23% of Pastors in Survey Say Churches Have Ousted Them

A national survey of Protestant clergy has found that almost one in four--22.8%--say they have either been fired or forced to resign their pastorates at some point during their career.

The survey, conducted among a random sample of clergy readers of three evangelical magazines--Christianity Today, Leadership and Your Church--also found that one in four of the dismissed or forced-out pastors said they had had the experience more than once.

The survey’s return rate was 64% and the margin of error was plus or minus 3.8%.

According to the survey, reported in the winter 1996 issue of Leadership, the top reason given by clergy members for their terminations was a conflicting vision for the church between the pastor and congregation.

The survey did not indicate what, if any, percentage of the firings or forced resignations were for clergy wrongdoing.

David L. Goetz, the associate editor of Leadership who conducted the study, said the survey also revealed what he called repeat offender congregations.

According to the survey, 62% of the forced-out pastors said their congregation had driven out at least one previous pastor. And 41% of terminated pastors reported that the congregation that expelled them had forced out pastors more than twice in the past.

“The conclusion seems self-evident: Churches that force out their pastors are likely to do it again,” Goetz wrote.

He said repeat offender churches are often driven by a small faction within the congregation. Forty-three percent of the fired or forced-out pastors indicated that a faction pushed them out, he said, and 71% indicated that the faction numbered 10 members or fewer.

“Perhaps what’s most troubling is the inability or unwillingness of denominations to identify and work with the repeat offender church,” Goetz wrote. In many instances, such as with the Southern Baptist Convention, officials of denominations have little influence over congregations.

“With no real clout, denominational leaders often stand by and watch a percentage of their churches destroy pastor after pastor,” Goetz wrote.