Where have all the pastors gone?

I was recently invited to be part of a conference in Guelph, Ontario with about thirty Canadian Christian leaders. During one personal conversation with a seminary president, I mentioned that my daughter had recently graduated from Regent College in Vancouver with a Masters of Divinity. He asked whether she intended to serve as a local church pastor.

I explained that although she had preached in local churches, volunteered in her own congregation and possessed many of the gifts we typically associate with local church ministry, she has instead chosen the path of chaplaincy. She found herself drawn toward walking alongside seniors, people with differing abilities and others who benefit from deeply personal, one-on-one ministry.

His response stopped me in my tracks: “About twenty-five years ago, eight out of every ten students entering seminary wanted to become a local church pastor. Today, eight out of every ten students entering seminary are interested in chaplaincy or counselling.”

A difficult question

As I reflected on that conversation during the drive home, I found myself wondering whether our Christian culture and praxis has unintentionally created a new ministry outcome (dare I say algorithm?).

On the one hand, this is encouraging news. Chaplains and Christian counsellors are desperately needed. They carry the presence of Christ into hospitals, long-term care homes, correctional facilities, military bases, universities and countless other places where the church has opportunities for ministry beyond its own walls. We should celebrate those callings.
On the other hand, the seminary president’s observation raises a question that is difficult to ignore: Why is the local church no longer the preferred destination for gifted ministry leaders?

I have begun to notice congregations are taking longer to fill pastoral vacancies. Anecdotally, my own local church spent three-plus years finding a lead pastor! Search committees are broadening their expectations. Some churches have restructured their staffing altogether because they simply cannot find the leaders they had hoped to call.

Vocational shift

This departure from interest in serving the local church explains, in part, the increasingly difficult time that seminaries across North America are having. Seminary stalwarts like Gordon Conwell, Fuller, TEDS and others are challenged to find enough students and some are even closing altogether.

We may be witnessing a vocational shift unlike anything the Canadian church has experienced in generations.

As a Christian organizational consultant, I’ve learned that outcomes are rarely accidental. They are usually the predictable result of the systems, cultures and expectations we create. That is what makes this trend so worthy of careful reflection. If the outcome has changed so dramatically, perhaps it is time to examine the system producing it. It’s time to explore what experiences, expectations, organizational realities, cultural pressures or theological assumptions are quietly shaping the vocational decisions of a new generation.

Has pastoral ministry changed? Has the culture surrounding church leadership become less attractive? Are younger leaders seeking forms of ministry that provide healthier rhythms, clearer boundaries or more focused opportunities for care? Or have our churches unintentionally created expectations that make pastoral ministry increasingly difficult to sustain?

These are not questions of blame. They are questions of discernment.

This article is part one of Darren’s series on the shift in ministry callings.