Warning Signs of Pastor Burnout

About two in five pastors may be at high risk of burnout, according to a recent study. On the heels of Pastor Appreciation Month, let’s acknowledge that we live in a time when 42 percent of pastors say they have seriously considered quitting ministry in the past year. Pastoring is not for the faint of heart!

• Leading renewal efforts at churches only compounds the already challenging reality of pastoring in today’s world. If you are a pastor, you may be on the verge of burnout and not even know it. If you are a lay church renewal leader, your pastor may be silently progressing toward the danger zone.

Reclaiming joy in the call of ministry was the focus of the Christian Reformed Church in North America’s 2025 Pastors’ Gathering in Niagara Falls last week. It featured speaker, clergy coach, author, and burnout expert Sean Nemecek.

• Over the next few weeks, we will highlight Nemecek’s insights on how to spot burnout, understand what causes it, and fight to recover full health. This week, we will start our series on burnout by considering the most common warning signs.

Common Indicators of Pastoral Burnout

1. Physical Indicators

• Burnout shows up in the body in clear ways. Pastors who have burned out often feel exhausted and physically worn down. They might deal with sore muscles, aches, restlessness, and even pain. Even when the mind thinks it is coping sufficiently, the body often shows the real that toll stress has taken.

2. Emotional Indicators

• Burnout causes pastors who used to see the best in everything and everyone to become cynical and bitter. In a critical spirit, they speak about the church as “them” instead of “us.” Anger, grief, shame, guilt, and other strong emotions surface in many. In others, depression numbs their ability to feel anything.

3. Behavioral Indicators

• Pastors who rely on addictive behaviors to escape rather than engage may be burning out. They may choose alcohol, pornography, screens, or mindless activity — anything to numb that pain rather than face it head-on. To others this may look like isolation, withdrawal, or the inability to work.

4. Spiritual Indicators

• Pastors know theology inside and out, but during burnout, they often begin to experience God as distant or totally absent. Their spirituality becomes stale and dry, as the gap grows between what they know about God and the way they experience him. Even spiritual disciplines like prayer, worship, and sabbath can feel mechanical or meaningless.

5. Relational indictors

• Burnout makes it hard to love God, the church, one’s family, and even one’s self. Joy fades, as what once brought delight now feels like a chore. Caring for others, which is central to the calling of pastors, can begin to feel like a burden instead of a privilege.

If you find yourself resonating with a majority of these descriptors, you may be on the path to burning out. You may even have thoughts like, “I don’t know how much longer I can do this.” If that is you, you are not alone! There is hope! In the coming weeks, we’ll drill down deeper to learn about the path to recovery.