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ministerial-formation, ordination, seminary
The gifts and graces for ministry
07.28.06 | Permalink | 6 Comments

It’s no secret here that I grew up in the crossfire between free range charismatics and institutional Methodist bureaucracy, so it should come as little surprise that I have strong feelings about seminary, denominational credentialing and ministry. One half of my church life taught me that anyone with the gifts and graces for ministry was […]
ordination, seminary
Seminary students getting ordained? Only 50%
03.18.06 | Permalink | Comments Off on Seminary students getting ordained? Only 50%

Yup, I feel a lot better now. Only half of my fellow seminary graduates go into the ministry these days. The trend changed in the 90s, mostly among the under 30 crowd, which either makes me a stereotypical trendsetter or trend follower. Believe me, I’ll be using these figures in my next few job interviews. […]
education, ministerial-formation, ministry, seminary
A better way to do ministerial formation
11.15.05 | Permalink | 6 Comments

Ordained ministry is been overprofessionalized. When you expect people (without ever coming out and saying it) to live in genteel poverty for their first ten or fifteen years, and when most new ministers take out huge loans and have children to support, well, it just isn’t right. Add to that the “entrepreneurial” bit, as Scott […]

The gifts and graces for ministry