Education & Training
Two Aspects
of Ministerial Preparation
Colleges
(and seminaries) and local churches (and districts) are working out new models
of who does what in ministerial preparation in the face of the new emerging
adulthood. We are often using old
models of ministerial preparation when many of the rules have changed. Districts
Superintendents and senior pastors still expect a “finished product” from
college graduates like they got in the 1970s or 1960s when they graduated from
college. Colleges are continuing to pretend they are “graduating students into
a life of ministry” completely prepared for the nest 50 years of service.
Churches often expect graduates to have all the education and training for
ministry they need by age 21. Colleges still pretend they provide “everything
you need for your ministry for life.” From recent conversations with pastors
and DSs the two of us writing this (Charlie Alcock and
Local churches (and
districts) think students at graduation are fully trained to take on a church
staff position or senior pastor role. Colleges now think graduates have the
basic biblical and theological education from which they can now gain
on-the-ground practical experience during their real-life ministry in the local
church. Churches expect more practical training; colleges believe they are
mostly providing education
Church leaders think the
practicum experiences required in college should actually train graduates to be
pastors or staff persons so they can hit the ground running. Colleges consider
practicums an introduction to the
practice of ministry but serve as basic exposure to full-orbed real-life
ministry which students will get after graduation.
Church leaders wish
graduates knew how to plant a church, preach deep sermons, and lead a mature
ministry upon graduation—after all, why did they go to college? Colleges believe their primary duty is the education of ministers and the only
place a student can be adequately trained
is in the local church, not in a classroom or even in a few-hours-a-week
practicum in a nearby church.
All this relates to a new stage of life among today’s young adults—the
longer stage of emerging adulthood.
Boomer church leaders criticize today’s students for “failure to
launch.” Many college graduates don’t expect to launch as fast as their parents
did. They see most of their 20’s as a time of “continued preparation.” Senior
pastors and DSs expect graduates to be able to perform—after all they are
getting paid now! Students often look for several years of experience that will
be more like a medical doctor’s model—medical school, followed by an a low-paid
“internship” followed by (still low paid)
“residency” that may take up to age 30 before they enter the fully
mature practice of ministry.
So what might be the model of ministerial preparation in the future given
the massive changes of emerging adulthood? We’d like to take a stab at it—for
your consideration and discussion.
0-18 years:
Local church (Calling, Imprinting, Initial Experience)
Ministerial preparation begins at birth. The first 18 years happen in the
local church where the prospective minister is raised. Sure, some are saved
later in life but most college ministerial students come to college with 18
years of local church experience already under their belt. The local church
experience through high school imprints
students far more than four years of practicum experiences during college.
During 0-18 we must ensure “the call” is sensed and affirmed and initial
experience in ministry occurs. Some students come to college having already
experienced “ministerial mentoring” by their pastor or youth pastor—they have
already led worship, they have already gone on hospital calls, they have
already led someone to Christ, they have already taught Sunday school classes
and they understand the hard knocks of a minister’s life. These ministerially
experienced teens have a huge head start on other teens who were merely were
consumers of church programming. Admittedly “preacher’s kids” often have this
edge, but even children of laity sometimes bring this local church experience
to college with them. It shortens the after-college training period
considerably and is the reason why some graduates are ready to pastor solo by
age 21. In the future we expect there will be a greater emphasis on “Fellowship
Of The Called” mentoring and training programs so students experience this
powerful “imprinting” before they even go to college. These students will then
know what ministry is like, they know ministry is hard, they understand they
won’t always be liked by everyone, and they will understand what the life of a
minister is like before they even declare a major. The first 18 years of
ministerial preparation happens before college.
18-21(24)—College
years (Education and Introductory
Training)
Colleges (and seminaries[1]) now enter the picture adding the basic knowledge that is the underpinning for
ministry: Bible, theology, church history, and practical ministry. Here the
ministerial student learns to rightly handle the Word of God in preaching,
teaching, counseling, and leading. They get systematic education in theology,
church history and Bible. They also get some experience and “training” but
mostly they get education. Sure,
colleges require “practicums”[2] but these are mostly introductory—facing someone
dying of cancer and their grieving spouse happens in a local church better than
in a college classroom or even in a few-hours-a-week practicum. Classes can
teach about conflict resolution but few students experience a full-blown church
fight in their short practicum. Until a prospective minister has seen conflict
and faced opposition are they ready to be ordained? Colleges and seminaries are
far better at providing education
than training—though some (like IWU)
try heroically. Homiletics classes can teach you how to prepare a sermon and
even pretend to be a church when the student preaches, but preaching in a local
church week after week is the best training for preaching. For most students
their college and seminary years are their last chance for systematic education—the training they get is a
bonus but not their primary take-away.
