Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Gaining Maturity
Sheep's Crib reports that while seminary enrollment is on the rise, of those enrolled, the number seeking pulpit ministry is on the decline. My friend John wonders about the accuracy of the reporting, but I find it unsurprising.
For one thing, the number of available pulpits is shrinking, yet the seminaries want to survive, so it would be logical that they would direct their students towards other vocational choices.
I also think this trend says something about how we are preaching the gospel these days. That people would go to seminary for purposes other than to go into ministry says their faith is somehow more directed at their own benefit than the benefit of the world.
But I think this trend belies something more. I think enrollment is up in part becasue people are seeking "more" than they can get at church. Where does a person go in the average church today to keep growing? Few churches offer adult Christian education at all and those that do generally offer the same old canned curriculum - been there, done that.
What's really sad is that if my seminary experience is any measure, while it was a fine education, it contributed little to my own spiritual growth. The fact that the education I recieved was barely distinguishable from me education in chemistry, save for content, was troubling to me.
Being in the very close proximity to Fuller that I am, I know a number of these non-pulpit bound students, and while my evidence is purely anecdotal, they all seem to be seeking a place where they can continue to pursue their faith somehow!
You ever garden? I love growing tomatoes - store tomatoes are just awful things, barely suitable for human consumption. I usually grow tomatoes from sprouts I buy at the nursery. Growing tomatoes from seed is a lot of hard work, particularly heirloom varieties, and unless you nurse them like your firstborn, most of your sprouts just won't survive. Often by the time you get good sprouts its too late in the season to get a good crop.
I think that is instructive about how we do church these days. We work so very hard to sprout 'em - but we lose so many of them. And those that try so desparately to grow never seem to find the soil to do it in, good sprouts often die for lack of being transplanted at the proper time.
We really need to find ways in congregations for people to grow into maturity.
Cross-posted at How To Be A Christian And Still Go To Church
Related Tags: maturity, seminary, Christianity, learning, education
For one thing, the number of available pulpits is shrinking, yet the seminaries want to survive, so it would be logical that they would direct their students towards other vocational choices.
I also think this trend says something about how we are preaching the gospel these days. That people would go to seminary for purposes other than to go into ministry says their faith is somehow more directed at their own benefit than the benefit of the world.
But I think this trend belies something more. I think enrollment is up in part becasue people are seeking "more" than they can get at church. Where does a person go in the average church today to keep growing? Few churches offer adult Christian education at all and those that do generally offer the same old canned curriculum - been there, done that.
What's really sad is that if my seminary experience is any measure, while it was a fine education, it contributed little to my own spiritual growth. The fact that the education I recieved was barely distinguishable from me education in chemistry, save for content, was troubling to me.
Being in the very close proximity to Fuller that I am, I know a number of these non-pulpit bound students, and while my evidence is purely anecdotal, they all seem to be seeking a place where they can continue to pursue their faith somehow!
You ever garden? I love growing tomatoes - store tomatoes are just awful things, barely suitable for human consumption. I usually grow tomatoes from sprouts I buy at the nursery. Growing tomatoes from seed is a lot of hard work, particularly heirloom varieties, and unless you nurse them like your firstborn, most of your sprouts just won't survive. Often by the time you get good sprouts its too late in the season to get a good crop.
I think that is instructive about how we do church these days. We work so very hard to sprout 'em - but we lose so many of them. And those that try so desparately to grow never seem to find the soil to do it in, good sprouts often die for lack of being transplanted at the proper time.
We really need to find ways in congregations for people to grow into maturity.
Cross-posted at How To Be A Christian And Still Go To Church
Related Tags: maturity, seminary, Christianity, learning, education
