What is happening with bivocational ministry?

 A friend recently asked if I had any new thoughts on the direction of bivocational ministry. I'm not sure that I do, but I do believe that the thoughts I've proposed in the past are even more valid today. The need for bivocational ministers is growing across denominations, and many denominations remain unaware of this need or have no idea what to do in light of the need.

In 2008 I took a sabbatical and questioned a number of denominational leaders about what was happening with bivocational ministry in their denomination. One leader confessed that the need was growing, and they didn't know what to do about it. I fear that has not changed. Nor has it changed in the seminaries. Few offer programs specifically designed for bivocational ministers. They continue to crank out graduates prepared to manage mid-size churches ignoring the fact that the median size church in the US has 75 in attendance. Many of these churches are struggling to find pastoral leadership, and few will be able to afford a fully-funded pastor in today's economic climate.

It appears that Lyle Schaller's prediction in his book, Innovations in Ministry, that by 2018 churches averaging under 120 in worship would be served by bivocational ministers or teams was correct.

One of the things that troubles me is that God is not surprised by this situation. I am convinced that He has called people to fill the role of being a bivocational minister in these churches. Why are more people not answering that call? One reason might be that no one is challenging them to consider such a call.

As a new Christian, I had only been a member of a church for a couple of years when our pastor asked me if I had ever felt God was calling me into the ministry. The fact was that I had felt that calling even as a young boy but had never pursued it. The fact that someone challenged me made me rethink that calling. I would suspect that most ministers reading this would affirm that someone challenged them to consider if God might be calling them into the ministry at some time in their lives. About a year went by before I asked the church if they would license me into the ministry which they did.

How often is anyone challenged to consider that God might be calling them into ministry today? We can't call someone into ministry. Only God can do that, but we can encourage people to consider that He might be calling them to do that. What they do with that challenge is up to them. There are a number of persons serving in bivocational ministry today because I challenged them to consider such a calling, and they are doing a great job leading their churches.

Regional and denominational leaders need to begin talking to their pastors about persons in their churches who might demonstrate gifts fit for ministry and begin talking to them about the possibility that God might be calling them to serve as a bivocational minister. Instead of automatically looking outside the church for a bivocational pastor, why not start the search by seeing if someone already a member of the church might serve that role. Seminaries need to recognize that today's church does not look like it did in 1950 and begin to prepare their pastors accordingly. Churches must take the initiative to seek qualified pastors themselves and not wait for or depend on their denomination to do this for them.

Those reading this post need to ask if you might be one God is calling to this ministry. Pray about it. Talk to your pastor, spouse and other mature Christian leaders. A church right now may be waiting on you to say yes to God's call on your life.

The pastor shortage

When I began serving as a Regional Resource Minister in 2001 it wasn't uncommon for me to be able to give Pastor Search Teams 30-40 pastor profiles that seemed to fit their search requirements. Understand, I didn't give them that many all at once. But, that many would come back when I entered their information into our denominational profile system. That soon began to change, and by the time I retired from that position in 2019 I was fortunate to provide 5-6 profiles that might meet at least some of their requirements.

Since retiring I have served two churches, good, strong churches, as their Transitional Pastor. One took two years to find a pastor, and the other church took 2 1/2 years. I am now serving a third church in this position, and they have been without a pastor for nearly three years. I am their second Transitional Pastor. It is becoming increasingly more difficult to find a pastor for the traditional church. To find a bivocational pastor is even more difficult.

There are many reasons for this: fewer people enrolling in seminary, and of those who do enroll, many are not planning on pursuing pastoral ministry when they graduate, the current people serving in ministry are aging and retiring, the stresses of ministry drive many out of ministry into other careers (50% of seminary graduates leave the ministry within five years after graduation), some ministers are focused on serving in newly planted churches rather than in traditional churches, the lack of denominational support that exists in many denominations (this one isn't often mentioned but it bears a study of its own), and a list too long to mention in a blog post. Regardless of the reasons, most denominational leaders will admit that there is a severe shortage of pastors for churches, and this isn't likely to improve soon.

How do we solve this problem? Perhaps the first thing is to address any unrealistic expectations that some churches might have when seeking new pastoral leadership. A church of 30 people do not need a seminary trained, MDiv graduate to serve their church. They need a bivocational pastor who loves God and feels called into the ministry. When I worked in the factory every new job I had I learned through on-the-job-training. When I began as a pastor I had no experience and no education beyond high school. It was on-the-job-training which I later supplemented by attending a Bible school and pursuing more formal education (all while serving in ministry) and eventually earning an MAR and a DMin. 

Secondly, we might look at how we prepare people for ministry. For decades (perhaps longer) seminaries have primarily trained persons preparing for pastoral ministry to be research theologians. When they graduated, they really weren't equipped to do either! You'll notice when I attended seminary it was to earn an MAR which was much better preparation for pastoral ministry than the typical MDiv. (I often get into trouble for saying that, but I'm 75 years old so I don't care!) The MDiv is great preparation for those who plan to eventually earn a PhD, but it's probably an overkill for persons called to pastoral ministry.

We also need to look at what needs to be offered as continuing education. Regardless of what one studies in college and seminary, much of it will be outdated in 10 years. In fact, some of what we are taught in college is proved to be wrong within a few years when further research is done. Churches change, culture changes, and in ten years much of what we have learned in our studies needs to change as well. Just this evening I was looking at my library and realized that I needed to throw out many of my books because they are simply outdated and no longer apply to today's ministry needs. It was not a pleasant realization!

There is much more that could be said, but this is enough for this post. Look for future blog posts for further thoughts.

Interesting fact about incoming seminary students

 For a number of years the Association of Theological Schools (ATS), the national accrediting agency for seminaries, has conducted a survey of incoming seminary students. An interesting finding is that about 30% of those students intentionally plan on being bivocational ministers when they graduate. That is a significant number, and it shows the growth of bivocational ministry and the likelihood that it will continue to grow. I'm not aware of studies done prior to when the ATS began their study, but I would guess that back then that number would not have been so high.

Students give a variety of reasons why they plan to pursue bivocational ministry. Some want to be involved in in a career outside the church to give them more opportunities to minister to those who do not attend church. Others believe it will provide a more balanced home-work life. No doubt finances play a part for some of these students, especially those who are incurring a huge student debt load. Students who came out of small church backgrounds may wish to continue to serve in such places and realize these churches are becoming dependent upon bivocational ministers. I'm sure there are many other reasons students have for planning a bivocational ministry career.

