5LQ Episode 483: The Greatest Needs of Pastors Study – Part 1 with Scott McConnell

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Chandler Vannoy and Todd Adkins are joined by Scott McConnell. McConnell is the Executive Director of LifeWay Research. They discuss a new set of research all about pastors and the greatest needs of pastors, including the following questions: How was this research conducted? What are the biggest concerns that pastors have today? Have you seen needs change from pre-Covid to post-Covid? What surprised you about the research? Was their one area you wish you could have gone deeper in the study? BEST QUOTES “More than three-fourths of pastors indicated that developing leaders and volunteers, peoples apathy and lack of commitment, and fostering connections with unchurched people are things they are trying to address right now.” “Worship attendance is still running, on average. about 75% of what it was pre-Covid.” “We’ve got to move in our thinking from looking at the numbers, to making sure you are looking at the names. Who exactly is not back? We need to connect with them personally.” “Those who study jobs will talk about the fact that the pastor role has not only a large number of things that you need to be skilled at, but you need to be able to switch between them very quickly.” “There’s not one silver bullet we can do to suddenly meet the needs of pastors this year, because when it comes to ‘What’s your one biggest need?’ they are really spread out.” RECOMMENDED RESOURCES The Greatest Needs of Pastors Research Study