brotherhood, can you spare a job?
We’ve all heard the statistics. 
Thousands of churches close each year, 1500 pastors leave the ministry each month, and 50% of pastors would leave if they could. (Good stuff at the link, including a typo about “abstinent elders.” Pretty sure they meant obstinate. What are the stats on bloggers who can’t spell?)
Many groups have formed to solve these problems, including two new ones within our own fellowship of churches. The Just One Challenge, spearheaded by the presidents of our 33 colleges and universities, encourages church leaders to preach on Matthew 9:38 and asks church members to pray for “just one” more kingdom worker. Restoration Revolution is a ten-year initiative focusing on prayer, church planting, developing resources and equipping more Christian leaders.
People are responding: the Revolution launched with a service at last weekend’s National Missionary Convention, and the Christian Standard enews has been full of stories about churches participating in Just One.
But after we reported some of these success stories, I received an email.
The church I attend embraced this challenge and set aside some time to pray for the young people in our congregation. There are several potential servant leaders that could accept a call into vocational ministry and for them we are hopeful.
Now a personal and painful observation. I graduated from one of our Bible colleges with honors and I have been visiting the Christian Standard’s “Needs of Churches” section every week and sending resumes for well over three years now. I have a collection of letters indicating that I am underqualified to serve. In networking with other Bible college and Christian college graduates, I know I am not alone.
As I’m sure you’re aware, a four-year degree program is expensive. Though I treasure what I learned and experienced in that process, today I struggle to repay the loans. I work three part-time jobs seven days a week, most weeks, just to make ends meet.
Please don’t misunderstand this as a “woe is me” dialogue. It is not. Though I am saddened and somewhat discouraged that I cannot secure a full-time ministry, what I want to share with you is this: we want our young men to pursue vocational ministry, but it is not always easy to find a place to serve. I want to encourage our young men and women to pursue education in Christian ministry, but cannot assure them it will be easy to find a job.
I love the church, I love the Kingdom of God, I love the King. But I have a deep desire to serve in full-time vocational ministry that remains just out of reach.
I’ve never met this guy, so I can’t vouch for him. It’s certainly possible he’s lazy or unskilled or hard to get along with. But this email makes me think that’s not the case. Instead, I think there are very few churches willing to hire a young man without any experience. No church wants to be someone’s first church—understandable, but then how are these guys (and gals) supposed to turn the statistical tide?
Just One and Restoration Revolution are great efforts to “raise up a harvest” of new Kingdom workers. But there’s a second challenge we must take just as seriously. If our current leaders don’t mentor, coach, and hire them, how will these thousands of new recruits live out the commitments we’re asking them to make?
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Jennifer Taylor
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I know that some of our larger churches offer one-year paid internships – maybe this would be a model more could adopt.
OK, this is so wierdly coincidental:
I posted this on Tuesday, and on Sunday I found out that I’ve been assigned to a team to develop an internship position at our church – and the assignment was made two weeks prior! I’m not one to casually assert God’s will, but certainly find the coincidence amusing!
(The coincidence would be complete if one of the young men referenced were eventually to end up at Manor Woods!)
From the “be careful what you wish for” file.
These statistics have puzzled me. I know they must be true, but they just don’t quite match our experience. I guess we could just be the exception, but I find in conversations that many others have had our experience. My husband has been in ministry for a while. When we left our last ministry and then began to look for our next, we had no trouble finding 150 or so churches to apply to. They were churches under 250 needing guys like my husband to preach/pastor for them. At least that’s what we got from their ads. As we began to visit with the various churches (about 80% never responded to our inquiries! – not even a “thanks for your interest” email), we heard that each was fairly overwhelmed with applicants. Anywhere from 49 to over 200 men of various ages had contacted these churches. Still, some of these churches take 9 months or longer to find someone. We eventually had 4 interviews and are now in a church again, but that took us over 1 1/2 years to accomplish. No church ever even hinted that we were under qualified, but the age question did come up often. That would be the too old problem for us. It seems that our churches are only looking for men from about 30 to 45 years old to lead them. That means that about the time a man is hit with college tuition and weddings to pay for, he “ages out” of his chosen profession. If he isn’t in a position that he can stay in for the next 20+ years by the time he’s 45 . . . well, maybe he should have chosen a good trade school when he was younger, after all.
We’ve also been meeting guys who were in ministry, but took extra jobs to support their families, then eventually had to stop pursuing ministry as a vocation. They just get sucked away when they can’t provide for their families. These are not greedy men, either. They are men of quite modest means and huge hearts, but they don’t have to live in poverty now – not since they left the ministry. No more food stamps; no more medicaid where there is no doctor in their town who will actually take them as patients. And now we see our own daughter and her husband, a remarkable ministry team, being mistreated by a church, or more precisely by some elders and their wives. All they can do is leave graciously, and ask God what He wants them to do next, and accept His provision as it comes.
It’s no surprise to me that young men don’t want to pursue ministry. They are not blind. They see what their own ministers have been through. It’s not wrong for our young families to desire to raise their children in safe neighborhoods, like the people of their congregations. Or to be able to afford school supplies each fall, or get medical care when they need it, or take a vacation that doesn’t require lodging with relatives.
