Yesterday evening I participated in a Focus Group for the Austin Presbyterian Seminary. The seminary is having a number of these meetings as part of a current review of curriculum. The group I attended was composed of lay people and we were asked to respond to questions about how the seminary could better educate pastors.
After going through exercises designed to get us to think about the criteria we would want to see in someone called to our church as senior pastor, we were prompted to give specific suggestions for improving seminary training.
I suggested that since most graduates who go into parish ministry find their first call as the solo pastor of a small church, seminaries should offer a course in the basics of small business managment. Our newly-ordained ministers find themselves trying to run a small business AND serve as the pastor of the church.
Everyone else in the group agreed and expanded on the idea. We suggested that personnel management, how to read and understand financial statements, basic accounting and an overview of the federal, state and local laws and regulations that churches need to be aware of would be very beneficial to new pastors. I think the two professors who ran the focus group were surprised by this suggestion.
RevGals and RevGuys, what do you think? Would a class like that have helped you prepare for Real Life Ministry 101?
12 comments:
Oh, Amen and Amen! I would have loved a course like that.
As a newly crowned Master of Divinity, mwhahaha, I could not agree more. A common complaint by myself and my fellow seminarians was the lack of practical education. Luckly I have had accounting classes in the past but personnal management wouuld have been nice.
This is a very good idea. At minimum, pastors need a basic knowledge of accounting.
As a pastor, we are called to pastor the work of the church. We are trained to pastor the education ministry, the worship ministry, the mission ministry and even the fellowship ministry, but what about the financial and staffing ministries?
You pegged it exactly!
I hope that any seminary class would bring Biblical insight into this area though. What are the biblical grounds for our pastoring in the area of finances and staffing? What are the theological foundations for stewardship and the administration of a local church? What are the limits of our involvement...where do we let someone else take charge?
I guess that one thing that I have learned in the parish is that we must honor the boundaries of our work. That means knowing when it is time to be more proactive and involved and also when to get out of the way!
Great idea!
I hope seminarians are getting courses in pastoral care skills, too. I mean the practical kinds of pc skills because if you can't be with people effectively, you are in big trouble.
Yes, seminaries need to think about how everything in the Practical Theology department would play out in a small church. Lots of the literature seems to assume a suburban context and a mid-to large sized congregation.
Oh QG, the paragraphs I could write... the seminaries rely on field education to teach the practical side of ministry but it just cannot do an adequate job. We joke that there is no class on toilet plunging and table re-arranging but certainly budget, group dynamics, group leadership (leading session meetings), communication, time management, boundary management, etc... are ALL things that could be touched on in Real Life Ministry 101.
Going back one educational level I majored in Religious Studies and wish someone had told me NOT to do that. I repeated the majority of that training in seminary anyway. Business, Sociology, Psychology - ANYTHING would have been better than Religious Studies.
Yes. But just as important would have been how to live your life in a small church (which is like a small town and is often found in a small town.)
My polity class gave some invaluable pointers on how to convey to the congregation some notions that made my life much, much easier.
The business classes are a good idea too.
Yes to all the above, and also classes on things like negotiating with your vestry/session/layleadership/whatever. I suspect there is a general belief amongst laypersons that clergy shouldn't worry their pretty little heads about things like salary etc since they're working for the Lord. even clergyfolk need to eat and to pay for college tuition for their youngsters...
All this being said, there is some truth to the notion that you can't front-load all of this info into a seminary curriculum. Lots of it doesn't even make much sense until you're "out there". I think we need more intentional support for new pastors--more aknowledgement that one's formation as a pastor is not complete upon seminary graduation.
This is interesting. I think what I really want from seminary is what I really can't get anywhere else - good training in liturgy, preaching, pastoral care, theology, Bible, etc.
There's so much to cram in in a short period of time that I'm unsure of how they would fit more in... Maybe longer, more intense field education would help. 5 or 6 hours a week isn't enough field ed. Also, in the land of all things Episcopalian, there used to be the curacy - like a medical residency - where you got paid (a little) to learn for a few years before striking out on your own. It's mostly gone by the wayside now - that's a shame.
I agree with purechristianthink that while some of this more practical ed would be appropriate...a lot of it doesn't come together until you are out there in it.
BTw good to hear about APTS. I'm an alum but only been back to Austin once since '99.
I served my first two years as a "Resident in parish ministry" at Second Church, Indy. They and now some other congregations have such programs to give ojt to pastors after seminary. Kind of like field ed on 'roids. Great two years. Designed to bridge the gap between the pulpit and pew. Having said all that...some of what we do is truly learned by doing.
I do think that all of what is being discussed could fall under the guise of "leadership." Do our seminaries teach pastors to be strong Christian leaders. Strong healthy churches, I believe, have pastors who are LEADERS. Is the pcusa cultivating such pastors in our seminaries?
my $.02
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