There have been numerous articles written in recent years about a coming “shortage” of pastors.

“We’ve heard about it for a while: we’re facing a shortage of pastors.” (Darryl Dash, “The Coming Pastoral Shortage”)

“A demographic and ministry shift is underway. Thousands of pastors are approaching retirement age, and few younger leaders are ready to take their place. The wave is coming, and every church will soon feel its impact.” (Sam Rainer, “The Coming Massive Wave of Retiring Pastors and Church Staff”)

“There is a shortage of candidates for ordained pastoral ministry, including pastors, missionaries, and church planters.” (David Veldkamp, “The Laborers are Few: Addressing a Shortage of Pastors and Missionaries”)

Most recently, I read about this trend in the August / September 2025 volume of The Banner of Truth. Donald John Maclean wrote an article titled “Why So Few Candidates for Gospel Ministry?” In that article, Maclean identified seven factors that have contributed to the present shortage of pastoral candidates.

1. We have not prayed that God would raise up workers.
2. We have not taught the nobility and necessity of gospel ministry.
3. We have not sought unity, and we have too many churches.
4. We have not treated pastors well.
5. We have not paid pastors well.
6. We have not extended an external call to young men.
7. We have not had good examples in the many moral failures of pastors.

In all the posts I’ve read (and written) about the shortage of pastoral candidates, Maclean’s third reason is one that few have the courage to articulate. It just doesn’t sound right to suggest that we have too many churches. Especially in my denominational world (Southern Baptists) and my network world (Pillar Network), it’s borderline blasphemous to suggest that we have too many churches when so many people aren’t in church. We Baptists are supposed to work together to plant and revitalize churches – not close churches down!

To be clear, I am for both church planting and church revitalization. I recognize the fact that we need more good, solid, faithful churches led by good, solid, faithful men if we want to reach those who have not trusted in Christ for salvation.

And yet, Maclean’s third reason resonates with me deeply. While it’s not what you’re supposed to say in missional and evangelical circles, I do in fact think we have too many churches. To be fair, I also think we have an urgent shortage of healthy churches. It goes without saying that not every church is a healthy church, and when you broaden the lens from healthy churches to the bigger category of churches, I think we have too many of the latter.

I think about my time pastoring in rural Kentucky. For four years I pastored North Benson Baptist Church, a church that recently celebrated its 200th anniversary! North Benson is located on the north west side of Frankfort. In that area alone – the northwest side of Frankfort – there are a half-dozen Baptist churches. On a typical Sunday, the combined congregations of these churches could likely fit into a single building. Most of these churches were planted pre-automobile, and their location was necessitated by the distance folks could reasonably travel by foot or horse. Today, most folks drive an automobile to church. While I pastored North Benson, I used to think, “What if these half-dozen churches combined into a single church with only one building to maintain? The result would be more resources for ministry and missions!” Of course, this multi-church-merger never happened, and likely it never will. But it’s one example of an area likely having too many churches.

Currently I pastor in Odessa, Texas – a blue-collar, oil-field community that has a boom-and-bust history. Our town has several thriving congregations, but it is also littered with church buildings that mostly sit empty on a typical Sunday morning. At one time these churches were full, but that time has passed. In one particular neighborhood there are three struggling Baptist churches. The combined congregations could easily fit into a single building – with room to grow. Instead, three small congregations are desperately trying to maintain three over-sized buildings. In a time with few qualified pastoral candidates, would it not make sense for these churches to combine their resources and merge? Because of Baptist polity and human nature, it would take a miracle for such a merger to come about. Still, I think Maclean is on to something when he says we may have too many churches.

In arguing that we have too many churches I certainly don’t mean to suggest that a wholesale closure of churches would “fix” the shortage of pastoral candidates – it won’t. Nor do I think the pastoral shortage is a simple problem – on the contrary, it’s remarkably complex. Nor do I mean to say that we have all the healthy churches we need – we don’t, and we desperately need more.

I simply appreciate the honesty of Maclean’s suggestion. Even entertaining the question leads me to think about a related question (for another post) – what is the ideal church size? Are some churches too small? Are some churches too big?