5LQ Episode 485: The Greatest Needs of Pastors Study – Part 3 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 complete a discussion on research all about pastors and the greatest needs of pastors, including the following questions: What is the pastors survey? What are the top concerns from this research when it comes to the personal life of the pastor? What does it mean when a pastor says disciple-making is a big concern? Are these results just a reflection of what everyone in society is experiencing or are these unique to pastors? Are there any significant statistical differences that you might point out? What is one encouragement that you can pull from the research for pastors? BEST QUOTES “Several things that land at the top of the list for a pastor’s needs are stress, their own disciple-making, consistently exercising, avoiding over-commitment and overwork, and time management.” “Seven out of ten pastors need to invest time in their consistency when it comes to personal prayer.” “Almost seven out of ten pastors say they need to be more consistent in their Bible reading that is not related to sermon prep.” “The relationship with God is so vital for leaders and pastors. You have to be living it out yourself to ask people to do the same.” “It can be so easy as a pastor with all the demands on you to take the personal things and say, ‘I’ll get to that later.’ But really you have to be intentional and proactive when it comes to self-care and boundaries.” “The best way to slowly build yourself back up is to have someone walking along with you.” “Younger pastors are more likely to indicate that they need to work on building relationships with other pastors.” “Fifty-one percent of older pastors say the consistency of taking a sabbath is something they need to work on.” RECOMMENDED RESOURCES The Greatest Needs of Pastors Research Study 5LQ Episode 483: Pastoral Research #1 with Scott McConnell 5LQ Episode 484: Pastoral Research #2 with Scott McConnell Lifeway Research