Religious groups across the country are witnessing its clergy members step down from the pulpit without a replacement ready to take their spot in vast numbers.
Among various religious groups, congregations are doing what they can to operate without an official lead clergy member. Roughly 3,544 Catholic parishes in the U.S. lack a parish priest, and in some dioceses, as many as six parishes share one priest.
In the Reformed Jewish denomination, between 5 and 10 percent more congregations are searching for a rabbi than in a normal year.
A few Lutheran churches in America have begun to search for pastors in other denominations because there’s such a large shortage.
Those are just a few examples of religious groups seeking clergy members, and struggling to find someone. Though there isn’t an official national registry for clergy in America, an October study from the Barna Group found that 38 percent of pastors were at least considering leaving full-time ministry. The concern is even higher among Millennial pastors, roughly 50 percent of whom were considering quitting.
Among the reasons for leaving, clergy members claim that the job, which has always been demanding, grew to be unbearable during the pandemic. Relationships were frayed due to deepening political divisions within the Church and fights over social distancing protocols, which led to pastors struggling to keep themselves and their churches above water.