Are fewer people going into Gospel ministry?

I have heard anecdotal comments made a few times to the effect that fewer people are going into Gospel/pastoral ministry. This includes seeing the statement made on blogs/podcasts and in mainstream Christian media articles.

I hear of churches that go for a long time without being able to fill a post but then I’m also aware of multiple cases where churches have received many genuine expressions of interest.

Then there’s the question concerning how many people are going to theological college. I have heard rumours that the numbers are down significantly at residential seminaries. However, whether this reflects a trend, a blip or whether we in fact saw a blip in terms of a spike of student numbers between 2005-2015 is uncertain. Indeed, furthermore, we may need to factor in the increased role of distance and flexi learning plus churches/trainees opting for more in-house vocational options.

With that in mind, I thought it might be helpful to try and do some research to find out a bit more about what is happening. So I’m going to attempt to kick this off

First, I’d like to invite as many churches as possible to participate in this survey. To help with numbers, please could you share this survey with as many people as possible

Additionally, if you have access to existing information and research, please feel to comment further below.