This should give pause to those middle-size churches seeking pastoral leadership. Many of these churches are used to having a fully-funded pastor, but they may find it increasingly difficult to find such pastors today. If 30% of seminary students are planning to intentionally pursue bivocational ministry that takes a significant chunk out of the future prospective pool. Other students plan to be Ministers of Education, Ministers of Worship, Youth Ministers, Chaplains, Missionaries, work in Christian non-profit careers, new church planting, professors, counselors, social workers and workers in parachurch ministries. This further reduces the number of persons available to serve as church pastors. Add into the equation the large number of older ministers and those near retirement and the pool becomes even smaller. Many denominations struggle to provide suitable candidates for their mid-size churches seeking pastors, and this is unlikely to improve.

Many smaller mid-size churches will be forced to seek bivocational leadership when they begin to search for a new pastor. Likely, there will be great resistance at first from members of the congregation who are used to having a fully-funded pastor available whenever they wanted him or her, but the reality is that these pastors are unlikely to be available for these churches. The good news is that studies find that bivocational pastors provide quality leadership to their churches at about the same rate as their fully-funded counterparts. In fact, these churches may find they will greatly benefit from having a bivocational pastor.

However, this transition will not come without challenges. Bivocational churches cannot function as fully-funded churches. These churches will have to learn a new way of doing ministry that does not depend on the pastor every moment of the day. Congregational care must replace much of the pastoral care the congregation has grown to expect. Some administrative tasks will have to be assumed by the congregation that they formerly left to the pastor to do. There will be a learning curve for the church, but the transition is possible if the congregation is willing to work through it.

We need to remember that bivocational ministry was the norm for much of our nation's history especially in the Baptist and Methodist traditions. It wasn't until the 1950s that seminary-trained, fully-funded pastors became to be considered the normal expectation for churches. What we are seeing today is a return to the bivocational, tentmaker model that served our churches so well for many years.

The challenge for denominations Part 3

In this third article in this series of denominational challenges I want to address the need to look at the education and training we use to prepare persons for pastoral ministry. In the past we have relied on our seminaries to address these training needs. We had our denominational seminaries and we trusted them to equip our pastors according to the theological beliefs and polities of our denomination. That worked OK for a long time until people started seeking theological education and training from outside our denominational seminaries. It also didn't work very well when smaller churches called individuals who had no theological or ministry training at all.

A few years ago I was amused when one of the churches in the region I served called to complain about their new pastor. Although I had given them names of some people who might have been interested in serving their church, they called a person from outside our denomination who, according to my knowledge, had no theological training at all. I attended a meeting of some of the leaders in the church who told me their new pastor didn't do things "like Baptists." I shrugged my shoulders and responded that was because he wasn't a Baptist, a fact they knew when they asked him to be their pastor. I also reminded them they did not get his name from me.

I was licensed to preach by my church in 1979. I contacted our denominational leader and offered to fill in for vacationing pastors or to fill the pulpit for churches who might need someone to speak. I received a letter a couple of weeks later saying as soon as I finished seminary he would be glad to help me find a church. I had never attended college much less seminary. He was telling me to put my life on hold for seven years to go to school and then he would see what he could do. That didn't happen! I found a church myself where I spent the next 20 years serving as a bivocational pastor. During that time I did graduate from a Bible college and earned a bachelor degree from a nearby university, but I wasn't going to jump through his hoops before I began to fulfill my calling from God.

As smaller churches struggle to find trained pastors to lead their churches denominations need to step in and offer the training these individuals need. Many regions and denominations now do offer such training, but too many still do not. The quality of the training varies widely from area to area as well. If we want our churches to be healthy and strong denominations and regions need to provide the training for their pastoral and lay leaders to help them.

Improved education is not needed just for our smaller churches. As a denominational leader I saw plenty of pastors with MDiv degrees who were not equipped for pastoral ministry. Some may have been well prepared to do theological research, but they were inadequately prepared for pastoral ministry. Some had limited social skills, some struggled to preach coherent messages, some lacked adequate theological understanding, and others needed more training in other areas.

I began my pastoral ministry in 1981. Now in 2021 I am serving as a Transitional Pastor. Believe me when I say ministry has changed much in the past 40 years. The challenges I see facing pastors today are much different than they were when I began my ministry. I can only imagine what changes we'll see in the next 40 years. Yet, much of the seminary education being offered hasn't changed much. The church often lags behind the rest of society when it comes to change, and I'm concerned that our preparation of ministers is also lagging behind.

I would encourage denominations to begin serious conversations with leading seminaries to discuss how they can work together to better prepare persons for the ministry challenges the 21st century will bring. It is not going to be healthy for denominations to work in one area of the church world and seminaries work in another area. They need to come together to develop the best possible education for their future leaders. By doing this they will best serve tomorrow's churches.

Exciting news about bivocational ministry

 In 2010 I earned my Doctor of Ministry degree. My thesis was on "Coaching Bivocational Ministers for Greater Ministry Effectiveness." This past week I received word that my thesis has now been downloaded 3,020 times since I completed it. Personally, I wish the ones who downloaded it had bought my book The Art and Practice of Bivocational Ministry: A Pastor's Guide since that is the same material I addressed in the thesis without all the academic requirements of a doctoral paper! At least I would have received a royalty payment!

Seriously, I am excited that so many people have referenced my paper to learn more about bivocational ministry. Nearly every year since writing that paper one or two people have contacted me stating they are writing their doctoral papers on some aspect of bivocational ministry and wanting to ask me questions about my experiences and what I've learned over the years. For many years there was little academic interest in bivocational work. Few books were published prior to my first one that was released in 2001. Many denominations looked at bivocational ministry as second-class ministry that was acceptable only for their smallest churches and performed by people who lacked the education to serve in larger churches. That is not the prevailing attitude today.

Denominations have seen the value bivocational ministers bring to their churches. Many report the numbers of bivocational ministers are growing in their denominations. Some schools now offer specific training opportunities for bivocational ministers. A few seminaries now offer dual degree programs for persons intentionally planning to do bivocational ministry. Denominations have developed training programs for their bivocational ministers as well. Every year more doctoral students are producing academic papers on this ministry. It is exciting the see the changes that have occurred regarding bivocational ministry in my lifetime.

