United Methodist Church

The church is not Cheers

“Is that we are called to do? Create a place where everyone knows your name? Did Jesus call us to build a Christian version of Cheers?”

Those are the words of Adam Hamilton, senior pastor of the Church of the Resurrection, the largest United Methodist Church in America. Hamilton, speaking to the 2015 Leadership Institute, recalled the decision to add a second worship service over 20 years ago. His leaders pushed back, “Then we will not know everyone. We love this sized church. We know everyone.”

When churches are faced with a change or a decision that will impact the comfort zone of people there will always be a push back. There is security in keeping things stable. There is comfort in knowing everyone. There is confidence in leadership knowing that they only have to work with 100 people instead of 200 people.

When I led a vision process in a former church there was push back:

Leadership

The case for the 45 credit seminary degree

The Atlantic ran a disturbing article on the state of middle class clergy carrying a seminary degree: high debt, low wages, vanishing churches, and part-time pastor positions. The piece profiles Justin Barringer, a recent seminary grad who like many before him graduated the call to pastoral ministry. His story is not unlike thousands of other ministers:

Justin Barringer would seem to have the perfect résumé. He’s a seminary grad, an author and book editor, and a former missionary to China and Greece. But despite applying to nearly a hundred jobs over the course of two years, Barringer, who lives in Lexington, Kentucky, could not secure a full-time, salaried church position.

So he splits his time among three jobs, working as a freelance editor, an employee at a nonprofit for the homeless, and a part-time assistant pastor at a United Methodist Church. “I am not mad at the church,” Barringer says. “However, I wish someone had advised me against taking on so much debt in order to be trained for ministry.”

Here is the reality: high debt and scarcity of full-time paying pastor positions.

The traditional mainline church track for full-time pastors followed like this: 4-years of college, 3-years of graduate seminary education, and ordination. This process launched a generation of pastors into their ministry in the 1950’s, 60’s, and 70’s. The traditional 90-credit seminary degree, the master of divinity, became the mark of an intellectual, professional, and full-time pastor. Churches had the people and money to support such a model. The pastor typical could raise a family and even buy a house (if one was not provided).

Now, because of cost of graduate education, seminary graduates are saddled with debt. In the $40,000 to $60,000 range (on top of college debt). The pace of the rise of the cost of education has exceeded the rate of inflation: to the tune of 500% since 1985. Usually, when a professional incurs such a debt, their boss gives them a raise because of their higher degree. Not the case with pastors. Many pastors have the same credit hours as school administrators, but paid much less.

With this current reality of shrinking churches, downsized church budgets, less full-time pastor positions, and need for a generation of clergy to lead churches into a new culture, a shorter more focused seminary degree is needed. An online distance modified 45-credit degree could shake up this bleak future for pastors and churches. Here’s what the 45-credit seminary degree could look like:

clergy, new

Why I Wear A Clergy Collar

As many in my church know, I often wear a clergy collar for hospital visits. When I visit parishioners or when I’m asked to give an opening prayer at a fireman’s dinner, the collar goes on. As I discussed in my book, The Work of the Associate Pastor, pastoral identity is very important.

For those who are versed in denominationalism or Protestant traditions, you know that vast majority of Baptist ministers do not wear clergy collars. Those funny looking white tabs or rounded white collars that ministers wear are most identified with Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran traditions.

If collars are not required for Baptist ministers or not a part of the Baptist tradition, what is a Baptist doing wearing one?

As a young seminarian, I did a stretch in a clinical chaplain program in a hospital in the suburbs of Philadelphia. As a student chaplain, I was charged with doing rounds to patient rooms. As I visited, we evaluated the patient’s needs, offered prayer, and gave emotional support.

Church Leadership, Churches

Mainline Churches Deal with ‘No Shows’

A new report this week has left many mainline churches scratching their heads and wondering why church attendance has dropped. The four major mainline churches, the Episcopal Church in the USA, United Methodist Church, Presbyterian (PCUSA), and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA), have all experienced double digit drops in worship attendance. What is even more puzzling is that the ELCA has seen an increase in giving in the last 10 years.

Churches increased attendance in the last decade but lost in attendance numbers in this decade. What gives? The economy?

United Methodist Church

The church is not Cheers

The case for the 45 credit seminary degree

Why I Wear A Clergy Collar

Mainline Churches Deal with ‘No Shows’

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