Date

8-20-2026

Department

Rawlings School of Divinity

Degree

Doctor of Education in Christian Leadership (EdD)

Chair

Joe Easterling

Keywords

Pastor, Stress, Burnout, Capacity, Priest, Elder, Deacon

Disciplines

Religion

Abstract

Throughout history, congregations have connected with and sought guidance from spiritual leaders. Spiritual leaders develop methods and teachings to aid congregants; however, these leaders often don’t receive the care they give others. Are they not also part of the congregation? It is often assumed that a leader has it all together, but this is not always true. There are many instances of pastors leaving their calling prematurely, although the reason is not always defined. General reasons are often expressed to ease the contention between members or prevent hurting their feelings. Regardless, the result is the same, and there is an increasing rate at which pastors prematurely depart. There are suggestions that the leading cause of a pastor’s early resignation falls to a general aspect of stress. This study will investigate the legitimacy of this understanding and find the underlying stress triggers that lead pastors to resign before retirement. The purpose of this qualitatively dominant mixed-methods design is to explore time utilized and time needed in pastoral ministry as it relates to the contribution of stress for pastors serving in churches with 25 to 250 members. This research defines ministerial stressors in pastoral resignations as added pastoral responsibilities that escalate into chronic, harmful stress. The theory guiding this study was that the expected outcome and the actual outcomes of ministry can create disparities if not accompanied by a support team (Spencer et al., 2012).

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