24-30—Practical
training ) (Training, Expertise)
The day is gone when most 21 year old graduates can take a church and
lead it the rest of their life. Some can; Most can’t. Ministry is more complex
than ever. Leading people is difficult work. Most students (though not all)
believe they “just aren’t ready yet” to practice ministry any more than their
roommate biology graduates think they can practice medicine. Sure, this is less
true for students who come from smaller churches (who often believe they are
already more competent than their home pastor). But students from larger
churches think they need far more training. Today(at least at IWU) so many
ministerial students come from mega churches[3] and they believe ministry is so complex
they need years of experience before
they are “fully ready.” So, they expect to be prepared all through their 20’s
in a local church situation, just like their fellow pre-med students will do in
hospital internships and residencies. In the future we will need to figure out
how to provide for this extended practical full-time training in a real church
situation. Twenty-one year old “preacher boys” still exist—but they are
increasingly rare. We will have to band together in the future to figure out
how we can systematically train 20something college grads in the local church.
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We believe there will be increasing partnerships developing in the coming
years between local churches, districts and educational institutions, each
doing what it does best. Local churches can provide imprinting of the young and ensure they face the matter of “the call” and get their first experiences. Colleges (and seminaries)
can provide education in the basics
and provide introductory training.
The biggest thing we need to develop in the future, however, is a systematic
approach to post-college training in
the local church for 20somethings. Right now it is mostly “survival of the
fittest” and plenty fall away in failure, discouragement and despair. We expect
something like a “curriculum” is going to develop for the training needed in a
real live local church to provide for these years of post-college training.
That’s where the training for expertise
comes that can only be gotten in a real-live local church.
Thus, we suggest a model of ministerial preparation for the future might
recognize these factors:
1.
“The call” often comes early—during
high school especially. If youth ministries, preaching and mentoring do not address
“the call” before age 18 it often will not be faced again by these youth until
middle age, if at all.
2. Before age 18 the local church has a
vital role in “imprinting” ministerial students—students will tend to apply
all of their college learning backwards—back toward their home church, for that
is their primary experience of the previous 18 years.
3. The local church is better at
training then education. A local church could provide systematic education
in church history, theology and Bible, but most don’t. Local churches are
better at providing practical training
in ministry. This is why Bible schools and colleges were founded—to provide the
ministerial education local churches
couldn’t pull off alone. Local churches should still try to provide education
in theology, church history and Bible, but they are better at providing
practical training both before college and after.
4. Colleges and seminaries are better at
education than training. Educational
institutions can require practicums (and even full-semester internships) in
local churches for 18-21 year olds, but these often will be mostly “exposure
experiences” and not comprehensive. Only in an ongoing full-time role when the
souls of people are at stake can ministerial students get the kind of expansive
practical training in ministry they need to be fully prepared. Colleges should
still force students to take practicums and internships, but they shouldn’t
fool themselves into thinking these experiences provide all the training a minister needs.
5. In the future we must provide for a longer period of post-education training
in the local church. Maybe the
ministry was simple enough once for a college graduate to work a year or two in
a local church and then get ordained and be considered fully prepared for a
life of professional ministry. Not now. Many graduates expect to serve on a
church staff for several years and will only get to preach five times a year on
Sunday mornings. (It will take them ten years to preach a year’s worth of
Sundays at this rate.) Sharp district
leaders are already dreaming how to respond to this changing landscape of young
adulthood. Wise leaders are not expecting 21 year olds to conform to the
pattern of the 1970’s and 1960’s when boomers entered ministry. We will soon
see new efforts to comprehensively provide for this decade of local church
training for people who have got a decent education
but still need practical training
that can only be gotten in an on-going full time local church “residency.[4]” These graduates know that if they get these years of practical
experience they will be far better equipped for a life of ministry from age 30
to 75—about when most of them will retire.
So what do you think?
During the first few weeks, click here to comment or read comments
By Charlie Alcock &
[1] The preferred path of ministerial preparation in The Wesleyan Church is both college and seminary sp perhaps this should read age 18-24. However, at the present time the majority of ministers do not go directly from college to seminary but serve in local churches for several years before going on to seminary. Some never go on at all, which is acceptable in The Wesleyan Church, though not “preferred.” More serve several years in a kind of “internship” or maybe “resdidency” role the continue ministry while they do an online/blended seminary program such as provided for in IWU’s new M.Div seminary degree.
[2] IWU’s ministry degrees require seven semesters of local church practicum experiences: Introduction/shadowing; Teaching, Evangelism/missions; Worship; Counseling/pastoral care; Preaching & Leadership/administration.
[3] In a
multi-year study of ministerial students
at IWU in the ordination programs (Youth Ministry and
[4] Happily many students who recognize their need for 5 years of full-time in-the-local-church training are willing to work for marginal salaries—just like hospital “residents” do. But don’t tell them we told you this.