How Protestant Pastors Spend Their Time

Methodology The telephone survey of Protestant pastors was conducted October 13-29, 2008 The calling list was randomly drawn from a list of all Protestant churches. Up to six calls were made to reach a sampled phone number Each interview was conducted with the senior pastor, minister or priest of the church called Responses were weighted to reflect the geographic distribution of Protestant churches

Methodology The completed sample is 1,002 phone interviews The sample provides 95% confidence that the sampling error does not exceed +3.1% Margins of error are higher in sub-groups

Sixty-five percent of Pastors say they work fifty or more hours a week as Pastor of their church Q28. In a typical week, how many hours in total do you work as pastor of your church?

A typical pastor works 50 hours a week as pastor of their church Median Mean In a typical week, how many hours in total do you work as pastor of your church

The number of hours pastors work varies by their role and age Part-time pastors who do not have non-ministerial employment work fewer hours: 75% work less than 40 hours as pastor Bi-vocational pastors who earn income from both church and non-ministerial employment work fewer hours as pastor: 63% work less than 40 hours as pastor Pastors aged sixty-five and older are less likely to work fifty or more hours a week as Pastor of their church: 15% work 50-59 hours a week and another 15% work 60-69 hours a week

Half of Pastors say they spend between five and fourteen hours a week in sermon preparation Pastors aged sixty-five and older are more likely to spend five to nine hours a week in sermon preparation. Thirty percent said they do so. Q29. In a typical week, how many hours do you spend in sermon preparation?

30% of Evangelical Pastors said they spend 20 or more hours a week in sermon preparation while only 20% of Mainline Pastors spend the same number of hours in sermon preparation Q29. In a typical week, how many hours do you spend in sermon preparation?

Fifty-two percent of Pastors said they spend between one and six hours a week in prayer Pastors aged sixty-five and older are more likely to spend thirteen or more hours a week in prayer. Twenty-three percent said they pray thirteen hours a week or more. Q30. In a typical week, how many hours do you spend in prayer?

Almost one-quarter of pastors say they spend more than five hours a week counseling others Pastors aged sixty-five and older are much more likely to spend zero hours a week counseling others. Twenty percent said they spend zero hours a week counseling others. Q31. In a typical week, how many hours do you spend in counseling others?

More than two-thirds of Pastors say they spend one to five hours a week in meetings for church Pastors aged sixty-five and older are more likely to spend one hour or less a week in meetings for church. Twenty-four percent said they spend one hour or less a week in meetings for church. Pastors aged 30-49 are more likely to spend four to five hours a week in meetings than the total. Thirty percent of Pastors in this age group said they do so. Q32. In a typical week, how many hours do you spend in meetings for church?

Almost half of Evangelical Pastors say they spend three or less hours a week in meetings for church while only 38% of Mainline Pastors spend the same Q32. In a typical week, how many hours do you spend in meetings for church?

While half of Pastors said they spend two to six hours a week handling email and other electronic correspondence, 13% said they spend zero hours a week doing so Pastors aged sixty-five and older are much more likely to spend zero hours a week handling email and other electronic correspondence. Forty-one percent said they spend zero hours a week on this task. Q33. In a typical week, how many hours do you spend handling email and other electronic correspondence?

60% of Pastors spend five or less hours a week making hospital, home, or witnessing visits Pastors aged sixty-five and older are less likely than the total to spend four to five hours a week making hospital, home, or witnessing visits. Only seventeen percent said they make visits for four to five hours a week. Pastors between 30 and 49 years of age are less likely to spend six to ten hours a week making visits. Twenty-two percent of Pastors in this age range spend six to ten hours a week in visitation versus twenty-eight percent of the total. Q34. In a typical week, how many hours do you spend in making hospital, home, or witnessing visits?

52% of Pastors said they spend 2 to 5 hours a week in personal devotions not related to preparing to teach Q35. In a typical week, how many hours do you spend in personal devotions not related to preparing to teach?

39% of Evangelical pastors say they spend less than four hours a week in personal devotions not related to preparing to teach compared to 47% of Mainline pastors Q35. In a typical week, how many hours do you spend in personal devotions not related to preparing to teach?

Almost one-third of Pastors say they spend twenty to twenty-nine hours a week with their family Pastors aged sixty-five and older are more likely to spend forty or more hours a week with their family. Twenty-seven percent indicated they spend 40 or more hours a week with their family. Q36. In a typical week, how many hours do you spend with your family?

Thirteen percent of Pastors said they spend fifteen or more hours a week watching TV Q37. In a typical week, how many hours do you spend watching TV?

Weekly Hours Pastors Spend on Each Activity Median Mean Note: Each question was asked independently; some responses could overlap In a typical week, how many hours do you spend …

How Protestant Pastors Spend Their Time