Why are fewer young men becoming Christian leaders?

In the summer of 2005, a nationwide survey was conducted by Generation Next, in association with Affinity. Its aim was to pin-point the reasons why fewer young men have emerged as Christian leaders in recent years.

The survey was completed by 400 men, mostly aged between 18-40. Last month a major 33-page report was published on the survey’s findings. It makes compulsory reading for all those concerned about where the next generation of pastors is going to come from.

Men were asked to respond to statements in five key areas: The Role of the Minister; Gifts and Calling; Training and Nurture; Pay and Benefits; and The Church and Church Leaders. There was also space for additional comments at the end of the survey.

Encouragement

There was much that was encouraging. Men recognised that serving God in full-time pastoral ministry was a privilege. Three quarters felt that being involved in gospel work was the best job a man could have and the vast majority (96%) were prepared to make financial sacrifices to be in full-time Christian work. This was despite the fact that over 50% said entering full-time ministry would see a large reduction in their standard of living, only 28% were confident the church in general sets appropriate financial terms for their workers, and only 22% believed ministers get a fair wage for the job they do.

The mentoring of younger men was also highlighted as a vital component in encouraging men into ministry, however the pressures associated with this were also recognised. One respondent wrote: ‘While leaders in churches would state that seeking and selecting people for ministry is a priority, much of the time other more pressing needs tend to deflect their attention. It takes a heavy investment of time and leaders who are busy in church, at home and at work, seldom have time to devote to the non-urgent.’ Churches who freed up their pastors to devote time to mentoring were most successful in seeing young men progress into leadership roles.

Leaders treated badly

However alongside these encouragements were some very challenging observations about the modern perception of the pastor-teacher. 93% said they felt congregations expected their ministers to be multi-talented and over two thirds felt ministers faced an undue amount of criticism and were lonely. Less than a quarter of men agreed that a minister’s workload was reasonable and well over a third said their families had been or would be adversely affected by them entering full-time ministry. Approximately half believed churches expect ministers to sacrifice too much.

One man wrote: ‘I suspect that another reason for the paucity of men entering ministry is that some younger men witness church leaders being treated very badly by the congregation and not shown due respect by those they are seeking to love and serve.’

There was also significant confusion over what constituted a ‘call’ to ministry. Greater clarity in this area would significantly help young men as they evaluate whether full-time ministry is what God wants for them.

Three difficulties

The report also highlighted three areas that make it difficult for young men to commit to a path leading to full-time ministry: problems with funding; training; and the lack of assistant pastor or curate positions. The lack of any clear process for finding a church was also consistently raised.

One man wrote: ‘Once you are at college there are very few assistant positions in churches to go to afterwards. There are lots of apprentice schemes but there need to be positions where someone can serve in a leadership capacity under an experienced pastor.’

Another area that was consistently highlighted was training and opportunity. While there is a desire to train, this doesn’t always get the focus and priority it demands. There were mixed views about the extent of the opportunities given. One in three men felt there was a reluctance to give young men preaching opportunities. The support of churches in encouraging and giving opportunities to young men to develop their preaching and leadership gifts was key in getting men into ministry.

One of the many challenges the report raises therefore is whether our churches are the ‘preparation centres’ Ephesians 4.11-12 says they should be. The apostle Paul told the Ephesian Christians that the key reason God has supplied his church with those who have word-ministries is to ‘prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ might be built up’.

Paul linked church maturity with people-preparation. And that is surely no more true than when we talk about the gifts of Christian leadership and preaching. The report’s findings challenge our churches to be preparation centres as well as preaching centres, to be greenhouses rather than theatres.

In order to nurture young men into future leaders and preachers can I therefore suggest that every church needs to have a ‘C.O.T. strategy’:

Confirmation

We need to find ways to confirm the gifts we see in young leaders. Some churches have created lay positions such as pastoral assistants or trainee workers, where the church membership or leadership are involved in proactively identifying, approaching, testing and appointing those with potential.

Kensington Baptist Church set me aside as a pastoral assistant while I was still teaching in Bristol. I was given opportunity to preach regularly and then explain to the church about my sense of call to ministry. They then prayed and voted to recognise within me the gift of a pastor-teacher. Their objective recognition of my subjective desire was a landmark for me. I need no longer be confused because God had clearly spoken through his people.

Opportunities

However, even before this stage there needs to be an appropriate testing of potential. Church members need to learn to cheer rather than groan when a learner-preacher stands in the pulpit. And church leaders need to learn to guard the pulpit without monopolising it. Of course, there needs to be appropriate support for such learners and these ministry opportunities need to be proportionate in the overall teaching ministry of the church, but unless they are given opportunities saplings will never develop into shrubs (ever thought of your minister like that?).

I was also allowed to sit in on elders meetings to see the mechanics of church and learn from the wisdom of fellow leaders. And they were incredibly gracious in welcoming the fresh perspective and enthusiasm I brought to church life as a learner-leader.

Training

Many of the opportunities given will in themselves train potential leaders. However, the next generation of church leaders needs something more structured.

For some this will be in the form of Bible college or seminary training, but for many the high cost of these courses and the impact on young families is a prohibiting factor. Do we really want a generation of leaders who have to go into debt to fund theological training? There is a challenge to the church here. As we ask learner-leaders to sacrifice their standard of living and job security are we prepared to do the same? Do churches need to ring-fence a percentage of their income to devote to the costs of training leaders? Should we establish regional trust funds to finance such training?

For many young men ‘on-the-job’ training might be best and yet the survey highlighted that there are not enough fixed-term assistant-pastor positions which are focussed on training men and then releasing them. The regional gospel partnerships and FIEC Prepared for Service courses have done a great deal of good work to fill these gaps but where are the full or part-time training positions that are needed to be the bridges into full-time pastoral positions?

Challenges

There are serious challenges here for both young men and churches alike. Are we prepared to prioritise C.O.T. strategies in our churches? Do we have the stomach for the changes this would mean for our church cultures? Are we prepared to release the finances, resources and pastoral time needed to devote ourselves to the task of sending men out into the ripe harvest-fields of our world?

The survey inevitably focussed on the issues and barriers young men face. This was not to suggest that there are not major spiritual reasons why there is this issue.

The comment below from one respondent summed this up: ‘There are probably many reasons (for the lack of men in ministry), but I suspect an overarching one is that the UK church is going through dark times. Is the lack of candidates an effect or a cause of this situation? More the former, I think; but it becomes a contributing factor when leadership is absent. There are other factors that come into play but I suspect the principal reasons are spiritual. We need a fresh generation to forsake all they have and follow him.’

Jesus urged us in Matthew 9.38 to ‘Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field.’ Yet he was also proactive; in the very next verse he commissioned 12 disciples and sent them out. Jesus’s approach has much to teach us today. We must certainly obey his command to pray, but surely we must also follow his example by identifying, equipping and commissioning.

Find out more

The full report can be downloaded from http://www.generationnext.org.uk. The site also has a range of supporting resources: a minister’s fraternal guide, a PowerPoint presentation which can be used in churches, and a number of discussion forums where it is possible to engage with others about the issues raised in the report.

Why are fewer young men becoming Christian leaders?

A major new report sheds light