Jump directly to the Content

Pastor Shortage?

Or inflated expectations?

Churches are struggling to find pastors these days, according to a Christianity Today report. For smaller churches, the problem is finding candidates who are interesting in taking a limited, often part-time, salary. But for larger churches, the issue isn't so much a prospect shortage. It's a shortage of qualified prospects. Why is that?

"The seminaries are not preparing guys to pastor large churches," [Don] Goehner said. "Usually, where these pastors fail is not in their preaching. … It's in the issue of management."

Goehner, who is president of a consulting firm that helps with pastoral searches, echoes the concern of others cited in the article. They say that larger churches have become more programmatic and therefore need more administrative capability from their senior pastors than before. Seminaries have reportedly begun to respond to this shift in their own training emphases, but maybe not enough so.

Then again, maybe larger churches need to rethink their leadership structure. ...

Tags:
Posted:
April
Support Our Work

Subscribe to CT for less than $4.25/month

Homepage Subscription Panel

Read These Next

Related
BREAKING THE GRUMBLERS’ GRIP
BREAKING THE GRUMBLERS’ GRIP
How to respond (and not respond) to chronic complainers.
From the Magazine
I Wanted a Bigger God Than My Hindu Guru Offered
I Wanted a Bigger God Than My Hindu Guru Offered
As my doubts about his teachings grew, so did a secret fascination with Jesus.
Editor's Pick
What Christians Miss When They Dismiss Imagination
What Christians Miss When They Dismiss Imagination
Understanding God and our world needs more than bare reason and experience.
close