There is
lots of talk in the ELCA about the existing clergy shortage, and how it will
grow worse as more pastors retire. When I was in college back in the day
(1992-1996) the recruiter for all the seminaries would come once a year to
Muhlenberg and give us the pitch. At that time the pitch was, “Soon lots of
pastors will retire and the Church will need new leaders like you.” In short,
they were offering us job security. So this is not a new problem. However, it
is upon us and worse then maybe even those recruiters thought back in the
1990’s. I have heard seminary presidents and bishops say, “The next seminarians
are in your pews or confirmation classes.” This might be true but there is a
deeper problem that never gets brought up.
I did not get my call from my
congregation. I got it from outdoor ministry and campus ministry. During the
time in my life when I was trying to figure out what to do with the rest of my
life these two things became the Church for me. It was at college that I saw my
college chaplain do things that I wanted to do. He was passionate about the
world, cared about people, pushed the boundaries of the Church, and asked hard
questions. I did not see those things in the congregation.
In the congregation I saw people
concerned about money and buildings. People concerned about institutional
survival not mission and ministry. I did not see the freedom to ask difficult
questions, or explore new possibilities. This is not the fault of my home
congregation. I was a kid when I was there and didn’t even realize that is what
I was looking for. I didn’t ask hard questions because I didn’t know I needed
to. I found that out in college. Thank God there was a campus ministry to keep
me engaged.
It was at camp that I found
authentic Christian community. I found how imperfect people tried to love each
other unconditionally. It was at camp that I was given leadership roles in
worship and Bible study. Again, I didn’t even know I could do that stuff until
I went to camp. I came back to my congregation and organized a “youth service”.
I preached for the first time. Camp gave me the courage to do that, and the
confidence to know I could.
My point is that every year that I
go to a synod assembly these are the two things that get cut out of the budget.
The place where young people hear the call is no longer the place the Church
puts its resources. And then we wonder why we don’t have enough young pastors.
What I see is that the people in
power in our church (ELCA) are concerned about institutional survival and have
lost the very reason why we do this work. As budgets become tighter we cut out
the things that people really care about. I have a radical idea. In the next
synod budget cut out a bishop’s assistant’s salary and use that money for
campus ministry and/or outdoor ministry. Instead of having annual appeals for
the synod have one for campus ministry and/or outdoor ministry. Have that
campaign be about mission and ministry in the next century. We want young
people to remain in the Church so let’s put our money where our mouth is. Stop
begging me to get kids in confirmation to go to seminary, and do your part to
have a Church eco-system that promotes church vocations when young people are
making those critical decisions.
I tell the people in the
congregations I serve that if we live out our mission the money will take care
of itself. In every case that has been true. People are not giving money to a
failing institution in order to keep it alive for a couple more years. They
will happily give to something that is living and breathing. They will happily
give to mission and ministry. So we should stop doing what is not working and
take drastic action to focus on what we know does. This is just my humble
suggestion to all the seminary presidents and synod bishops telling us about
the great shortage of pastors.
