Why are Fewer Younger Men Going Into Pastoral Ministry?

My current church is the first place I’ve ever been where there is no culture or expectation of Christian service among the teenagers. I don’t know why this is, or what the previous pastors “did wrong,” or if they even did anything wrong. But, it’s scary. This is one reason (I believe) why fewer young men are going into the ministry.

Tyler is a pastor in Olympia, WA and works in State government.

I’ve never been in vocational ministry, but one thing that comes out in Stiekes’ article is that he’s emphasizing the deprivation of serving Christ that way, not the rewards. A parallel that strikes me is that when I was in my teens, I got to visit my mom’s relatives, most of whom are lower middle class to downright poor, but somehow the love I felt there made white bread toast with grape jelly taste like something Julia Child would have cooked.

Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.

You know, it is still tough to find a ministry position, even with schooling. It often takes a couple of years. And many positions pay poorly and make unreasonable demands upon pastors.

If there really were a shortage of pastors, wages would go up and workaholic demands would go down.

True, there are certainly fewer men training, but that doesn’t translate into a shortage — not now or in the future. The trend is online learning, and another trend is to get hired first and then begin taking classes online.

I have a question in my mind: In the past, how many (percentage wise) of those who did train actually became (and remained) pastors?

Bible colleges and seminaries may do a good job training, but often (from a professional viewpoint) the people they are training will not end up in ministry.

If churches are going to mistreat their pastors (as many do — the stories I could tell!) and they go from one pastor to another, maybe it would be good to stop the flow and even shut the doors.

Nonetheless, men desperate for a place of ministry will consider positions that are either in the frying pan or in the fire.

When I hear of a church needing a pastor, they are usually showered with resumes. Position seekers may not be young, but I think we have — for a very long time — actually had a glut of pastors. A shortage of pastors is what we need to correct some of the ridiculous ways pastors are treated.

Warren Wiersbe gave this advice: If you can stay out of [vocational] ministry, stay out. At times (especially during times of conflict or when I am overcome with a sense of failure) I have thought that I was crazy to go into ministry, but I could not stay out. It is what God has for me. Fortunately, I generally enjoy ministry.

I think Wiersbe’s advice is good. As for a shortage, I say “Bah, humbug.”

"The Midrash Detective"

You wrote:

If you can stay out of [vocational] ministry, stay out. At times (especially during times of conflict or when I am overcome with a sense of failure) I have thought that I was crazy to go into ministry, but I could not stay out. It is what God has for me. Fortunately, I generally enjoy ministry.

I couldn’t agree more.

Tyler is a pastor in Olympia, WA and works in State government.

I’ve noticed two things regarding the sons of pastors.

One is those sons who are brought up to take their father’s place.

The other is sons who literally run to any other vocation.

(BTW I’m also not seeing many second generation Christian school teachers either.)

"Some things are of that nature as to make one's fancy chuckle, while his heart doth ache." John Bunyan

Tyler, I appreciate your thoughts. You wrote:

My current church is the first place I’ve ever been where there is no culture or expectation of Christian service among the teenagers.

A study found out that a disproportionate amount of Christian leaders (pastors/missionaries) came from small churches. The main factor: a lot of contact with the pastor.

With the rise of large churches and specialized youth pastors, many pastors have next to no involvement with the youth. This may also be a factor.

I didn’t have time to see if I could document the ministry to church size stat, but this article sort of suggests it, in some ways: https://www.christianitytoday.com/pastors/2010/august-online-only/small…

"The Midrash Detective"

Here are some of my reasons I wish to remain bi-vocational and not go into full-time pastoral ministry even after earning my MDiv (and potentially in the future my ThM). I suspect young men may feel similarly.

  1. Some (many?) churches expect their f/t pastors to support a growing family on a non-livable wage, with no health, retirement, or life insurance benefits. Pastors also only get 2 or 3 weeks of vacation regardless of tenure. Meanwhile, the congregants enjoy a good wage, benefits, and up to 5 weeks of vacation at their jobs.
  2. Some churches boot their f/t pastor because he angers the wrong family or person in the church instead of cowing to their wishes. Or, he calls the church to biblical doctrine or orthodoxy, and a wealthy member objects. The pastor then has no substantive way to support his family except to work at the local McDonalds or move on to the next low-paying pastorate.
  3. Some churches expect their f/t pastors to do the work of ministry while the congregants are content to sit back in their pews/chairs and provide constructive feedback.
  4. Some f/t pastors are severely out of touch with the reality and context of their people because they’ve never worked a job after bible college.
  5. F/T associate pastors usually don’t last long when a new senior pastor is brought on board. In one church I know, the new senior pastor asked for the existing associate’s resignation on his first day in the office because he wanted to bring in his own people.
  6. Becoming a f/t pastor at an established church is much like dating. Both sides hide their warts and crazy uncles. After the marriage, the crazy and ugly become painfully obvious. In some cases, pastors and churches purposely mislead each other to seal the deal only to show their true colors later.

There’s more reasons, but these have kept and would keep me away from f/t pastoral ministry in an established church as a young man. If I went into f/t pastoral ministry, it would be after I helped to plant the church or after I spent considerable time in the church as a bi-vocational pastor/elder. No surprises. No unrealistic expectations. Eyes wide open.

Ed,

I agree completely. It seems strange to on one hand bemoan not enough pulpits for the new graduates and at the same time not enough men going into ministry. As one who was at one time pursuing full time ministry, it seems that things may just be equalizing.

The Babylon Bee tells us the story of a youth pastor fed at an outreach for the homeless, where he was characterized as “under-dressed.” It is sobering to see the stories of insiders noting that my earlier point about “what about the positive of this?” was pretty optimistic, especially Tom Howard’s. (not belittling you, Tyler, but Tom “wins” this one) It seems that a lot of churches, presumably including leadership, have a lot of repenting to do in this matter.