While it is too early to know for certain all the changes that will occur in the church as a result of the pandemic it is possible that we will see even more churches calling bivocational ministers in the future. As I wrote last week, churches are now dealing with congregations made up of those attending church services in person, those who are digital attendees only, and as more restrictions are dropped we will have some who sometimes attend in person and sometimes participate online. One challenge this presents the church is how to best serve their digital congregation, which in some cases will outnumber those attending the services in person. I can envision some churches calling bivocational ministers to provide pastoral ministry to the digital congregation.

This will be in addition to the churches no longer able to afford the salary and benefit package necessary to call a fully-funded pastor who will be seeking bivocational leadership in the future. We will also continue to see growing numbers of churches calling bivocational persons to church staff positions. The numbers of churches seeking bivocational leadership has been growing for the past several years, and I believe it will grow even more in the years to come.

In fact, the demand for bivocational leadership already exceeds the number of people available to meet that demand. Just in my small part of the world there are a number of churches who need good bivocational ministers, and denominational leadership struggles to provide them with the names of good candidates. This should be a matter of prayer for all of us.

It should also challenge us to ask if God might be calling us to such ministry. Perhaps you are someone who believes that God might be calling you into the ministry but you are not sure what that might mean or what it might look like. Just last week an individual approached me with questions about his sense of call. If you have such questions, please feel free to talk to your pastor or contact me. No one can tell you if God is calling you into the ministry. Only you can determine that. But, I can help you think through what you might be feeling and try to answer any questions you might have.

Growing numbers of seminary students going into bivocational ministry

An article in Christianity Today reports that the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) says that one-third of 2017 seminary graduates plan to enter bivocational ministry. This includes 57% of black/non-Hispanic and 41% of Hispanic/Latino graduates. This is a significant number of people who view bivocational ministry as a viable option for ministry and offers hope to thousands of smaller churches who may struggle to find seminary-trained leadership to serve their churches. In addition to those attending seminary, many planning to enter bivocational ministry are being trained in denominational programs such as the Church Leadership Institute offered by the American Baptist Churches of Indiana and Kentucky. While never designed to replace seminary this program does provide basic ministerial training for those serving as bivocational ministers or lay leaders in their churches.

Many denominations report that roughly one-third of their churches now have bivocational pastors. Some state conventions report that 50-75 percent of their churches are bivocational. In a sabbatical project I did a few years ago I interviewed a number of denominational leaders from various denominations who all told me they expected the number of bivocational leaders in their denominations to continue to grow. This report from ATS is good news for the churches in these denominations, and it is good news for the future of smaller churches.

For a long time the trend was to build larger and larger churches. Growth was seen as an indication of health. However, recent events have suggested that is not always the case. Well-known megachurch leaders have fallen hard in recent times. Some have been removed for moral reasons while others have burned-out and resigned the ministry. At the same time, other megachurches are serving their communities quite well and continue to grow. It's too early to predict the future of the larger churches, but I can predict the future of smaller churches. They are survivors and will be around until the Lord returns.

Of course, some won't survive. Churches close their doors every week, and many of them are smaller churches. A lack of good leadership, a lack of resources and too few people force some of these churches to close. However, at the same time these churches are closing other churches start. They begin with a fresh vision for ministry and a desire to make a difference in people's lives. They don't bring a lot of baggage from the past into their ministry. Some of these will be home churches. Some will rent space in malls or buy the buildings abandoned by the churches that closed.

All smaller churches, whether new church starts or existing churches, will benefit from this desire of seminary-trained graduates to enter bivocational ministry. As one who has long advocated for bivocational ministry I couldn't be more pleased.

Confessing sins to plants

You may have read about a recent chapel service at Union Theology Seminary at which the students prayed to a group of plants confessing how they had sinned against the plants. As people heard about this the seminary posted on their Twitter account "Today in chapel, we confessed to plants. Together, we held our grief, joy, regret, hope, guilt and sorrow in prayer; offering them to the beings who sustain us but whose gift we too often fail to honor. What do you confess to the plants in your life?"

I ate a salad for lunch on Wednesday so I guess I could have confessed to them that I might have eaten some of their cousins. But, if I did that I would probably have had to confess to some cows about the hamburger I had for lunch yesterday. There is no telling how much penance I would have to do to appease the hogs with all the bacon I eat!

Scripture is clear that if one does not worship the Creator one will worship creation. The apostle Paul in Romans 1 writes that "although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man - and birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things."

John wrote that "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9)." He goes on to write, "If anyone sins we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." Our Advocate is not some oak tree in the middle of a forest or a dandelion growing in our back yard. Our Advocate is the Son of God, Jesus Christ, and it is God alone who can forgive sins. Praying to and worshiping anything other than God is paganism.

If we want to know what is wrong with many of our churches we need to look no further than this example. Churches across our nation are being led by individuals who have seminary degrees from institutions that have forsaken the Scriptures for man-made philosophies and secular worldviews. They stand in the pulpits denying the truths of the Bible and spreading the fables they have been taught to unsuspecting listeners.

This is not a recent problem. Dietrich Bonhoeffer taught at Union for a short time in 1939. Even then he was shocked at the liberalism of the students and wrote they "are completely clueless with respect to what dogmatics is really about. They are not familiar with even the most basic questions. They become intoxicated with liberal and humanist phrases, are amused at the fundamentalists, and yet basically are not even up to their level." He remembered the students laughing at a lecture about sin and forgiveness. Bonhoeffer decided to leave Union to return to Germany to resist the Nazis where he would later be executed for his role in the plot to assassinate Hitler. One can only wonder what he would have thought about this recent chapel service.

As I was listening to a radio program this morning this chapel service was discussed. The hosts spent a good while making fun of this seminary and pointing out, as laymen, how wrong it was to seek forgiveness from plants. I had to laugh at some of their comments, but this really is no laughing matter. At least, it shouldn't be to anyone who cares about the church and the Kingdom of God. If the men and women who are preparing to lead the church are not taught to worship the one true God and to respect the authority of the Scriptures, what hope is there for the church and for those people for whom Christ died to save?

The rural church is often forgotten

Last night I finished re-reading another great book, The Forgotten Church: Why Rural Ministry Matters for Every Church in America by Glenn Daman. I was privileged to have been asked to write a recommendation for the book before it was published. It was an honor to write that because the book was very good and because Glenn is a champion for the small, rural churches. He grew up in rural communities and currently pastors a rural church in Washington. He has written a number of other books specifically for smaller churches and their leaders and serves as an adjunct professor at Western Seminary. I would suggest this book should be required reading for anyone serving in a rural church,

The title of the book says it all: the rural church has been largely forgotten by seminaries, denominations, church historians and pastors on the fast-track to their "dream" church. Most resources are spent on the urban and suburban communities. That is where you find denominations targeting their new church planting efforts. Seminaries teach ministry practices best suited for the large churches normally found in the cities. Much has been written by many people, including myself, on the difficulty of smaller churches finding pastors willing to serve them.

