Last year, I picked up on some discussion about whether there was a problem with the ministry pipeline. Were we struggling to recruit people into church leadership, especially pastoral positions. I thought I’d do a little further digging. First I sent out a short survey (I’ll share results form this in a further article. Then I spoke to a few Evangelical leaders. These include leaders of national networks and local church leaders. Here’s the result of those conversations.
Alex Britto
Alex Britto is involved in leading a church and acting as a church planting catalyst in London. He tells me that he is aware of three people who have chosen not to move into full time ministry. They are all from Generation Z. A crucial factor in their decision making is the cost of living situation, especially in London. So, Alex is aware of examples that point to challenges in recruiting younger people into ministry.
He also picked up on challenges the way the impact of scandals whether in Acts29 or conservative Evangelical Anglicanism. The fear of toxic cultures can put people off from wanting to train or serve in certain environments. On the other side of the coin, perceptions of cancel culture mean that people are nervous of stepping up in case their own failures lead to shaming.
At the same time Alex observes that there are many people who are seeking to plant and lead churches. Often those seeking to serve are older and come with little or no formal education. There is a much more organic nature to such planting movements and reflecting migration from the Global South, a greater emphasis on familial, relational connection.
Matthew
Matthew is an elder in a church planted with 20 people and no building. The church was planted in a Church of England context where the parish had been in impaired communion the bishop over a period of time. It has now grown to about 40 people over the past couple of years.
The church have sent two people for training, one elder has taken early retirement and is training with Crosslands. The minister’s background was s student and international work at JPa larger church but lacked formal training. AIMIE helped to assess him and suggested areas where there would be benefit in filling in gaps in his skills and knowledge. He is training with a seminary.
The original church didn’t have success in raising up locals but had people who came through as Ministry Trainees and curates/ As a plant., they now want to be doing better at growing from within
When they appointed their minister, they advertised the role but only had a few people over a period of time. They did not proceed for a variety of reasons.
The process involved an Interview and visit to the church, lunch with trustees a walk around the parish and references.
Network leader
Network Leader
One Network leader who has chosen to remain anonymous observes is that there has been a decline in churches sending people for training. He wonders if there has been a move by seminaries to focus on curating knowledge. This reflects comments made recently in seminars and in print by James Robson (Principal of Oak Hill) and Michael Bird. He is concerned that we risk losing something. There is a benefit to seminary of spending time in the presence of great minds.
He is also concerned that those who miss out on formal training lack ballast so that when the going gets tough they end up disillusioned leading to a high burn out rate and attrition.
Their network are currently running a training programme for elders and have seen a steady number going through in each cohort. They use outsourced material but it is curated and taught in house. The ages of those involved range from late twenties through to sixties.
He notes that larger churches tend to find it easier to fill positions than smaller ones. He would also observe that one of the challenges with recruiting younger men is that we are seeing delayed maturity but when men are reaching maturity it is also accompanied by other life responsibilities making training harder. The network have also conducted their own survey and picked up on a range of issues from disqualification through sexual sin including pornography through to experience of bullying.
Adrian Reynolds FIEC
Adrian is one of the FIEC’s national leadership team. He observes that there are currently 200 people training formally from FIEC churches. This excludes those focusing on counselling through BCU\K. There are 130 trainee pastors at FEC churches.
One trend is that fewer are studying full time due to a variety of factors. These include that it is often a less attractive option due to connections with local churches where trainees are often already serving. Moving away for three years may also be challenging for young families. There has been a significant growth in the distance learning/learning community model, particularly through Union and Crosslands.
He believes that the situation in terms of vacancies has been skewed post covid particularly with high demand for youth workers to enable churches to fill rotas. He also observes that burnout, especially for those in their late 40s is an issue but always has been the case. He says that there are men who are weary in their late 40s and looking to restructure ministry though not necessarily leave it.
He believes that we need to focus on helping people to going. This means that we need to communicate that ministry is costly but is noble and joyful, t is a high calling In summary, the cupboard isn’t empty but it is a different cupboard.
Fran Kirby 938
Fran serves as part of the 938 Trust who last year conducted their own detailed survey. The survey was prompted by a change of personnel but also awareness of anecdotal reports. They wanted to be sure that 930 are still serving a purpose
One of 938’s key involvements with churches and ministry calling is through Ministry Tain
Gavin Calver
Gavin is the CEO of the Evangelical Alliance, an organisation that represents individuals, churches and organisations across the UK. It is the oldest and largest Evangelical unity organisation.
Gavin does observe evidence that there is a challenge to recruit people into ministry. For example, the Salvation Army are finding that for every person in training, there are 40 vacant posts. In the Baptist Church, the average vacancy takes 18 months to fill.
He has also picked up on a number of trends including the following. First, that in recent times we have seen a rebalancing of perspectives on ministry vocation and calling. Marke Greene of the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity has helped to normalise the idea that what we do in the workplace Monday to Saturday is as important as what clergy do and what we do gathered on Sundays in terms of evangelism.
Second, he would see that increasingly as people see the pressure that comes with visibility and prominence that more and more people are reluctant to step forward into leadership roles where they can be shot down. Meanwhile changing patterns in terms of training and ministry mean that people are finding others routes into Christian service,
Fourthly, people have a greater concern for work life balance. Gavin would see a generational thing here, his father and grandfather both served in the same role for the EA. He doesn’t see this c concern for rest, emotional and physical health and balance with family and recreational time as a bad thing. Rather than burning out early, it is better to be able to serve longer and reach more people over time. We also need to be alert to how drivenness and activity can replace intimacy.
Fifth, Theological colleges and institutions are struggling, competing not just against one another but against different options such as vocational training. Degrees are expensive and people are affected by the cost of living. The pandemic had an impact, accelerating a reluctance for people to move away to train.
What do we need for today? First, there needs to be a Holy Spirit dependent innovation that encourages whole churches to be involved in reaching whole communities. This means we need to keep moving towards the ideal of leaders being like the conductor of the orchestra rather than playing all the instruments.
Second, we need to recognise that people have heard lots of bad stories about he difficulties and challenges of ministry, we need to encourage people with positive stories about what God can do,
Conclusion
The discussion was helpful and fascinating in that it enabled me to talk to people both with an on the ground view of what is happening in local contexts and a more birds eye view. This was helpful because those with the birds eye view do have some insight into apparent trends. At the same time, it is worth remembering that this remains primarily anecdotal with some data. Additionally there seemed to be some quite divergent views. It may also be the case that the divergence reflects differing contexts but also differing views on the ideal for recruitment and training. I intend to come back later and interact more with the conversation here.
Faithroots 