An increasing percentage of American pastors are expressing an intent to retire or quit. The shocking increase in church leaders’ desire to leave their congregations is linked to the increasing political polarization across America, according to a study conducted by Barna, a research group that offers insight into faith and culture. In March of 2022, 42 percent of pastors considered resigning their full-time position, a 13 percentage-point increase from last year’s 29 percent. Of pastors who have considered quitting, 38 percent say current political divisions motivate their considerations, and 32 percent of pastors say that current political divisions are making it difficult to perform their job.
A 2020 study by Lifeway Research titled “Pastors’ Views on How COVID-19 is Affecting Their Church,” reaffirmed the Barna Study’s findings regarding the impact of political polarization on pastor resignations. The study shows that the top pressure point for Protestant pastors is maintaining unity, which Protestant pastors say is an effect of the rise in partisanship. One of the pastors in the study maintained that “different political opinions on both sides elevated to the point of doctrine.”
Rising political divisions and pastor resignations were the focus of a Capitol Hill Faith and Law lecture titled “The Church and Polarized America” on June 3. Andrew Hanauer, CEO and president of One America Movement, spoke extensively about the effects that America’s political divisions are having on churches. The One America Movement aims to aid church leaders and stop the effect of political divisions in congregations. Hanauer emphasized that the issue is not about simple disagreements on theology or policy topics, but that the current political partisanship, which he calls “toxic polarization,” is forcing Americans to surrender core principles in an identity battle.
“There’s nothing toxic about disagreeing: there’s nothing toxic about having strong convictions and standing by them,” Hanauer said, “but what is toxic is when our divisions stop being about what we believe about on issues and start being a identity battle that is winner-take-all – and that leads us to believe that they must be stopped at all costs, including the cost of sacrificing our own values.”
In an interview with Cogitare Magazine, Hanauer said that the rise of toxic polarization is now a universal problem across all Christian denominations, from Southern Baptist to Methodist: “while it might manifest differently in different types of churches, the feedback we get from the pastors and communities that we work with is that this is a pretty universal struggle right now.” Though unsure of the dynamics of Catholic and Orthodox churches, Hanauer that they likely face problems as well.
Congregations have been slow to react to the crisis of pastor resignations. In response to this, Hanauer established One America Movement, whose mission is to help pastors by providing resources and establishing a network between church leaders to help address the internal divisions caused by political polarization. Hanauer said, “That’s one reason our organization is trying to bring a spotlight to the problem so that we can collectively better support our spiritual leaders.” According to Hanauer, one of the problems is that pastors truly care for their congregations and wishing to leave without furthering tensions, pastors make efforts to avoid addressing congregational divisions, making congregations unaware of how political divisions are becoming a major contributor to the upsurge of pastor resignations.
Some congregations have taken up the initiative to help pastors overcome the divisions within their communities. “We hear anecdotally,” said Hanauer, “that there’s starting to be an increased focus on the well-being of pastors in seminaries and other institutional church settings.”
“We’ve come to expect that Washington will be divided and dysfunctional, but we’re allowing those divisions to infect our church body and that’s something all of us can do something about,” he said. “And our pastors will benefit from us stepping up to meet that challenge.”
Unlike Hanauer, other Christian leaders have taken to embracing political extremes as a new means of expanding their church congregations and egos. Floodgate Church, located in Brighton Michigan, saw its church attendance increase from 100 per week to over 2,000 churchgoers, as a result of its pastor, Bill Bolin, whose challenge of the Covid restrictions during the Covid pandemic attracted more right-wing christians Bolin’s church.
Some church leaders have acquired significant political clout as a result of rising political partisanship. Bill Bolin has remarked that “pastors used to be the primary influencers in their communities in determining who we elected.” Robert Jeffress, senior pastor at First Baptist Dallas, has used his growing prominence amongst conservative Christians to help support and promote former President Trump’s actions, even meeting the former president himself.
Michael J. Mooney, author and Texas Monthly contributor, commented on this phneomenon, which he termed “one of the most fascinating symbiotic relationships in modern politics” – a pastor gets a national platform in exchange for a political leader getting evangelical support.
Although “symbiotic” relationships like this stretch across the country – and despite the gloomy fear that many Christians share regarding politics – Hanauer is optimistic that this dark period will eventually be overcome: “This trend is not a cause for despair, it’s a challenge for us to rise up and meet. I’m confident we can meet that challenge.”