Attend denominational gatherings and you will usually find their speakers and workshop leaders come from large urban churches. Try to find a course offered by seminaries that focus on rural ministry. Check out any Christian bookstore and compare the number of books on the shelves written by pastors of larger churches and those written by pastors of smaller churches. Yes, the rural church is largely forgotten by just about everybody, except those who go there.

Like Glenn, I have spent my entire life in small, rural churches. It was in such churches that I first came to faith in Jesus Christ. It was in the Sunday school classes, Vacation Bible School and Baptist Youth Fellowship that I learned about the Bible and the Christian life. It was while attending such churches as a young boy that I first felt God's call on my life to enter the ministry. It was in small, rural churches that I saw how people came together to support one another. It was a small, rural church that allowed me to serve them as pastor for twenty years even though I did not have the seminary training or experience to do so.

I remember when I was licensed to the ministry that I contacted a leader in my denomination at the time. I told him the church had licensed me and I was willing to fill the pulpit or preach any time he needed my help. I got a letter back telling me if I wanted to be a minister I needed to go to college and seminary, and in seven years when I completed my education to contact him again. That little rural church didn't ask about my educational credentials. They were glad I was willing to serve them and voted me in as their pastor. Maybe some people today have forgotten the rural church, but me and millions of others whose lives have been impacted by such churches will never forget them.

Reading this book, and especially the stories Glenn tells, reminded me again of how much I loved that church I pastored and how much I miss pastoring such churches today. The relationships one has with the congregation in a rural church is amazing. I've sat in the barn while one of our members was greasing his equipment as we talked about church matters. I went coon hunting with one member and spent countless hours with another one fishing. I prayed with many a member when they were in the hospital and sat around the table talking to family members who had just lost a loved one. In the rural church you don't spend much time sitting in your office, not if you want to spend time with those you serve.

If you pastor a rural church you need to read this book. It will help remind you of why you do what you do, especially during those times when you get frustrated by some aspect of ministry. If you are a denominational leader, you need to read this book. Maybe you won't be so quick to write off your churches located in rural communities. Seminary leaders need to read this book and begin to think of ways you can better serve those who will be going to rural ministries. If you are a lay leader in a rural church and often find yourself frustrated at the on-going challenges of rural ministry, you should read this book as well. Maybe it will remind you that in God's economy it's not just the large churches that are important. Christ came to save individual people, both in urban and rural communities. Every church has a role to play in that effort, and historically and currently the rural church has performed amazing work for the Kingdom of God.

Training bivocational ministers

In my last post I wrote about a recent doctoral thesis written on the trend of mid-size churches to seek bivocational staff persons. As part of that post I suggested that we need to find ways to provide these individuals with the training they need to be effective in their calling. Some schools today offer such training.

Campbellsville University offers a Certificate in Christian Ministry through their School of Theology that would provide excellent education for a bivocational minister. This program is offered entirely online making it convenient for the student to work into his or her schedule. When completing this program the credits would be transferable if the student decided to continue his or her education at CU in their undergrad program. You might be thinking to yourself that if you completed that certificate program you would not be interested in continuing your studies. I thought that as a student at Boyce Bible School (now Boyce College), but when I completed that I felt led to continue my studies all the way until I earned my doctorate. You never know what God might lead you to until you begin the journey.

There are other schools offering similar programs, but I am not as familiar with them as I am with CU's program. Some seminaries are now offering dual degree programs for persons intentionally planning on going into bivocational ministry. This might be an option for some who sense a call to this ministry.

The American Baptist Churches of Indiana and Kentucky took a program that is being used in another region and used it to develop the Church Leadership Institute (CLI). It was originally designed to train lay leaders in our churches, but in the initial class we had several bivocational ministers who saw it as a way to get some much needed training. As they neared the end of the two-year program they kept asking for more training so we added another five courses for those who wanted to take them. Completing the entire program earned the student a Certificate in Christian Ministry, but more importantly, it gave our bivocational ministers more training than many enjoy.

CLI was never intended to replace a seminary education, but for many of the bivocational ministers in our region it provided an opportunity to receive both theological and practical skills training to help them better serve their churches. We intentionally kept the cost of each class low to make it available to everyone.

One of the things I most appreciated about CLI was it said to our bivocational ministers that they were important to our churches. We did not see them as second-class ministers. We wanted to come alongside them to help equip them for the ministry God had called them to do. I often receive emails from bivocational ministers around the country who tell me they wish their judicatories felt about them the way that our region does.

If you are a bivocational ministers you should check to see if your judicatory offers something similar to CLI. If it does not, ask them to think about developing such a program. I'm sure our region office would send them some materials to show them what we are doing.

Just before I retired we opened CLI up to anyone regardless of denominational affiliation. If you are serving in Indiana, and think this might be a good opportunity to receive some training, contact the Region office at 317-635-3552 for more information.

Bivocational ministry is increasing across denominations and even now appearing in larger churches. Those of us in seminary, denominational and judicatory leadership must find ways to ensure those serving in that role receives the training they need to be effective.

Ministry education that matters

A few weeks ago a well-known, retired church consultant, author, and coach made some comments on social media about concerns he had that seminary education no longer prepared one for the ministry. As I remember his comments, he felt that the typical seminary education was insufficient preparation for ministry in the real world. As you might expect, his comments were met with numerous responses. Some agreed with him while others strongly disagreed.

Regular readers of this blog will know that I have my own concerns about seminary education. I've made no secret of my belief that the typical MDiv degree is probably more suited for someone considering pursuing a PhD while an MA in some area of ministry might be more suited for one going into pastoral ministry. I should note that I began my pastoral ministry in 1981 and became a judicatory minister in 2001 but did not enroll in seminary until 2003. At that time I earned a MAR with a concentration in leadership. After earning that degree I enrolled in a DMin program completing it in 2010.

No, I can't parse a Greek text,, but the funny thing is in 38 years of ministry no one has ever asked me to. As a pastor I was often called upon to help someone with a marriage issue or a problem child. I was asked how to become a Christian and why life seemed so unfair at times. None of those questions depended upon me having three semesters of Biblical languages.

