Is Your Church Producing Pastors?
Feature by Erik Reynolds
A few weeks ago, I spent some time with the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting playing in the background as I worked because, at one time, I was part of the SBC, and it is the largest/most influential Protestant group in North America. As one of the seminary presidents presented his report to the delegate body, a Messenger (delegate) asked why there were so few pastoral candidates considering the investment their convention was making in theological education and ministerial training. Although there are some similarities and differences between the SBC and Advent Christian Church, we can glean much wisdom from the ongoing pastoral shortage among America’s largest Protestant denomination, even though their resources exponentially dwarf our own.
The Problem and Promise
Jesus tells his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Matt 9:37-38, ESV). Verse 37 has long been cited as a passage that points to the readiness for the harvest field to be reaped and the recognition that there aren’t enough workers to complete the task.
Jesus tells his disciples that to rectify this situation, they must pray to the Lord of harvest (God) to send out more laborers. Important to note is that not all, even most, harvesters are pastors. One mark of a healthy church is that members actively care for their community by embodying Christ while sharing the gospel. However, we recognize the importance of pastors/elders as ones whose primary role is to preach the Word, administer the Lord’s Table, pray and shepherd their flocks. Like harvesters, we can trust that God will provide us with those called to serve him as we pray for him to make men in our churches aware of that calling. Therefore, we might lack pastoral candidates only as much as we are not praying for them. In other words, we should be praying the Lord brings new workers daily because the harvest is ready, but we do not have enough harvesters.
Local Churches
Several years ago, I asked an older pastor why he believed we, as a denomination, were lacking in pastoral candidates. He said that since the closing of Berkshire Christian College’s campus operations, we have not been able to look to anyone to provide a steady stream of candidates. I asked him if Berkshire was a factory or a college because it sounded as though he thought pastors were simply produced on an assembly line. Like the SBC Messenger, who asked a similar question to a seminary president, the president aptly stated that each seminary has room for more students, but those students come from churches. We must ask why our churches are not identifying, preparing and calling pastors from their midst. Although Paul left Timothy in charge in Ephesus, he expected Timothy to call and equip elders to serve the churches in the city. Our our churches should actively look to their members as potential elders who can serve in pastoral ministry locally or elsewhere when a church is in need. Prepare yourselves to gladly and joyfully send people out to plant churches and lead other churches needing leadership.
Pastors
The apostolic work of Paul should be emulated as one who continuously trained others by sharing his life and work. As pastors, we should eagerly seek out relationships with potential elders and pastors in our congregations. Who are you training to become an elder/pastor? Although your church might be small or young, and there seems that people are years away from meeting those qualifications found in Scripture, it is never too early to pray and equip. It took Paul about three years to train new Christians called to leadership. If you’ve been somewhere for 20 years and you’ve not sent out one pastor, missionary, church planter, or installed one new elder, then you need to ask yourself and your church if your priorities are misaligned.
The Ministry Training Institute (MTI) serves the local church by training people for ministry in the local church. As we seek new students, we recognize these students come from our churches. I encourage you to look among your church and prayerfully seek God to make aware to people the call God has on their lives. Are they called to the role of elder/pastor? Do they simply need a nudge from a fellow member or pastor?
Dr. Erik Reynolds is a church planter in central Massachusetts and serves as the MTI Ministry Year Coordinator. He has served churches in North Carolina and Massachusetts. Additionally, Erik serves as an adjunct instructor at BICS. He recently completed his Doctorate of Ministry in Church Planting.
Dr. Erik Reynolds, “Where Are All the Leaders?,” The Advent Christian Witness, Fall 2023.