The Future of Theological Education: The Changing Context

Theological education as we have known it will never be the same. The changes that seminaries must adopt are driven by the North American context in which they work and the constituencies they serve.

First, the church constituency has changed.

The number of Christian churches is in decline. It is not just that many churches are closing their doors. One source indicates that more than 4000 churches close their doors every year, but there are just over 1000 new church starts! The number of churches is not keeping up with population growth.

Every year, 2.7 million church members fall into inactivity. In addition, half of all churches in the US did not add any new members to their ranks in the last two years.

Those mainline churches that are still active tend to have fewer participants and a lower level of giving. In a recent article, Denise Craig noted that church salary increases are not keeping up with the rate of inflation. For ministry employees, this means the money they are bringing home, even if it is more than it was last year, isn’t going as far as it used to.

Giving to churches is declining. According to GivingUSA.org, the percentage of giving to religious organizations has decreased from 57% of giving between 1984-1988 to only 27% of giving between 2019-2023.

Of course, the basic expenses of operating a church facility and its programs has increased due to the cost of utilities, maintenance and supplies.

Second, the profile of those pursuing ministry roles has changed. I commented on this in a previous blog. They tend to be older, more diverse ethnically, and with established family, church, and community relationships.

Some churches are embracing a “back to the future” approach with bivocational or part-time ministers or calling out lay leaders to assume ministerial roles. Even so their expectations do not change. They expect the same level of competence, availability, and administration as they did in the past.

In future blogs, I will comment on some options including hybrid programs and emerging curricular trends.

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