What Causes Pastors to Burn Out?

The work of church renewal can be exhausting! If pastors give without being replenished for long enough, the body will eventually say, “Enough,” and burnout will set in. Last week, we began a series on burnout by looking at the warning signs. Today, we will dive deeper and look at what drives pastors to that breaking point.

• It is one thing to notice when burnout happens; it is another to get to the root of why it happens. When we understand the unique pressures of pastoring and leading church renewal work, we can find sustainable rhythms that go deeper than surface-level solutions.

Below are several factors that commonly contribute to pastoral burnout. Many of these ideas come from the Christian Reformed Church in North America’s 2025 Pastors’ Gathering, which featured speaker, clergy coach, author, and burnout expert Sean Nemecek.

Eight Causes of Pastoral Burnout

1. Output/Input Imbalance

• Ministry is a life of constant giving — delivering sermons, offering counseling, visiting the sick, and leading meetings. Pastors often are so busy caring for others that they forget to tend to their own souls. Without rest and replenishment, even the strongest person will eventually hit a wall. Compassion fatigue sets in, and our hearts becomes numb.

2. Isolation and lack of True Friendship

• Many pastors live surrounded by people yet feel completely alone. The Schaeffer Institute reports that more than 70 percent of pastors do not have a close friend or confidant. When every relationship carries ministry expectations, few friendships leave room for pastors to simply be themselves.

3. Unrealistic expectations

• The pressure to fix every problem and please every person is crushing. The voice of critics who can never be pleased is often the loudest. By contrast, other congregants may put the pastor on a pedestal. Aware of their own weaknesses, many pastors live in fear of being “found out.” Either way, no one can meet these expectations.

4. Unique Job Demands

• Perhaps no other job requires as many competencies as leading a church. Michigan State University’s Richard Deshon identified 65 areas of knowledge, skill, and ability that pastoring requires. A pastor must preach like a theologian, lead like a CEO, counsel like a therapist, mediate like a diplomat, and empathize like a friend. That level of expectation can crush the most competent of people.

5. Reporting structure

• Pastors report to a rotating board of lay people who have varying expectations. Many do not give the pastor authority to accomplish what they are being accountable to do. Further, many congregants treat the pastor as if they are the boss — each with their own unique take on the pastor’s job description.

6. Boundary Issues

• Blurry boundaries put pastors in situations no physician or counselor would face. Some churches expect pastors to effectively be on call 24/7, even while on vacation. No time or space is safe, as ministry spills over into every part of life on every hour of the day.

7. Death and Dying

• We have the high calling of walking with people through some of the most difficult times in their lives. However, this constant exposure to death, dying, mourning, and pain can take a serious toll. In the frenzied pace of ministry, pastors do not take time to process these strong emotions or grieve their own losses properly.

8. Constant Conflict

• In the recent past, people would ask pastors theological questions because they wanted to get answers from an expert. Today, these same questions are often litmus tests to see whether the pastor aligns with a person’s politics. Add this to denominational conflicts, and it’s evident that there is no middle ground in today’s world — no nuance, no gray areas, and often, no charity.

Believe it or not, these bullet points just scratch the surface of all that we named during the conference! As I said last week, pastoring is not for the faint of heart! What can we do to heal? Stay tuned! That’s up next week!