The Death of Traditional Clergy and the Birth of Something New

A New Kind of Clergy for a New Kind of Christianity, Part 1

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I entered seminary in 1999. How exciting! I loved learning and had high expectations for the experience.

My first year was…okay. It was all about the core requirements. Time to get our sea legs in the system.

During the second year, however, my mood shifted. As I attended classes and did the homework, my excitement drained. I thought seminary training was meant to empower someone to do ministry in the emerging context.

I was wrong.

Very, very wrong.

On top of that, as I looked ahead at what was to come, I realized that the third year curriculum was basically going to be more of the same. Sure, I had more electives, but it was still very limited.

So, in my second year, I decided to quietly create my own “major”. I called it, “Cultural Analysis and Strategic Response”. In other words, I decided to spend as much time as I could burying myself in the study of postmodern thought, postmodern culture, the field of leadership, and how to strategically meet the challenges of the emerging culture for the church.

I really believed that the entire point of seminary should be to empower leaders with the framework and skills necessary to meet the challenges Christianity faced in America, rather than going through the motions and training clergy in the same way we had for years.

The closest I came to presenting my thoughts was a paper for my Christian Education class. In it, I proposed a unique approach to Christian education, which was actually based on a leadership theory I was developing called the “Truth Nebula”. The instructor gave me a “D” for not following directions.

Misalignment

Overall, I still believe that seminary training is going in the wrong direction.

Can it create competent clergy? Sure, I guess. But only if the education is aligned with the primary function and role of the clergy.

And that's the problem. Seminary education is not alignned with the new function and role of clergy in the emerging paradigm.

Let's look at some of the problems that the current model for ministry faces.

Expensive education

In order to be ordained as a minister in a mainline denomination, you need to have a bachelor's degree before you can even enter seminary. That means at least 4 years of college. The seminary education itself is at least 3 years of working on an advanced degree. Doing the math shows 7 years of college minimum.

On the bright side, this reveals how important mainline denominations consider education to be. They do not want people teaching the Bible in their churches if those people are ignorant of academic biblical scholarship. They want to make sure that those entering the system understand the tradition they represent. They want everyone going into the political system to get how it works so things can go smoothly.

These are all good things.

But what is the cost of all that goodness?

Overall, this means that a seminary graduate will have at least 7 years of college under their belt, and I assume this means student loans in most cases.

How much do you think 7 years worth of student loans will come to?

On average, $66,000.

For the most part, there isn't any way around this. Those seeking ordination into congregational ministry (most seminarians, by the way) are required to earn an M.Div. That means you have to pay the entry fee to join the fraternity in order to get the job.

Which brings us to the next problem…

Disappearing jobs

Congregations are getting to the point where they can no longer support full-time clergy. Currently, in my own Presbyterian Church (USA), about 2/3 of the congregations have fewer than 100 active members. On top of that, about 20% of our congregations have less than 25.

Once seminarians graduate, what does this mean for them?

Currently, it probably means that they are either going to serve multiple churches at once or work part-time as a pastor (which means more than part-time hours for only part-time pay). In order to pay the bills, they will need to find another part-time or full-time job (unless they have someone else in the household who can be the primary bread-winner).

Oh, and don't forget those student loans which are on top of all the other bills of life.

Let’s think about this situation for a moment…

How long do you think pastors are going to last if they're working 60 to 80 hours per week, being run into the ground, and feeling perpetually buried in overwhelm…because they have seminary student loan debt on top of their regular bills?

To make matters worse, my Presbyterian Church (USA) is projected to dissolve in less than 20 years. That means a fast track to closing congregations across the board.

In the relatively near future, we will only have a few handfuls of congregations left who can support a full-time pastor. Those full-time pastors will be the lucky ones.

The next group of lucky ones will be those select few who get to work with multiple congregations at once. After all, at least all their income is for work they went to seminary for.

Meanwhile, everyone else will have to have to get at least one other job on the side to support themselves.

Here’s the kicker…

At this rate, it won't be long before most congregations are either going to have to close their doors or work with “tent makers” (pastors who get all their income from another job).

In other words, we aren't far off from requiring seminarians to bury themselves in debt for the privilege of volunteering at a congregation (20 hours per week?) while they work 40 to 60 hours a week to pay their bills and pay down their 20-year student loans.

This is not a sustainable system, to say the least.

Arguably, however, the closing of congregations and declining finances are not the biggest issues. Rather, they are symptoms of a much bigger problem.

Here's the crux of the matter

Remember when I said that the function and role of clergy in the new paradigm have shifted? Well, here we go…

I believe the primary reason mainline denominations are in decline is because they have become irrelevant to the world around them.

Relevance is about the ability to resonate with who people are and where they are in their lives. It's about being able to speak meaningfully to their spirits.

Through November and December 2024, I laid out a series of articles entitled, “A Call for a New Reformation” (here’s the article that kicks is off). I presented an understanding of the paradigm shift from modernity to postmodernity and its significance for American Christianity. I then laid out what I believe are the primary things that need to change in order for Christianity to become relevant in America once again.

But, changing the theology and social policy isn’t going to be enough. We need to change how we officially embody our wider sense of connection. That means we also have to equip spiritual leaders (who demonstrate the appropriate calling) to trailblaze new paths forward.

We need a new kind of clergy for a new kind of Christianity who can speak meaningfully to a newly emerging age.

Enter the Digital Ecclesiastic

Yes, that’s what I call these new clergy.

Digital Ecclesiastics are not seminary-trained professionals who hop online and do the same things they normally do in a church setting. That couldn’t be farther from the truth.

A Digital Ecclesiastic is a completely different kind of clergy. Their training will be designed to equip them for their new role and how they need to function as clergy within the emerging paradigm.

Unfortunately, this kind of training does not yet exist. Because it doesn't exist, the best option we have right now is to take those seminary-trained professionals who demonstrate a unique call to this kind of ministry and equip them with the additional skills necessary for the task at hand.

So…

For the next two months, I intend to cast a vision.

Right now, the vision is hazy. I haven't worked everything out yet. But we all have to start somewhere.

My hope is that—despite my bumbling here and there—you will be able to see it for yourself.

I hope you will be able to see how radically different the Digital Ecclesiastic is from the traditional understanding of what it means to be clergy.

I hope you will be able to see how this kind of minister can resonate with the emerging world.

And, I hope you can see the possibility this opens for the future of Christianity in America.

Will you walk with me as I stumble along this rocky path?

If so, I’ll see you next week as I discuss how the new clerical role is changing.

Peace, Bo
www.evolvingchristianfaith.net

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Credits

• Thanks to DALL-E for the cover art