A 2022 study on Protestant pastors found that most of them are concerned about finding young Christian pastors to lead their congregations into the future.

At least 71% of the 585 respondents to the study said they were “concerned about the quality of future Christian leaders,” according to the Christian Post. A further 75% said “it is becoming harder to find mature young Christians who want to be pastors.”

Only 16% of pastors are aged 40 or younger, according to another Barna study, when a slew of pastors were considering leaving their positions. (LEARN MORE: Maui Church Untouched During Deadly Wildfires)

Do Not Give Up. Go Harder.

“There were social factors that sort of pushed me away from the Church for a while. I did the typical pastor’s kid thing and had no interest in church. But then I discovered a denomination that is rooted and grounded in grace,” pastor Ryan Chaddick, 39, said of his work. “It’s not about who we exclude. It’s about welcoming and realizing that God’s table, Christ’s table, is big enough for all of us.”

He later said that he “got burnt out trying to, in Los Angeles, trying to keep the church going in the midst of the pandemic. It was … another reason we’re here in Montana, just the need for bigger spaces, larger, more serene, space.” (LEARN MORE: Actor Dennis Quaid Credits God For Helping Him Through Addiction)

Faith Heals

“So many people think they are a problem to God. So many people see what they’re not and see only where they think that they fall short. We live in cultures that thrive off of shame and blame. And I think it’s behind addictions and behind trauma,” Chaddick continued. “In Christ, you’re enough. That’s already been decided. You carry the image of the divine within you. But we keep trying to earn it, and we keep trying to perfect our way into things.”

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