Kevin Presseault

On March 15, 2023, the Barna Research Group released the "The Resilient Pastor Initiative". Its goal was to explore and share the state of pastors in America in the post-COVID climate we find ourselves in. According to the data, the state of pastors may not be as good as it appears from behind the pulpit. From 2015 to 2022 Barna notes the following where pastors responded "Excellent" in a number of categories: Spiritual well-being dropped from 37% to 14% Physical well-being fell from 24% to 9% Mental and emotional health plummeted from 39% to 11% The overall quality of life dipped from 42% to 18% The level of respect they felt from the community tanked from 22% to 10% Level of ‘true friends’ dropped by 50% from 34% to 17% The data also showed that this drop in wellness was more prevalent in younger pastors! Older pastors are riding it out to retirement. Now, before anyone from my church begins to panic, I'm OK. As shared in a blog post from January 2023 entitled

  It's a vast understatement to say that the past few years have been hard. In February 2020 I lost my step-mom to an ugly battle with cancer. March 2020 saw the beginning of lockdowns and scrambling like crazy to figure out how to still be a church without meeting in person. Then in December, I had to put my dog, Paisley, down due to illness. 2020 sucked! Then 2021 hit. The gaps in leadership development and discipleship in the church began to show. Long-standing members of churches disappeared as they headed off to a church more in line with the pandemic response. Relationships crumbled over politics and theological differences. The realization that we're never going back to "normal" in ministry became a clear reality. I also turned 50 and I realized I needed to change how I take care of myself. 2021 was hard! 2022 started by feeling more hope-filled. While gatherings were regularly back to in-person noticing who is no longer with you hurt. Tiredness has become the