New research from State of the Church

Research focused on trends in church leadership reveals importance of trust, training and succession planning for pastors

BOULDER, Colo. —  As part of the State of the Church initiative, the largest Church-wide initiative for 2025, Gloo and Barna Group have released the latest batch of research focused on trends in leadership, aimed at equipping pastors with valuable insights to be able to better lead and navigate in the future.

The State of the Church initiative is aimed at helping faith leaders get monthly research that helps them see trends in culture and the Church as well as use free assessments and dashboards to understand the sentiments of their own communities. The latest research release explored a range of topics to help church leaders better navigate the current cultural landscape. Themes included:  

• Politics and pastoring 
• How pastors define success 
• Avoiding burnout, plus training needed by future pastors 
• Succession planning and the impending shortage of church leaders
• Perceived trustworthiness in church leadership

“Today’s polarized cultural climate and the ongoing strain of political division place unprecedented pressure on pastors striving to lead effectively in a changing world,” said David Kinnaman, CEO of Barna Group. “These cultural headwinds drive burnout, underscoring the urgent need for tools like State of the Church to help pastors — and especially young leaders — navigate complex issues, maintain credibility, and foster unity to help ensure a thriving Church of the future.”

Highlights from the latest research:

1. Only one in five pastors (20%) say they are equipped to lead on “politics and civic engagement,” with 45% of pastors saying this is the realm they are least equipped to lead.
2. Only 8% of pastors say they view church size as a good measure of success. The vast majority (92%) focus instead on depth of engagement and commitment.
3. Pastors aged 44 and younger are feeling more pressure to perform and more mentally exhausted than those 45 and older.
4. Half of pastors (49%) don’t think their church puts enough priority on developing the next generation of leaders.
5. Of churched adults, 54% gave a score of 9 or 10 (out of 10) for the trustworthiness of their church leadership. 

“As faith leaders navigate the issues of today, from cultural division and politics to succession planning and new paradigms of measuring success, it’s crucial to support them well,” said Brad Hill, chief solutions officer at Gloo. “This latest research from State of the Church highlights important insights to help leaders recognize that they can support whole-life flourishing in their people, without feeling the need to weigh in on each cultural topic of the moment.” 

In December, Barna and Gloo will release new research focused on key trends in how Christians approach relationships and discipleship in their communities. A preview of this release will be made available with the full release only on Barna Access Plus, Barna’s subscription-based research library. Leaders can get early exclusive access to the report and full library through stateofthechurch.com. 

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Gloo is the trusted tech platform that releases the collective might of the faith ecosystem. Gloo connects ministry leaders to resources, people, insights, and funding so their people and communities flourish and their organizations thrive. Gloo does this with the highest standards of trust and scalable economic models. Gloo serves over 75,000 churches and more than 1,000 resource partners.  

Barna Group is a leading research organization focused on the intersection of faith and culture. Since 1984, Barna has conducted more than two million interviews over the course of thousands of studies and has become a go-to source for insights about religion, leadership, vocation and generations. Barna is an independent, privately-held, nonpartisan organization based in Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas.

Contact:
Jennie Bryant
Gloo
5713984664
jennie.bryant@pinkston.co

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RNS or Religion News Foundation.