern in this area.<\/p>\n

Pastors of larger churches (11%) are, however, among the most likely to say caring too much about people\u2019s approval or criticism tops their people dynamic issues.<\/p>\n

Pastors in the West (20%) are more likely than those in the Northeast (12%) or South (10%) to say people\u2019s political views create their most challenging people dynamic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese challenging people dynamics all affect the unity within a local church,\u201d said McConnell. \u201cUnity matters greatly to Christ as seen in his prayer for his followers in John 17. Many things can disrupt that unity and one of the most common is not outright disagreement but silently abstaining from what the church is doing together.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information, view the complete report or visit <\/em>LifewayResearch.com\/GreatestNeeds<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Aaron Earls<\/h2>\n

@WardrobeDoor<\/p>\n

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Aaron is a writer for LifewayResearch.com.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n