{"id":11120,"date":"2006-06-30T11:48:08","date_gmt":"2006-06-30T15:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/?p=11120"},"modified":"2013-05-10T15:20:37","modified_gmt":"2013-05-10T19:20:37","slug":"june-30-2006-young-clergy-shortage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2006\/06\/30\/june-30-2006-young-clergy-shortage\/11120\/","title":{"rendered":" Young Clergy Shortage"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align: center\">\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>LUCKY SEVERSON<\/strong>, guest host:  Mainline Protestant  churches have long had a problem of shrinking congregations.  Their  efforts to put more people in the pews also face another disturbing  trend &#8211; the shortage of young clergy to lead those congregations and to  attract more young members. Judy Valente reports.<\/p>\n<p><strong>JUDY VALENTE<\/strong>: From the time she was 13 years old, Jennifer Smith knew she wanted to be a Methodist minister.<\/p>\n<p><strong>JENNIFER SMITH <\/strong>(Graduate, Drew University School of  Theology, Madison, NJ):  I saw that I really had a passion for preaching  and for reaching out to others and doing mission trips and things like  that. So I really began to zero in and see that I was called to the  local church.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VALENTE<\/strong>: On this day, the 25-year-old Smith will take a  big step toward realizing her dream, graduating summa cum laude from  Drew University&#8217;s School of Theology in Madison, New Jersey. But Smith  and others her age are a distinct minority at many seminaries.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2012\/05\/post01-youngclergy.jpg\" alt=\"post01-youngclergy\" width=\"280\" height=\"210\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-11121\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Ms. <strong>SMITH<\/strong>:  You picture &#8220;pastor&#8221; and you picture this  sort of, you know, old man or something like that in the clerical garb.  And you might not even think that&#8217;s an option.  I didn&#8217;t even realize  that women could be pastors either until I was in late high school.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VALENTE<\/strong>: The Reverend Lovett Weems of Wesley  Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C., documented the declining  numbers of young clergy in mainline Protestant denominations.<\/p>\n<p>The Reverend <strong>LOVETT WEEMS <\/strong>(Wesley Theological Seminary,  Washington D.C.):  Churches that have been in decline for decades are  not a compelling magnet to draw energetic, passionate younger persons to  commit their lives to a vocation of ministry.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VALENTE<\/strong>: Only about five percent of mainline Protestant  pastors are under the age of 35 &#8211; a dramatic drop from 20 years ago.  Church leaders say having young, energetic pastors is essential to the  future vibrancy of the church.<\/p>\n<p>The Reverend <strong>ANN SVENNUGSEN<\/strong> (Fund for Theological  Education, Atlanta, GA): They do bring a life and an energy that is  inspiring to a whole congregation. They also, in many cases, lift up the  congregation&#8217;s sense of its own vocation of helping to mentor young  pastors.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VALENTE<\/strong>: The Reverend Kurt Levensaler is an Episcopal  priest in his early 30s. He says long working hours, starting salaries  as low as $20,000 to $30,000 a year, and the stress on a minister&#8217;s  family are among the reasons young people shy away from this vocation.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2012\/05\/post02-youngclergy.jpg\" alt=\"post02-youngclergy\" width=\"280\" height=\"210\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-11122\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The Reverend <strong>KURT LEVENSALER<\/strong> (Christ Church,  Alexandria, VA): Ordained ministry requires a high level of commitment  across one&#8217;s life, and in this day and age, in my generation we&#8217;ve  almost elevated our personal choice to the level of God, and so that  sense of commitment that&#8217;s required, I think, is one of the obstacles.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VALENTE<\/strong>:  Moreover, only about half of those who  graduate from seminary actually go on to work in parish ministry. They  pursue careers in social services, chaplaincy or teaching.  Twenty-six-year-old Joshua Wall won an award at Drew for his New  Testament scholarship. But he doesn&#8217;t think he&#8217;d do well as a pastor.  He&#8217;s decided to teach.<\/p>\n<p><strong>JOSHUA WALL<\/strong> (Graduate, Drew University School of  Theology, Madison, NJ): I feel like often the church holds onto what  it&#8217;s done in the past because that&#8217;s what it&#8217;s always done, even when it doesn&#8217;t make sense or it doesn&#8217;t translate into today&#8217;s society. I work  a lot with youth, and so it&#8217;s hard to explain to youth that, you know,  the song&#8217;s important because it&#8217;s 800 years old. That&#8217;s great, but when  they are bored to tears by it, and I&#8217;m bored as well, it&#8217;s hard to look  at that and understand how they&#8217;re supposed to relate to it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>MAXINE BEACH<\/strong> (Dean, Drew University School of Theology,  Madison, NJ): A lot of young 20-year-olds really believe that they can  probably make more of a difference someplace else, that churches have  become comfortable. They&#8217;ve become places that are interested in their  own survival, and a lot of 20- to 25-year-olds, 30-year-old people do  not want to buy into that dynamic. They want a place where they really  believe that Jesus can be real and new.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VALENTE<\/strong>: Church leaders are banding together across  denominational lines to encourage more young people to consider  ministry. The Reverend Ann Svennungsen directs the Atlanta-based Fund  for Theological Education.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2012\/05\/post03-youngclergy.jpg\" alt=\"post03-youngclergy\" width=\"280\" height=\"210\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-11123\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The Reverend <strong>SVENNUNGSEN<\/strong>: We support them financially.  We support them with a network of mentors and peers. We help them to  imagine the goodness of this work.