Some are probably getting real antsy now and wonder how anyone can preach Biblical sermons without that knowledge. If you saw my library you might understand how. I've spent a lot of money on good commentaries and biblical helps. Again, three semesters of Biblical languages does not make one a scholar. I would much rather invest in good material from individuals who have spent a lifetime studying Greek and Hebrew than to trust three semesters of such study.

Do I think it's a bad thing for a seminary student to pursue an MDiv? No, in some cases it makes a lot of sense. But, for some it doesn't. It depends on what one believes God's call on his or her life is and what it will take to fulfill that call. What I am opposed to is that everyone assumes that the MDiv is the ONLY degree that is suitable for ministry and ordination.

I am in favor of everyone in ministry getting all the education they need, but just make sure that what you are getting will prepare you for ministry in the 21st century.

The growth of bivocational ministry

When I wrote my doctoral dissertation in 2010 I assumed my adviser and the ones with whom I would present my oral defense would be the only ones who would ever read it. This week I received notice that it has been downloaded nearly 2,500 times. To say I am surprised is putting it mildly. But, I am also very pleased that it is being used to help people better understand bivocational ministry and the way coaching can assist those involved in that ministry.

Every year I receive one or two calls from someone writing their doctoral paper on some aspect of bivocational ministry. That alone is very encouraging to me because in the past there have been few resources available to bivocational ministers. This is changing, but there's not been anywhere close to 2,500 doctoral papers on bivocational ministry written in the past seven years. That tells me that others are reading my paper for other reasons, and it shows the growing impact bivocational ministry is having on ministry.

More and more churches are calling bivocational ministers as pastors and in other staff positions. While part of this is due to finances, part of it is also due to a shortage of pastors willing to serve in smaller churches. As I've written elsewhere, a growing number of pastors are unwilling to serve smaller churches. Some of these churches are forced to look for bivocational leadership. The good news is that they often find the ministry these bivocational pastors provide is second to none.

Because bivocational ministry has become more accepted it is drawing greater attention from denominational leaders and seminaries. Many of the leaders in these organizations are seeking to better understand bivocational ministry and how they can better support these ministers and the churches they serve. This has led to doctoral students studying aspects of this ministry and has led to more books written on the subject.

When my first book on bivocational ministry was published I was only aware of three other books that had been written on the topic. Today, there are several, but still not nearly enough. Many denominations now schedule seminars and conferences that focus on bivocational ministry. I've been privileged to lead several of these. Some denominations are also calling staff people at the regional and national level to relate specifically to bivocational ministers and the churches they serve.

Since much of my ministry focus has been on this form of ministry I rejoice at what I see happening with bivocational ministry today. Those who serve in such ministries continue to be my heroes.

What should you look for in a seminary?

In yesterday's post I talked about my personal educational journey, and I encouraged my readers who have not pursued a formal theological education to consider doing so. Today, I want to suggest some things you should think about when pursuing such education.

First, the seminary you attend should be one that will help you grow in the faith. Some seminaries are so liberal that they do more harm than good. They turn out graduates who have more doubts than faith. More than one seminary student has walked away from his or her faith because of the teachings of the professors under whom he or she studied.

This does not mean that you will necessarily agree with every professor and that your theological beliefs won't be challenged. Part of an education is being exposed to different beliefs and viewpoints, but this exposure should help you solidify your beliefs so you become stronger in your faith. There is a difference between presenting different viewpoints and trying to indoctrinate you with heretical teaching.

Second, the school you choose to attend should offer you a variety of degree choices. As I said yesterday, because of my sense of being called into bivocational ministry I did not want to pursue an MDiv degree. The school I chose to attend offered a variety of MA degrees in their theological school that seemed to be a much better fit for me. Because these programs were offered through distance learning, it was an even better fit for me since I was serving in a judicatory role at the time and managing a small business. I was able to schedule my studies around my schedule rather than having to adapt to a rigid school schedule.

Third, the school you select should be one that is affordable for you. There is absolutely no reason for anyone going into pastoral ministry to incur $60,000 in student loan debt, but I've known several who have. There's nothing wrong with going to some big, prestigious seminary if you can cash flow it, but there is also nothing wrong with attending another seminary or Bible college that you can afford.

Fourth, without question the school you attend should be fully accredited. There are a lot of diploma mills out there offering a theological education. You may find you've spent a lot of money for very little return.

Be wise when you consider which school will be best for you. This is a significant investment in your life and ministry and is not a decision to enter into lightly. I believe I grew as an individual and a minister through my educational experience, and this should be your goal as well.

Seminary or not

It's funny that I've often been accused of being anti-education because of some comments I've made about a seminary education. As many of you know, I began my pastoral ministry with no education beyond high school, and I did not follow a normal ministry education track.

About 18 months after beginning my ministry I began to attend a Bible college about an hour from my house. Although it was a two year program I needed four years to complete it as I was working a full-time job and pastoring a church besides attending school and being a husband and father. When I completed that program I enrolled in a university, also about an hour from our home, and spent the next seven years earning a bachelor's degree. I sat out five or six years before beginning a master's program, and then I followed that with a DMin degree which I completed when I was 62 years old.

The truth is that I sometimes wish I had sought even more education, maybe a PhD or a ThD so that I could teach in seminaries or Bible colleges now that I am retired. Although I have 35 years of practical ministry experience as both a bivocational pastor and a judicatory leader, I do not have the education that these schools seek in their instructors.

However, that is not the only reason I wish I had pursued additional education. While in Bible school I fell in love with learning. I learned to love the reading, the study, the writing of papers, especially in the postgraduate studies. I was able to go deeper in my understanding of the Scriptures and the ministry through my studies.

Although my education experience was not the norm, there were some advantages in doing it the way I did. I never incurred any student debt as I was able to cash flow my education since it took me so long to complete each of my degrees. In college I enrolled in General Studies which meant I did not have to take specific courses to complete a major. That gave me great freedom to take courses I thought would be most helpful to me and fewer courses that were required to complete a major or minor. Rather than earning an MDiv I enrolled in a MAR program with an emphasis in leadership. Again, a much more practical program for a bivocational minister (and for many other pastors as well IMHO).

I've written in this space recently about how ministry is going to change in the future, and one of my prayers is that seminaries are looking now at how to best prepare their students for these changes. I am concerned that many seminaries are now preparing people for a ministry that will not exist in a few years.

Do I believe that pursuing a ministerial education is a good thing? Absolutely, but don't think you have to follow an educational path that might have made sense in the 1950s but might not be the best one for you to take today. Also, do not limit your education to formal degree programs. Young ministers today must accept the fact that they will be lifelong learners if they are to remain effective in ministry.

