Though Sundays tend to be long days for pastors, Wednesday is typically their longest day. Throughout the week, pastors spend four evenings in ministry activities and take four phone calls at home after 6 p.m. Our follow-up study showed that pastors had a faulty memory of how much time they spent in various activities. They underestimated by 10 hours how much time they spend on managerial tasks, such as leading meetings and worship services as well as administrative and budgeting duties. The original survey indicated that pastors spent 14 hours a week on those activities, but the follow-up study showed that they actually spent 24 hours each week on those tasks. American Demographics columnist Cheryl Russell reported in 1995 that full-time employees in the United States worked an average of 163 hours more in 1987 than in 1969.
Pastors are no exception.
Forty percent of the pastors in our study said they are working more hours each week than they were five years ago. About 40 percent said they're working the same amount. And only 15 percent are working fewer hours than in 1992. Working more hours appears to be one way to increase job security. Pastors who work 50 hours or less each week are 35 percent more likely to be terminated.