The numbers of young mainline clergy have declined dramatically in recent decades. The table on page 9 provides a snapshot of age distributions of today’s mainline clergy, and it’s not a youthful picture. The numbers can’t be explained away by…
Read MoreViews from Seminary: Why Theological Education Needs Young Pastors
One of the greatest challenges facing religious institutions today is solving the looming clergy shortage. This means finding ways to attract—and keep—theological students who will make a lasting commitment to serve their denomination. As educators and institutions continue in their…
Read MoreProclaiming Passion: The Theological Challenge of Youth Ministry in the 21st Century
Teenagers are heat-seeking missiles. They’re drawn to fire. They yearn for experiences that will channel their passions. And by and large they are not detecting many signs of life in the church. —Cuyler Black, youth pastor, in Fellowship Magazine, June…
Read MoreBecoming a Clergy Mother: A Study of How Motherhood Changes Ministry
by Pamela Cooper-White Images of birth have long held power and meaning in Christian theology. Indeed, the sacrament of baptism has birth as its central metaphor. What more powerful image of the flowering of human sexuality into birth than the ritual…
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