Tomorrow's Seminary Students

If you are involved in a church or denomination, you may has asked the question, “Where are our future clergy leaders?” Many denominations struggle to find pastors or to bring women and men into the ordination track. Seminaries address this from the standpoint not only of how they can serve the churches’ needs, but how can they provide theological education and spiritual formation for the society at large. They ask, “Who is in the next generation of seminary students?”

If I may use the term, here are key “markets” for theological education to consider in the new future:

“Pipeline” clergy. These are individuals who are active in their congregations and have experienced a vocational call to ministry. In the past, these tended to be young adults who either came to faith in the church or in a parachurch ministry. There are still many of these folks out there, but increasingly the seminaries are enrolling women and men who are mid or late career individuals. They have served in the church in many roles while holding down a job and raising their families. Now they want to serve full-time in the local church or in chaplaincy. There have always been students like this (I knew several when I went to seminary), but the number has increased significantly in recent years.

Ethnic clergy. In our highly mobile world, we have seen people from many nations come to North America. Some arrive as believers and others convert through the outreach of established denominations. In most cases, they become members and leaders in first generation ethnic congregations. They are called and have a desire to develop their gifts to serve the church more fully. Their resources may be limited, but their motivation is high. If seminaries really desire to serve the larger church, this is a key group to involve.

“Field promoted” clergy. In the military in time of war, battlefield promotions take place. When needed, a person might be advanced in rank whether enlisted or officer. This is happening more often in the church. Gifted lay leaders are engaged in age-group or functional ministry roles (worship, administration, spiritual formation) and may eventually be asked to become full-time or part-time leaders with some financial compensation. They may or may not be ordained. These folks have the passion and the gifts; seminaries can help them develop their skills.

Activists. Many young adults are becoming more aware of the human need that abounds around them. They often come from a faith background, but they are frustrated by the impact that their local faith community is making. Seminaries have the opportunity to offer discernment, training, and mentoring for those called to address peace, gender, racial, and social justice concerns.

Nones. A seminary professor friend has long been a proponent of using seminary resources to reach out to those who have abandoned their faith or seeking to find it. Reaching and involving these seekers would be a major task, but this could be an effective expression of inclusion and an invitation to discipleship.

Reaching out to any or all of these populations called for innovation approaches. I will discuss some of those in future posts.

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