It Only Hurts on Monday: Why Pastors Quit and What You Can Do about It

It Only Hurts on Monday: Why Pastors Quit and What You Can Do about It by Robert L. Edmondson. paperback edition. ISBN: 9781889638027.

Pastors are quitting! Some leave for what they hope will be greener pastures in another church. Some drop out of ministry altogether. Why? The pressures of ministry are such that many pastors spend their days off simply trying to recover. When a fellow pastor was asked how thing were going in his ministry, his wry answer was It only hurts on Monday. Evidence suggests pastors are moving or dropping out at an increasing rate. The Barna Research Group found that the average pastorate twenty years ago was about seven years in length but had dropped by 1993 to about four years. The authors have researched over 60 ex-pastors and their churches to discover some of the causes of this crisis in pastoral leadership. Topics include: burnout, professional isolation, inadequate education, unrealistic expectations, resistance to change, poor pastoral accountability, tight finances, personal loneliness, and spiritual warfare. Each chapter concludes with helpful and practical suggestions on what you can do to help your pastor have a longer and more fruitful ministry in your church.