Home News What's driving pastors to quit early? A new study has identified the specific conditions under which Protestant pastors are more likely to leave ministry. The analysis also found that isolation was closely linked to burnout, with 68% of former pastors reported feeling isolated in their role. Pastors who reported feeling more isolated were 1.7 times less likely to still be in ministry. Additionally, there were age and church size variables for whether a pastor quit early or remained until retirement age.