Are the Requirements Unreasonable?

One would think that I would be accustomed to critical words about the MFCA program, but when an individual who I was meeting for the first time, without even being asked, said that he had a very poor impression of the MFCA I was surprised and taken aback. I thought I was in a region where the former TEA and now MFCA had a good reputation – after all, we had always served the churches there well.

This individual was somewhat new to the RCA and has responsibility for new church starts and revitalization and has faced the challenge of identifying gifted candidates to lead these ministries. For him, it was difficult to find such individuals and he believed that it discouraged good candidates when they were told about the requirements to become an ordained minister in the RCA. As a matter of fact, he implied it made his job next to impossible.

When I asked the individual what caused such a negative impression I soon realized that it is a new day and the expectations of the church continue to change and even though this person was educated with a doctoral degree, I quickly learned that he believed our requirements which were heavily steeped with academics, were too great and beyond reason. He communicated that he did not consider a masters degree necessary for a person to be qualified for ministry and that the Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) requirement and the RCA courses were unnecessary “hoops and hurdles” for those who were ready to be engaged in fruitful ministry.

My response, while trying not to get too defensive, is that the MFCA and its requirements serve an important purpose. Take the CPE requirement for instance; I know very few people who would not benefit significantly from a unit of CPE. There are some people who should not enter ministry without CPE because there are issues and formational pieces they should experience before they can adequately function in ministry and CPE intentionally provides those. Although CPE does not guarantee that all the crucial issues will get dealt with, the chance for successful ministry goes up immensely when a unit has been successfully completed.

I can confidently say that 95% of those who have completed a unit of CPE have found it helpful and would not have wanted to do without it. I can also say that almost a third of the candidates report that CPE was the most important thing in their preparation and they could not imagine doing ministry without having done a unit. More and more candidates are choosing a second unit or a year long residency.

Our requirements aim to prepare the best possible ministers and in some ways they protect both the candidate and the church from disatrous ministry experiences in the future. Adding criminal background checks, requiring sexual ethics seminars, and expecting anti-racism training are all attempts to protect us from catastrophies in ministry. Providing safeguards by educating people in a good exegetical practices, acquainting them with Church history so they learn where and how the mistakes were made in the past make for better prepared and wise pastors. Placing people in systems of accountability and connecting them to solid traditions and practices avoid sects and individuals who distort reality and hurt people as oppossed to healing them.

I believe we are doing good work in the RCA and even though there is always room for improvement and change, it is also important to set standards that help raise the bar and produce qualified leaders.

Eddie Gibbs on "Dealing with Change"

This past week the Classis of California had Dr. Eddie Gibbs speak. His topic was “From Incremental to Discontinuance Change: Thriving in the midst of profound cultural transition.”

Amongst the many things Gibbs said, the following caught my attention:

“Those who are seminary trained have learned to think according to the various ‘disciplines’ in which they were taught and are not able to make the connections. We must begin to think laterally and learn across disciplines.”

“It is high time that seminaries realize that all the information they teach is free on the internet and the role of the seminary is going to change dramatically – starting with a less costly service.”

“A lot of knowledge combined with little ministry practice is a menace – seminary education spends far too much time and energy giving information.”

“There is no longer a place for strategic planning – we need to be involved in ‘strategic thinking,’ beginning every thought with the question ‘What if?’”

“We used to believe that if we got our theology right the church would grow – that was a perilous strategy that has no viable future.”

“It is important that we bridge the gap between a missionless church and churchless mission – we often seem to have one or the other.”

“Re-envisioning change in the “Church” (Ekklessia):
From noun to a verb
From a place to people
From institution to movement
From meeting to community… Organized for innovation.”

Challenges in Theological Education: Insurmountable or Inspirational?

There are numerous challenges and pressures that confront theological education today that will serve to shape it in the future. The observations I will make come from interaction with candidates, faculty and administration at various seminaries.
While working to help develop and prepare individuals to be Christian leaders in the Church and society, the following issues have been brought to my attention:

• Contextual Education: Relevant and realistic learning is demanded by those preparing for ministry – everyone seems to be pursuing a more effective means by which to connect the candidate to the local congregation and its mission.

• The “Price Tag”: The cost of providing quality education has risen dramatically. Candidates have had to incur enormous debt. Most face meager opportunity for paying off these debts without significantly lowering the quality of their lives. The candidates’ standards of living will most likely not reflect those of their parishioners. A number of the candidates in the RCA process come out with debt of $30,000 to $40,000.

• Technology and Distance Learning: The computer, advanced software applications, multi-media resources, internet, and “on demand / regionalized” accessibility to information and teachers has forced seminary and faculty to become available 24/7. The teachers therefore also need to be creatively adept with the latest technological equipment and sophisticated software.

• Packaging Education and Relating to New Values and Sensations: Mega churches, parachurch organizations, and mission organizations have offered ministerial education in new and creative ways – ways that fit the younger generations. Ways that speak the language to the heart and soul of an MTV generation. Willowcreek, Saddleback, YWAM and Young Life are examples of organizations that package education programs for target groups in such a way as to become an alternative, and at times a complement to seminary education. Seminaries have resorted to re-labeling courses such as “Church History I” with a title such as “The Agonies and Ecstasies,“ (Regent College, Vancouver) and a basic ministry course with the title “To Pray Without Ceasing“ (North American Baptist Seminary).

• Lay Commissioned Pastor movements: These movements require specialized programs from seminaries that often go beyond the normal offerings, demanding extraordinary new efforts and resources.