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VALENTE<\/strong>:  The Lilly Endowment is funding a mentoring  program that pairs senior pastors with younger ministers. At historic  Christ Church in Alexandria, Virginia, an Episcopal parish, seminary  graduates learn what it takes to lead a congregation before being sent  out on their own.<\/p>\n<p>The Reverend <strong>LESLIE CHADWICK<\/strong> (Christ Church,  Alexandria, VA): It&#8217;s been great to be in a parish with such a variety  of experience. I&#8217;ve gotten to do funerals and weddings and special  services, and it&#8217;s a privilege to be with people at those moments.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VALENTE<\/strong>: The church&#8217;s pastors get together to offer  advice and suggestions on giving sermons. Christ Church pastor Carol  Pinkham Oak believes more young people would consider ministry &#8211; and  stay in it &#8211; if only they were encouraged.<\/p>\n<p>The Reverend <strong>CAROL PINKHAM OAK<\/strong> (Pastor, Christ Church,  Alexandria, VA):  We can, as clergy, talk more about the joys that we  know in the pastoral life. We tend not to do that, and I think if we  were more vocal about this is a difficult vocation, but it&#8217;s also a  wonderful vocation, that that would open up for other people the  possibility of considering if they&#8217;re called to ministry.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VALENTE<\/strong>: Sheila Beckwith, who is 35, is graduating from  Drew&#8217;s School of Theology. She felt called to ministry as a young  adult, but was afraid to respond, and no one encouraged her.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2012\/05\/post04-youngclergy.jpg\" alt=\"post04-youngclergy\" width=\"280\" height=\"210\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-11124\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>SHEILA BECKWITH <\/strong>(Graduate, Drew University School of  Theology, Madison, NJ): I had no one in the church to really talk to  about my issues. It was just, &#8220;Believe in God and God will make the  way.&#8221; That wasn&#8217;t enough for me. So that turned me off from the church.  And I went back in my later 20s, because I found God for myself.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VALENTE<\/strong>: Others say there needs to be more fundamental change within the church itself.<\/p>\n<p>Dean <strong>BEACH<\/strong>: I know some horror stories of our young  ones who went out, started alternative services in churches, and the  senior pastors got very nervous because people were responding in a  different way and were threatened by this different kind of style of  leadership.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VALENTE<\/strong>: Some older church members express concern about a young pastor&#8217;s inexperience.<\/p>\n<p>Ms. <strong>SMITH<\/strong>: I did clinical pastoral education last  summer at a local hospital in New Jersey, and a lot of the staff members  were really cautious about me. They just didn&#8217;t believe that I was a  clergy person, and they were really shocked.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VALENTE<\/strong>: Smith and her fellow graduate Joshua Wall say  there might be more young people in the pews if there were more young  pastors in the pulpit. But what&#8217;s even more important, they say, is that  young people feel heard.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2012\/05\/post05-youngclergy.jpg\" alt=\"post05-youngclergy\" width=\"280\" height=\"210\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-11125\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Mr. <strong>WALL<\/strong>: I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s so much that we need to  see young people, although that&#8217;s important. I feel like it&#8217;s more  important that the church communicates to young people and make a point  of that and show you are the future. We should invest in you and not  bring you along as we go on our journey but equip you to go on yours.<\/p>\n<p>Ms. <strong>BECKWITH<\/strong>: People say young people don&#8217;t read the  Bible nowadays. I don&#8217;t agree with that. I think they read it, and they  read it critically, and they have a lot of questions, and if these  questions are not going to even be addressed or remotely addressed, then  they are going to have issues.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VALENTE<\/strong>: Projects like the Fund for Theological  Education are just beginning to have an impact on encouraging more  bright young people to enter seminary. But it&#8217;s too early to tell how  many of them will actually go into parish ministry. The Reverend Oak and  others say they are convinced there are more young adults out there  waiting to be tapped.<\/p>\n<p>The Reverend <strong>OAK<\/strong>: The people that I have had an  opportunity to work with have a deep passion for the well-being of the  church, and that&#8217;s what gives me such hope that not only will these  trends reverse, but the church will open up and change in ways that will  embrace a lot of different people.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VALENTE<\/strong>: Especially the next generation of church leaders who received this rousing send-off from Dean Maxine Beach at Drew.<\/p>\n<p>Dean <strong>BEACH<\/strong> (speaking to graduating class): Ready, able and worthy of the gift that God has given you, go out and make a difference. Amen.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VALENTE<\/strong>: For RELIGION &amp; ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY, I&#8217;m Judy Valente in Madison, New Jersey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; LUCKY SEVERSON, guest host: Mainline Protestant churches have long had a problem of shrinking congregations. Their efforts to put more people in the pews also face another disturbing trend &#8211; the shortage of young clergy to lead those congregations &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2006\/06\/30\/june-30-2006-young-clergy-shortage\/11120\/\" class=\"more\">More <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":17706,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[17915,10529,17919,7485,6573,10528,7077],"class_list":["post-11120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-christian","tag-graduates","tag-protestant","tag-seminary","tag-wesley-theological-seminary","tag-young-clergy","tag-youth","topics-faith-and-spirituality","faith-protestant"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>June 30, 2006 ~ Young Clergy Shortage | June 30, 2006 | Religion &amp; 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