The coming pastor shortage

Before retiring as a judicatory minister I assisted dozens of churches as they sought a new pastor. It was always a challenge to find a pastor for smaller churches, and it became increasingly more difficult to find pastors for medium and larger churches as the years went by. As I talk with church leaders telling me their struggles in finding qualified pastors willing to serve their churches I realize this problem is growing worse.

Unfortunately, I do not see this improving any time soon, if ever. Growing numbers of pastors are approaching retirement age. Many seminary trained pastors refuse to consider a call to a smaller church. There are not enough students in seminary today to fill the empty pulpits that already exist, and many of these students do not plan to enter pastoral ministry. Some current pastors are drawn to new church planting as a way to escape some of the problems found in existing churches. For several years we have seen about 50 percent of pastors leave the ministry within five years of graduating seminary. When you add all these together, plus other factors not mentioned, we have far fewer pastors than we have churches with nothing on the horizon that will change this.

What are churches to do when it is time to call a new pastor? Some churches are so healthy and growing that their biggest challenge will be to be sure they call a pastor who will keep them moving forward. However, for many traditional churches they will be forced to consider options that may make them uncomfortable. Some of these options are:

1. Many smaller churches will be calling bivocational pastors and/or bivocational teams to lead them. We are already seeing this happening across many denominations, but this trend is only going to increase, especially if the church is determined to remain an independent body.
2. Two or more small churches may decide to merge into one larger congregation. This seldom works as well as people hope. Too often after such a merger there is one church with two congregations that never really merge together. If a merger has any hope of being successful it will usually require that all the congregations sell their properties and obtain a new one. The thoughts of selling "our church" usually ends the talk of a merger.
3. Because bivocational pastors can be difficult to find in many cases a church may want to consider calling a lay leader from within the church to serve as pastor. There are numerous ways in which such persons can receive pastoral training, and because these lay leaders already have the trust of the congregation, this can work very well.
4. For many years the United Methodists have been willing to share a pastor between two, three or even four small churches. This is an option other churches need to consider. I know many churches want their own pastor, but the reality is that this may not be a realistic expectation in the near future.
5. Many churches need to take a hard look at their refusal to call a woman pastor. Are you sure your objections to women in ministry are theological or are they cultural? Have you ever really studied what the Bible says about women in leadership roles in the church or are you just repeating what someone told you a long time ago? 
6. Churches need to look at what they present to a prospective pastor. Does your church have a history of being hard on pastors? Some do, and these churches will find it almost impossible to call a new pastor until they change their bad behavior. If a church is dysfunctional, the word gets out, and smart pastors avoid such churches like the plague.
7. Some churches may be so far down the decline side of their church life cycle that they will never be able to call a pastor. Such churches either need to find alternative ways to operate or made the tough decision to close.

None of these options mean that your church has settled for inferior pastoral leadership. I know that some people will view these as representing a failure on the part of a church, but that isn't true. They are realistic ways of dealing with a problem that isn't likely to improve in the near future. As changes occur in every aspect of society we have to find ways to adapt to those changes. This addresses a change we are seeing in pastoral leadership, and if we cannot adapt to this change we will see many of our churches without that leadership.

Some of these options may be more acceptable to a particular church than others, but this is a conversation that needs to occur in many churches, especially smaller ones. It's a conversation that should take place even before your current pastor leaves, and he or she will leave. Every pastor is a departing pastor from the first day he or she arrives at the church. One way or another, your current pastor will one day no longer be your pastor. Now is the time to begin discussing how the church might respond when that time comes.

What does the future hold for the local church?

We hear much talk about the state of the local church today, and much of it is negative. As some look at declining attendance and giving statistics they wonder if the church will continue to exist much longer. I think it would be a big mistake to count the church out. After all, Jesus Christ said the forces of hell would not prevail against the church. The church does have a pretty solid foundation!

There's no doubt that the church is going through some difficult times right now, but I see these times as more of a transition than anything else. What we don't know is what the church will look like on the other side of this transition. This uncertainty is what scares some people.

One of my favorite images of today's church is that of a trapeze artist. The trapeze artist must go from the swing he is on to the one that is swinging towards him. To go from the safety of the swing he holds onto to the other swing he must let go of the one. For a brief moment he is suspended in mid-air waiting for the other swing to reach him. During that time of suspension he is most vulnerable because if the other swing is not timed correctly he will fall to the ground. I see today's church as being in that in-between time.

Much of what's worked for the church in the past no longer works, but many still want to hold on to it because it's safe and reliable. Before we can experience something new in the church we have to be willing to let go of the one we are clinging to. That in-between time is scary for church leaders just as it is for trapeze artists. It's so hard to let go of the known for something that we don't know in hopes that it will be better.

As the church goes through this time of transition there will be many changes. I'm convinced the church will look much different twenty years from now than it does today. Despite not having a crystal ball I will venture some changes I believe are likely to occur.

• More churches will be led by bivocational pastors and/or bivocational teams. Some of this will be driven by economics but not all of it.
• Seminary training will not be a requirement for a growing number of churches. Growing numbers of seminary students will earn their degrees online. Persons going into pastoral ministry will often pursue degrees other than the traditional MDiv. They will want more practical MA degrees offering courses that will speak more to the needs of pastors. Look for the MDiv to be the degree of choice for those planning to earn a PhD.
• Mid-size churches will face a lot of pressure to compete with much larger churches in the programs and ministries they offer. Some will be able to meet those expectations and will grow. Others will not and will begin to lose people to the larger churches.
• There is already a lesser commitment to the denomination in which people were raised. Expect to see this continue and even increase. A growing number of people simply won't care about the name of the church as much as what ministries the church offers.
• Lay people will be much more involved in ministry that they are today. This is be partially due to their churches calling bivocational ministers but mostly due to more people realizing they have been gifted and called to do ministry.
• Churches will become more creative in raising funds. This will become critical in the next few years as the Builder generation continues to decline. Churches that are effective in teaching sound stewardship will see more of their people supporting the church financially. Growing numbers will begin offering online giving if they want the Millennial generation to support their church financially.
• Expect to see more home churches. Zoning restrictions in some communities, the cost of new construction, and a desire to plant new churches rather than erect great buildings will cause many to decide to meet in homes. Some denominations will be forced to determine how they will recognize these churches.
• Speaking of denominations, they will also have to make some major changes as their churches go through their transitions. The same is true of seminaries. While there's not space in this post to address these changes, they will be significant. I'm not sure all denominations and seminaries will survive this transition.

