Anyone still think pastors only work one day per week? According to a new study by LifeWay Research, full-time senior pastors tend to work 55 hours or more per week, and 42% work 60 or more hours. When including bi-vocational pastors, part-time senior pastors and volunteer pastors, 35% work at least 60 hours a week, and 30% work 50-59 hours. Half spend as much as 14 hours a week preparing sermons, while 9% spend 25 hours or more, with just 7% spending less than five hours per week on their sermons. 30% of evangelical pastors spend 20 or more hours a week in sermon preparation vs. 20% of mainline pastors. Other time-consuming activities include meetings, handling e-mail or e-correspondence, counseling others, or in hospital, home or witnessing visits. More than 70% of pastors spend up to 5 hours a week in meetings with 15% doing so 10 hours or more a week. 30% spend 20-29 hours a week with their families, and 16% report spending 40 or more hours with them. 52% spend 1-6 hours in prayer each week, and the same percentage spend 2-5 hours in personal devotions unrelated to sermon prep. 14% spend an hour or less in personal devotions. 24% watch TV 10-14 hours each week.