Again, if we can’t quickly point out something positive about pastoring, we ought not be surprised that nobody’s taking us up on it.

Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.

I’m the youngest pastor in my association, I believe. All the other pastors I’ve met have been, at a minimum, 55+

Tyler is a pastor in Olympia, WA and works in State government.

Good article, but I think Ed is right to say that we still have too many potential pastors out there. In my view the vast majority of those who claim to be called to the ministry aren’t. They don’t belong there, and they are the main reason the Church is in the sorry state that it is in. Seminaries have perpetuated the glut by acting like sausage factories sputtering out so many uncalled candidates into the world. A true pastor knows he is called and trusts God through thick and thin, trusting that God will provide (though often not in the way we might choose). Yes, one way God can provide is through another job. But for many today the provision has to include a list of things which make living by faith almost non-essential.

I have read good men here recommend plurality of bi-vocational elders. They have a far more sanguine view of God’s calling of men than I do, yet a less optimistic view of God’s ability to provide than I do. Being a pastor is not a job like being an accountant or a salesman. It is (I believe) a special calling which is not for many.

Not only Wiersbe said a man shouldn’t go into the ministry if he could avoid it. Spurgeon and Lloyd-Jones were both emphatic about that point too!

Dr. Paul Henebury

I am Founder of Telos Ministries, and Senior Pastor at Agape Bible Church in N. Ca.

Several observations come to mind after reading Greg’s article and the subsequent comments posted on SI. First, it is hard to find anything wrong with Greg’s premise and his explanation. Over a period of ministry that spans four decades, I, too, have observed the corrosive effect of our society’s preoccupation with “affluence and peace” (Schaeffer’s words). Without question these values have been insinuated into the culture of local churches. Also without question, there is a simultaneous decline in men preparing to lead our churches. The rapidly declining enrollments at conservative schools that exist solely for ministry preparation is sufficient evidence—without even mentioning the recent closure of several schools. The direct relationship between cultural influence and declining numbers of ministry students remains to be established objectively, but to me there is no doubt that a connection exists.

Second, the declining number of ministry students is a multifaceted problem. I’m sure that Greg would agree that the concerns raised in his article are not exhaustive. I would like to touch on a few other possible causes.

1) There has been a paucity of true worship in our churches throughout multiple generations. The heirs of revivalism raised soteriology above doxology in the local church. My experience was not uncommon: I have no recollection of ever attending a true worship service in the church of my youth. Today, even many “evangelical” churches follow a similar philosophy (perhaps putting on a better show). If we want to inspire young men to serve a great cause, we must give them an unshakable vision of the grandeur of God—and you cannot do that if they never attend a service in which the only attraction is God. As one has famously said, worship fuels the mission.

2) There has been too little mentoring. The only way young men will ever lay hold of love for ministry is to spend time with men who love the ministry. Seminaries provide indispensable academic training, but they cannot equip men for ministry. This is a work the Spirit accomplishes as the Word is communicated and applied in the context of significant relationships. There is no substitute for this (cf. Paul with Timothy and Titus). Perhaps some pastors need to claw back time previously invested in orchestrating activities that have no biblical precedence so that they can mentor young men, passing on their own love of humble service.

3) There has been too much pursuit of “affluence and peace” on the part of some in the ministry. As for affluence, those who would complain about too little pay and not enough vacation time need to be very careful. Perhaps they are part of the problem rather than the solution. As for me and most of my peers, I have several weeks of vacation available to me, but choose not to take it all. It may be inescapable that a man planting a pioneering work may need to be bi-vocational, but the church and the pastor’s family will suffer for it. Eventually, the church must be taught to meet the needs of the pastor as a matter of first priority (1 Tim 5:17-18). Even difficult people must be taught to obey this part of a full orbed ecclesiology. As for peace, no one will ever find a church that does not experience conflict. As witness to this, I give you every church in the NT! Part of our problem is that too many pastors fail to weather the storm. They use the conflicts as proof that “the Lord’s leading” them elsewhere. When they leave, problems remain unresolved, their ministry is cut short, the church is left victim to the agenda of Diotrophes, and young men never learn by example the immeasurable value of serving the church at great cost and emerging from the battle, scarred but stronger.

Finally, you will notice that each of these suggestions I have listed focus on what the minister is doing (or failing to do). After all, it is given to us to equip the saints for the work of the ministry (Eph 4:12). If the saints remain surly and unproductive, maybe we need to look within ourselves before we begin to paint the saints with a broad brush of criticism. Or, perhaps, decide on a different career path.

Steven Thomas

I agree that there are a lot of unemployed pastors. There are many contributing factors.

-Some of them aren’t called to the ministry. My alma mater used to meet every year with men who were “non-ministerial Bible majors” who didn’t feel called to the ministry but wanted to serve their local churches. They were questioned as to why they didn’t believe they were called to the ministry. I always thought that they should have regularly examined the ones who did feel called.

-Churches can’t afford to fully support a pastor and the unemployed pastor doesn’t have any vocational skill conducive to being bi-vocational. There seem to be a lot of these churches.

-Fully supported pastors are staying in the ministry longer. There’s a church in my area whose pastor just retired at 75 and the church is a shadow of what it was 15 years ago, are unable to support a pastor, and are now grasping at straws.

-In fundamentalist circles, church planting in the form of home missionary work seems to have been disappeared.

"Some things are of that nature as to make one's fancy chuckle, while his heart doth ache." John Bunyan

Thanks for what you said. I think the author is right about one possible factor, and we could list many more, too.

Tyler is a pastor in Olympia, WA and works in State government.