Info taken from Mark Driscoll's blogspot “Acts29network.org”, posted July 2,2007 .
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At our 2006 Reform and Resurge Conference in Seattle, my good friend Pastor Darrin Patrick from The Journey in Saint Louis spoke frankly of the burden that pastoral ministry is. He presented the following statistics, which he gathered from such organizations as Barna , Maranatha Life   and Focus on the Family .

Pastors

• Fifteen hundred pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout, or contention in their churches.
• Fifty percent of pastors' marriages will end in divorce.
• Eighty percent of pastors and eighty-four percent of their spouses feel unqualified and discouraged in their role as pastors.
• Fifty percent of pastors are so discouraged that they would leave the ministry if they could, but have no other way of making a living.
• Eighty percent of seminary and Bible school graduates who enter the ministry will leave the ministry within the first five years.
• Seventy percent of pastors constantly fight depression.
• Almost forty percent polled said they have had an extra-marital affair since beginning their ministry.
• Seventy percent said the only time they spend studying the Word is when they are preparing their sermons.

Pastors' Wives

• Eighty percent of pastors' spouses feel their spouse is overworked.
• Eighty percent of pastors' spouses wish their spouse would choose another profession.
• The majority of pastors' wives surveyed said that the most destructive event that has occurred in their marriage and family was the day they entered the ministry.

Statistics from Pastors at Greater Risk , H B London , Jr., and Neil B Wiseman, Regal Books, © 2003

The American Church
*Pastors who work fewer than 50 hours a week are 35 percent more likely to be terminated.
*87 percent of Protestant churches have full-time paid pastors.
*50 percent of all congregations in the United States are either plateauing or declining
*The typical pastor has his/her greatest ministry impact at a church in years 5 through 14 of his pastorate; unfortunately, the average pastor lasts only five years at a church.

The Upside – Pastor's Life in the Church
*86 percent of pastors said they'd choose ministry as their career if they had it to do over
*87 percent of pastors say a strong sense of God's call is why they chose ministry as a career
*91 percent of pastors feel very satisfied about being in ministry;
*75 percent say they want to stay in ministry

The Downside – Pastor's Life in the Church
*50 percent feel unable to meet the needs of the job.
*40 percent report a serious conflict with a parishioner at least once a month.
*40 percent of pastors say they have considered leaving their pastorates in the last three months.

Marriage and Family
*33 percent of pastors confess “inappropriate” sexual behavior with someone in the church
*20 percent of pastors admit to having had an affair while in the ministry
*13 percent of pastors have been divorced
*56 percent of pastors' wives say they that they have no close friends
*53 percent of pastors spend time off from pastors' duties to do activities with their families;
*21 percent spend time with hobbies or physical tasks

Longevity/Spiritual Health
*55 percent of pastors indicate that they're a member of a small group that provides support and holds them accountable
*50 percent of pastors say they'd see another pastor if they felt the need for personal counseling;
*70 percent do not have someone they consider a close friend

Preparation
*90 percent feel they're inadequately trained to cope with ministry demands