Bivocational ministry and life-long learning

I spoke at a recent bivocational minister's conference at Earlham College's School of Theology. The final segment was a discussion by all present about how seminaries and Bible schools can do a better job of training bivocational ministers. There were many great suggestions made from the bivocational ministers. Some of them had attended a seminary or Bible school; others had not. At one time I told them that if a school tried to teach all the things they were suggesting it would be a 10 year program! The dean and a number of his staff were present and promised to continue to study this matter.

As reported here before, all expectations are that bivocational ministry will continue to increase in importance in virtually all denominations. This is an important discussion to have. Most of the participants at this conference who had graduated from a seminary or Bible school agreed that much of their education did not prepare them well for the realities of bivocational ministry. If the numbers of bivocational ministers are going to increase then it's important that we find the best possible ways to educate and prepare them for this ministry.

However, we must also realize that seminaries and Bible schools cannot do it all. I was only half joking when I told the group that they were describing a 10-year program if any institution tried to teach everything they were suggesting.

It would appear to me that seminaries, Bible schools, and denominations need to work together to develop the training that bivocational ministers need. There are some things that the educational units should teach such as theology, church history, leadership,  pastoral care, preaching, etc. Denominations can then provide training in church growth, relationship building, and other practical skills bivocational ministers need. I certainly don't have it all figured out, and it would probably vary by school and denomination.

The key to this training, however, will be the bivocational minister. I've met too many who see little value in formal training, and among those who do many see no way they have the time to pursue it. I'll be the first to admit that it's tough. I was a bivocational pastor working full-time in a factory with a wife and two children at home when I first enrolled in a Bible school. It isn't easy, but the difference it made in my ministry caused me to enroll in college when I graduated from the Bible school. Later I went on to earn my master's and doctoral degrees while serving in fully-funded ministry. In between degree programs I attended numerous continuing education events.

Ministry is changing just as rapidly as everything else in our world. I still have most of the text books from the Bible school I attended in the mid-1980s on my bookshelves, but much of what's in those books no longer apply to the 21st century church. If you want to enjoy the ministry today you have to commit to being a life-long learner. Seminaries and denominations must offer cutting-edge continuing education events at a time that is convenient for bivocational ministers to attend, and these ministers must commit to attending such events. The ministers must invest in good books that explore new findings in theological thought and practical ministry skills.

I do not know what seminaries and Bibles schools will do in the future to train bivocational ministers. Some are already offering certificate programs that can be taken online that provide a nice mix of theological and practical ministry skills. Some are exploring how they can better serve this sector of ministry, and I'm sure some will choose to ignore it and focus on preparing people for fully-funded ministry.

However, regardless of what these institutions do, nothing stops you from being a life-long learner. There are numerous workshops and conferences held around the country today that are developed especially for bivocational and smaller church leaders. I know because I'm involved in several of them this year. Take advantage of these opportunities. If there are none close to you, contact your denominational leaders and ask them to provide some training that will improve your ministry. Take the initiative and develop the skills and knowledge you need to fulfill the calling of God on your life.

How can seminaries better equip bivocational ministers?

This past Monday I was privileged to deliver the keynote message at a bivocational minister's conference hosted by Earlham School of Religion in Richmond, Indiana. The event had about forty people in attendance including bivocational ministers, members of their churches, and individuals from the School of Religion. It was a very well developed conference that included insights from a recent study conducted by Phil Blaisley who traveled the country interviewing bivocational ministers and members of their churches as well as a brainstorming session on how seminaries and Bible schools can better train bivocational ministers for ministry.

This final question is one that every seminary and Bible school needs to address. The facts are obvious. Bivocational ministry is growing across denominations and is projected to continue that growth. The church is going through an incredible transition, and I don't think anyone knows right now what it will look like on the other side. Most seminaries are still training pastors for the old model of church. Their assumption is that their graduates will go to fully-funded, growing churches, and the role of the pastor is to manage the church.

I'm not sure that assumption will be valid in the future; I'm not positive it's valid now! The median size church in America continues to be around 75 people. This size church can seldom provide adequate compensation for a fully-funded pastor. In fact, we now see churches of 100-120 unable to provide a financial package that will support a fully-funded pastor and his or her family. Add to this, there are a growing number of ministers who feel specifically called to bivocational ministry and have little interest in serving a fully-funded church.

While bivocational ministers might want to pursue theological and ministerial training, many of them are not going to be interested in the traditional MDiv degree. Serving a church and working a second job often doesn't allow them time to attend seminary, and many of them don't see the MDiv as suitable for the ministry they are doing. Many of them will look for a two-year degree that offers practical ministerial training as well as some theological education, and many of them want that education available online.

As the attendees brainstormed some of the things they would like to see seminaries offer bivocational ministers I was struck by the number of them who did, in fact, already have an MDiv from Earlham or another seminary. However, they realized there were some things missing from their previous seminary education that would have better prepared them for the realities of bivocational ministry. They contributed much to the discussion about how seminaries can better equip bivocational ministers for their ministry.

The Dean of the School of Religion was in attendance throughout the conference. He and others from the school have much to consider over the coming months, and I applaud them for their willingness to listen and think about how they can better serve their students. This is a conversation that every seminary and Bible school needs to have or they are going to see their future students seeking their education elsewhere.

As we all agreed, this is not an easy discussion for seminaries to have because we don't really know what the church is going to look like as it goes through it's current transition. The only thing we do know is that it will likely be different than it is now, so now's the time to begin thinking about how this transition will impact the education our seminaries will offer the students of the future.

The leadership crisis in the small church

For the past fourteen years I served as a Resource Minister in our region. My role was to assist the churches in the region with whatever they needed, A good portion of my work was with pastor search committees. I would meet with these committees, help them through our process of searching for a pastor, and give them information on persons that might meet their criteria. Finding qualified persons for the smaller churches was often a struggle.

Studies tell us that many pastors refuse to serve smaller churches for a variety of reasons. That is very unfortunate. Having served as a bivocational pastor of one church for 20 years I can tell those pastors that they are missing the opportunity to be blessed and to be a blessing. However, I am realistic enough to know that this is not going to change. In fact, it's going to get worse.

We are already seeing some churches that used to have no trouble attracting a fully-funded, seminary trained pastor struggle to find their next pastor. They are finding that they can no longer pay the salary and benefits needed to attract these pastors. Other factors can also result in them struggling to fill their pulpits with pastors who meet their historic requirements.

