On the heels of a contentious presidential election, it’s difficult to discuss trends in church leadership without acknowledging the national context—and the significant pressure it adds to ministry.

For the most part, the general public does not want clergy to weigh in on political and social issues. One-quarter of respondents ages 13+ (25%) say they would be uninterested in learning about this topic from a pastor or priest, making this the top issue they don’t want church leaders to cover. Interestingly, this holds true across people who self-identify as Christian and those who don’t, or even across practicing Christians and people of no faith; among all of these groups, about one in four says they would be uninterested in hearing clergy speak on social and political issues. And even for practicing Christians, a more devoted cohort, this is the main topic area where they would not welcome pastors and priests to chime in.

Even if it’s not coming up in their teachings, politics looms large over pastors’ work. One in three pastors (33%) name “political division” as something that has negatively impacted pastors’ credibility. Further, in 2022—when pastor burnout was alarmingly high—Barna found that “current political divisions” was the third most-cited reason why pastors said they were considering quitting (38%), following factors like the stress of the job (56%) or a sense of loneliness (43%).

Still, pastors may feel they have to tackle divisive topics. In Barna’s Faith Leadership in a Divided Culture study, leaders expressed frequently or occasionally feeling pressured by those inside their churches to speak out on moral and social issues, no matter how uncomfortable it may be.

Today, only one in five pastors (20%) say they are equipped to lead on “politics and civic engagement.” In fact, 45 percent of pastors say this is the realm they are least equipped to lead in. In summary, pastors are dealing with the fallout of political polarization and pressure to be a guiding voice on tough topics—all while feeling ill-equipped for the task.

These sentiments are undoubtedly not new, though they may feel pronounced in the present political environment. It’s clear that, like it or not, national politics are a factor in a ministry vocation—which is something pastors (and those who educate, support or mentor them) could be better prepared to navigate.

“The Church has often responded [to politics] by saying ‘let’s give a really good sermon that describes the answers to these problems,’” Kaitlyn Schiess (writer, speaker and theologian) said in an interview on Barna’s Resilient Pastor podcast. “We have resources to think about our services, to think about our spiritual disciplines, to think about our life together as a community in a way that can address the malformation that our political society creates in us—and the sermon is a part of that, but we have often acted as if that is our main resource.”

This data comes from Barna and Gloo’s ongoing State of the Church initiative. More Trends and stories related to current trends in leadership can be found exclusively on Barna Access Plus.