HOW MANY PASTORS ARE WATCHING PORNOGRAPHY? THE HIDDEN NUMBERS BEHIND THE PULPIT

Pornography is frequently framed as a problem affecting youth, marriages, and lay Christians, while its prevalence among clergy receives comparatively little attention. Yet pastors are not exempt from this struggle. Drawing on the most recent major U.S. data from the Barna Group (2024), this article examines pornography use among Protestant senior pastors. The study found that 67% reported having struggled with pornography at some point in their lives, while 18% identified it as a current struggle, rising to 26% among pastors under 45 and 16% among those 45 and older. This article clarifies the distinction between lifetime history and current struggle, arguing that the most defensible interpretation of the evidence is that nearly one in five U.S. Protestant senior pastors currently reports struggling with pornography. It then considers what these figures reveal about secrecy, pastoral formation, ministry health, and implications for the church.