The Workers Are Few
In the summer of 2005 a nationwide survey was conducted by Generation Next, in association with Affinity. Its aim was to find out the reasons why fewer young men have come forward for full-time pastoral ministry in recent years. The survey was completed by 400 men, mostly aged between 18-40 years old. The report of the survey’s findings can be downloaded at www.generationnext.org.uk. The website also provides further resources and a unique opportunity for users to respond directly to the survey findings, through discussion forums.
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 overwhelming majority 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 and only 28% confident that the church in general sets appropriate financial terms for their workers.
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 thought 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.
There was also significant confusion over what constituted a ‘call’ to ministry, particularly amongst those still thinking about the prospect of full-time ministry. Greater clarity in this area would significantly help young men as they evaluate whether full-time ministry is what God wants for them.
The report highlighted 3 areas that make it difficult for young men who are committed to enter full-time ministry: problems with funding training, the lack of appropriate assistant/curate positions and no clear process for finding a church after training.
Another area that was consistently highlighted was that of training and opportunity. While there is a desire to train, this doesn’t always get the focus and priority it demands. 1 in 3 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.
The survey inevitably focused 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 and the comment below from one respondent sums 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 principle reasons are spiritual. We need a fresh generation to forsake all they have and follow Him.’
The Lord 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. We must certainly obey his command to pray, but surely we must also follow his example by being proactive: by identifying, equipping, mentoring and commissioning.
George Hawkins
Generation Next