Since I retired at the end of 2015 I've stayed busy preaching in various churches, many of them small churches who are seeking new pastors. These churches are looking for bivocational pastors but are struggling to find someone who can serve their churches. My heart breaks for these churches because these are precious people who just want a pastor who will love them and lead their church.

I know I write on this problem fairly often, but it's one I think is important to keep before our churches and our denominational leaders. Small churches need to continually look for persons who have pastoral and leadership gifts and challenge them to consider if God might be calling them to pastoral ministry. I'm convinced that many of the future pastors in smaller churches will come from within the church they will serve. We need to keep such people in leadership pipelines so they will be ready when called upon to serve.

Denominations must seek new ways to train these persons for ministry in the smaller church. Very few of them will seek a traditional seminary education. Denominational and church leaders need to determine what education and training is needed for such pastors and find ways to make that available to them. Seminaries can be a great help here as well. Some now offer certificate programs to persons who feel called to ministry but cannot pursue a traditional degree program. We need more to make such training available.

Many of these smaller churches also need to change the way they think about their pastors. In some denominations it's not unusual for a pastor to serve 2-4 congregations. In my Baptist tradition few churches are willing to share a pastor with another church. I've tried to convince several that this might be their best option to find a quality pastor, but I was never able to make my case. Each church wanted their "own" pastor. In my opinion, many of them might have enjoyed a better pastor by sharing one with another church than the one they called to be "their" pastor.

This is not a problem with an easy fix. Pastors, churches, denominations, and seminaries are all going to have to accept changes if we are going to have pastors for our smaller churches.

Where are the future pastors coming from?

I recently met with a pastor search committee to help them begin the process of finding a bivocational pastor. One of their questions focused on the number of available pastors that they might interview, and I gave them the answer I usually give: the pool is getting smaller. Many of us currently in ministry are nearing, or already past, retirement age, and many in seminary are not planning to enter pastoral ministry.

The Association of Theological Schools surveyed 6,900 students entering their schools for the 2011-2012 school year. Only 19 percent of those students indicated they planned to have a parish ministry position after graduation. The remaining 81 percent were planning on going into counseling, social work, chaplaincy, church planting, and various specialized ministry positions. Some reported they enrolled in seminary to further their own spiritual growth, and a number of them were undecided what they were going to do with their seminary education. Less than half of the students planned to be ordained.

Other studies have found that 50 percent of pastors will drop out of full time ministry within five years after graduating seminary. While it is not believed that we have a clergy shortage at present, given the above facts we must be concerned about the number of pastors who will be available to serve the future church.

For smaller, bivocational churches the problem is even worse. Studies indicate that many clergy persons refuse to even consider serving as a pastor in those churches for a variety of reasons. Clearly, with the growing number of bivocational churches in many denominations, this is something we must address.

What can we do to ensure an adequate supply of pastors for our churches and especially our bivocational churches? Let me present an initial list, and you can feel free to add to it.

• We must begin to lift up pastoral ministry as a worthy calling for young people to consider. 
• We need to pray that God will point us to persons who might be good pastors and then challenge those persons to consider if God might be calling them into ministry. I'm in the ministry today because a pastor asked if I had ever felt that God was calling me into pastoral ministry. He had, but I had not told anyone until the pastor asked me that question.
• We need to lift up bivocational ministry as a valid calling of God on a person's life. I do not believe the growing need we have for more bivocational ministers has caught God by surprise.
• We need to look at how we train and prepare students for pastoral ministry. It is especially critical that we seek new ways to make seminary education more affordable. There is something wrong with seminary graduates leaving school with student debts of $20,000-80,000.
• Smaller churches may need to look within their congregation for their next pastor. People who have the gifts and passion to serve as a pastor, and who sense that God has called them to that role, can be trained in a variety of ways that does not require them to put their lives on hold for three years while they attend seminary.

We cannot and must not attempt to call anyone into pastoral ministry. That is God's work. But, we can talk with and pray with persons who may sense such a call on their lives. We can walk with them through the discernment process as they consider what that calling might look like in their lives. If someone determines that God has called him or her into ministry, we can support and encourage that call. Finally, we need to assist them as they prepare to answer that call.

Pastoral leadership in the smaller church

   "Why are we having so much trouble finding a new pastor?"  The question is one I hear a lot today from the pastor search committees in smaller churches.  For years many of the smaller churches in our area depended on students from a nearby seminary for their pastors.  All they had to do was call the placement office and a packet of resumes would be sent to them.  A pastoral search might only take a couple of months.  Those days are gone.

For a variety of reasons most students from that seminary won't pastor a church in our denomination so contacting the seminary is usually not helpful.  In my opinion, that's not a bad thing.  The churches that depended on these students were mostly spinning their wheels.  Every two or three years their pastor graduated and moved on to another church.  Little, if any, ministry occurred during that pastor's tenure.  The church had a person to stand in the pulpit each Sunday; the student gained experience; but little meaningful ministry ever took place.  The church grew older and smaller, and every two or three years got to repeat the cycle over again.

Now, these churches are finding it increasingly difficult to find someone willing to serve as their pastor. This is often a painful realization for many of these churches.  Many question their value to the Kingdom of God.  Some blame their denomination for not being more helpful while others question the commitment of upcoming pastors to their calling.

I try to explain to these churches why it's so difficult to find persons to serve as pastors to smaller churches.  Some of the reasons are

• There is a growing number of ministers reaching retirement age which has made the pool of available ministers smaller.
• One-half of all seminary graduates leave the ministry within five years after graduation making the pool even smaller.
• Many pastors refuse to serve in smaller churches because they do not believe it is a good use of their gifts and training.
• Some view smaller churches as being unhealthy and do not want to serve there.
• The average seminary student completes his or her education with substantial student debt which is difficult to repay with the salaries offered by many smaller church.
• Many enter seminary from larger, suburban churches and want to return to those types of churches upon graduation.  They would not be comfortable in the rural or small town settings where many smaller churches are located.

Just yesterday I read an article that offered another reason.  According to a study done by the Association of Theological Schools on the incoming students at 161 ATS schools in 2011-2012, 81 percent of them did not expect to serve as pastors and less than half planned to be ordained.  What does this say about the numbers of persons entering pastoral ministry in the future?

What do all of these reasons listed here suggest to smaller churches seeking pastoral leadership?  We'll try to answer that question in tomorrow's post.