Lovett H. Weems Jr. highlights the stabilizing numbers of young clergy in the Lewis Center’s annual Clergy Age Trends Report after dramatic declines last year due to disaffiliations. Age trends are shown in the report for elders, deacons, and licensed local pastors in all annual conferences.
After declines in all age groups of United Methodist clergy in 2024, the numbers reported in the 2025 edition of Clergy Age Trends in The United Methodist Church are more stable. Working in partnership with Wespath, the denominational pension agency, the Lewis Center provides yearly age statistics on United Methodist clergy in the United States.
While there were clergy losses in all age groups caused by disaffiliation in each of the years between 2020 and 2024 (along with other factors always affecting losses such as deaths and retirements), the largest declines among elders, deacons, and local pastors came in 2024. If we look only at declines since 2019, we can make these observations:
- Clergy losses were greatest among local pastors, especially among those under-35.
- The next largest losses came from elders, especially among those under-35.
- Fewer losses came among deacons with their greatest losses among the under-35.
- Among the age cohorts, the least decline came among clergy ages 35 to 54. In fact, deacons showed an increase among this age cohort.
However, when the clergy losses since 2019 are compared to the trends between 2010 and 2019, a slightly different picture appears. In those years leading up to 2019, the number of active elders had averaged a 3 percent decline annually. On the other hand, deacons and local pastors had increased their numbers each year modestly but consistently. Given these patterns going into disaffiliation, some of the elder losses may have happened anyway given factors at play prior to 2019; whereas the disaffiliation and conflict associated with it may have hampered the momentum of increasing numbers of deacons and local pastors prior to disaffiliation.
An important caveat must be noted regarding the higher losses since 2019 among young clergy–elders as well as deacons and local pastors: we do not know to what extent these losses came from the under-35 persons leaving the United Methodist Church or a decline in new young clergy entering as other young clergy are aging out of the under-35 cohort. A combination of the two factors is likely. It would be surprising if the sustained conflict, especially between 2019 and 2023, did not negatively influence younger people from entering such ministry.
The decline in the number of young elders in 2025 was the smallest in five years. The gender composition of young elders remained the same: 57 percent men; 43 percent women. Young elders continue to constitute about 5 percent of active elders.
The North Carolina Conference had the highest percentage of young elders at 10.6 percent. The largest total number of young elders (30) is in the recently formed Horizon Texas Conference that covers the area previously served by the North Texas, Central Texas, and Northwest Texas Conferences. Lists of the top conferences with young elders are found in the report, along with age breakdowns for all conferences.
Beginning in 2000, we saw a trend of fewer elders in the middle age (35-54) group and more elders in the older (55-72) group. Despite a mandatory retirement age of 72, with most retiring before that age, the pool of older elders continued to grow for twenty years. For five years now, the trend has reversed – with a growing proportion of active elders aged 35-54 each year, reaching 46 percent in 2025, and lower proportions of older clergy more consistent with previous historical patterns.
The number and percentage of young deacons remained virtually unchanged in 2025. The number of under-35 deacons decreased by 1 in 2025 to 59. The percentage of young deacons among all active deacons increased from 7.2 percent last year to 7.4 percent in 2025. The percentage of young deacons remains above that of elders and local pastors.
The number of under-35 local pastors declined by 52 in the past year to 242 in 2025. The percentage of young local pastors among all active local pastors declined from 6.6 percent last year to 5.8 percent in 2025.
Download the 2025 Clergy Age Trends Report.
Related Resources
- Declines in Young Clergy Reflect a Changed Culture by Lovett H. Weems Jr.
- Clergy Age Trends in the United Methodist Church 2025
- Is There an Ideal Age for Clergy? by Lovett H. Weems Jr.
- Does an Aging Population Explain High Clergy Ages? by Lovett H. Weems Jr.
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