Yikes! I don’t mean to get to ranting here. It’s just that I think there’s so much more to the problem of filling our pulpits than just getting men to pursue ministry. I really do think most of the problem is with the churches and their leadership (or lack thereof). We could have many more men pursuing ministry if the churches would treat them better. I don’t mean just financially. None of us enter ministry to get rich. But we are still human, and we respond to reward – to honor and respect and thank-yous and true friendship. There are a lot of churches out here that have earned reputations for blowing through ministers. Every couple of years they have a new one. We know these guys; they were not “bad” ministers. They go on to churches that thrive under their caring. It’s one of the things that just breaks my heart – to see the way they make God look when they treat the man God sent them the way they do. Actually, it’s one of the situations that makes me glad that as a woman I can’t be an elder, and thus be the leader who is accountable to God for what happens.
I must stop. I guess you hit a nerve with me in your post. Thanks. Keep writing. Keep asking questions. Keep loving God and His people!
There’s absolutely no question in my mind that there are many more American Christians who want to serve the church full time than there are churches with positions that can provide a livelihood. There’s also no question in my mind that many people are attracted to ministry who ought not serve that way. There’s also no question in my mind that some of those who want to serve and can’t get positions are well suited to ministry and some of those who have positions aren’t well suited. There’s also no question in my mind that we can never have enough people who are sold out for their faith in a way that embraces a career of church leadership as at least a possibility.
And I don’t have an efficient way of reconciling all of these truths, if truths they are. All I can say is that churches and elders ought to be more deliberate about nurturing vocational leaders, including the ones they hire, and that people who sense a call need to be flexible in the way that they carry out their call.
None of my biblical heroes started leading God’s people vocationally at age 22 and continued to do so without interruption until age 67.5. Maybe we need to remember that the road of discipleship is winding as well as narrow?
Well said. Reminds me of what another friend said about this post: “Maybe the guys complaining about not getting a job just aren’t willing to play the game and be a youth minister for five years first.” We’ve definitely made vocational ministry a career track that starts at graduation and ends at retirement.
Bible college degree programs for youth ministry are different from preaching ministry. One graduates fully equipped to serve in the area they have been called to. It’s not a game and youth ministry is not a stepping stone to bigger and better things. If one is called to minister to children or youth, that is how the Bible college prepares that student to serve. If preaching /teaching then likewise. If world missions then likewise. None of these course programs are intended to be a game or stepping stone to a higher call.
Those truly called to ministry know that it is a spiritual calling given by the Holy Spirit. To preach the truth is hard, but when it is preached, God gives the increase. I know there are “tough” churches out there, but they need preachers too! Ministry is not easy, and requires much sacrifice, prayer, fasting, and patience. There must be a sincere calling to ministry, and then churches must be sincere in wanting there pastor to be succesful. I feel we don’t pray for our pastors as we should. We should pray for, and have a respect for our pastors. I pray for my pastor in Nashville, TN often, and for my cousin who pastors a church near Ashland City, TN. I simply pray for the Holy Spirit to annoint those guys to lead, teach, and preach the truth in love, and to guide them and protect them, to build them up in Jesus’ Name. Sometime, just stop and thank your pastor, and let him know he’s appreciated.
Hmmmm….not sure I agree with you that people are “called” to ministry. Some are gifted for it, some want to do it for various reasons, and some obey a sense they have that it’s needed, but I don’t think God “calls” many of us. But that’s another blog post. (http://writeaboutnow.christianstandard.com/2010/07/23/new-to-you-friday-call-waiting/, to be exact)
I understand what you mean Jennifer, but I do feel sometimes that there is a humble calling on some to preach, others to sing, some to teach, some to work in so many diferrent ways as the Holy Spirit equips them for ministry. I think if churches need people to step up to leadersip positions, especially pastoral leadership, then intense prayer must be involved as well as annointing from the Holy Spirit. The book of Acts gives us example of this. Church leaders must seriously consider that while education and experience is important on a future pastor’s resume, does this person walk in righteousness, has this person been baptized in Jesus’ Name, been filled with the Holy Spirit, and believes in living a clean lyfe style of holiness. Sincere obedience to the things of God will produce leaders for churches. And once again, I just feel compeled to say that we need to pray in each of our own congregations, that our leaders and pastors are lifted up in prayer. I respect my pastor very much, and know he’s annointed by God to that position, and I pray for the entire ministry staff at First Church on a weekly basis
“the road of discipleship is winding as well as narrow” wow! personally for myself ive just decided to work 9-5(5-1) hopefully get married and have kids, and make a conscious effort somehow someway to “be there” in prayer and supportive way for preachers now and in the future. so though i say “im cynical about the call for preachers” i know God is gonna work it out and will provide the church with what she needs. i doubt i will ever stop loving the preaching of the word and maybe someday i might be blessed to be the father of a preacher. if not, i want to continue to share the sermons of preachers who have been blessed to find supportive leadership with my hurting struggling coworkers of wherever-im at. maybe God puts a passionate joy for preaching in some men’s heart so they can share it in the world rather than in a church on Sunday. i dunno.
sorry for being a blog hog, but does it sound heretical to pray for mass amounts of men to “sense the call to vocational preaching” and flood bible colleges in mass amount to receive biblical and theological training to take to ups,sears,target, AAA, mcdonalds, toys r us, government position, etc? they may end up in less-than-wealthy in bank account department (or maybe some form of debt), but i think it would be worth it
I think you’re asking if it’s “wrong” for people to attend Bible college even if they don’t plan to preach. Of course not–if they want that education and can (eventually) pay it back, more power to them.