Young Clergy

Good morning Trinity Tribe!

On Tuesday, I traveled to the new North Carolina Conference denominational office for a meeting of young clergy. When something with the word "young" in the title invited me, I jumped on the chance to attend! Our BIshop, Al Gwinn, addressed us, then there was a time of question and answer. We ended the discussion portion of the day with a discussion of what the United Methodist Church is doing to encourage young people to answer a call to ordained ministry as well as to support them when they have answered the call.

Our Annual Conference has around 5.5% of its clergy under age 35. The median age of clergy is 54 in the whole UMC. Why does this matter? First, it is sad that the Church is not encouraging young people to enter ministry. What are we doing as local congregations that make being a pastor so unattractive? Are we being intentional about helping young people hear God's call in their lives (whether it is a call to be an ordained minister or a godly veterinarian or a business leader who is also a crackerjack Sunday School teacher.) Secondly, younger pastors bring things to the table that a clergyperson who is 60 cannot. Besides energy, young people tend to bring more creativity and new ideas to a local congregation. While some pastors with experience are continually learning and growing and are on the cutting edge of research in the field, other older pastors left their thirst for learning in Divinity School. New tools for evangelism and church leadership are necessary in this different time in which we live. Next, younger clergy are able to identify with younger congregations more effectively. People respond when they see someone who looks like them speaking from the pulpit or even singing in the choir or praying the prayers of the people. (That applies to lay leadership and lay worship leadership as well as clergy.) Lastly, if we do not have clergy who are under 35, what will happen in 10 years when they are 45? We will not have the next generation of seasoned leadership for the church.

I am not under 35, of course. But I do care what happens to the United Methodist Church in the future. I invite you to join me as we pray for the future of our congregation at Trinity as well as the United Methodist Church as a whole. Let's pray intentionally for the young people in our congregation. How is God calling each of them? How can we, as their family through baptism, nurture them to be the wonderful godly people God has planned them to be? Let's pray intentionally for Trinity. How can we better develop leaders in the present as well as the future? Let's pray for the Church. How can we nurture and help people hear God's call on their lives?

I have attached a proposal from the young clergy of the UMC in case you want to read it. Also, here is the study looking at ages of clergy in the UMC.

http://www.churchleadership.com/research/um_clergy_age_trends08.htm

Have a blessed day!