District Convention News, 1998
Northern Wisconsin
Joel Lillo
World missions: We heard from Richard Russow from Albania and Pieter Reid from Indonesia. Both had been forced to leave their work because of civil unrest. These missionaries remind us that the work of carrying God's Word to the world can be dangerous, but rewarding.
Merger: By a near unanimous vote, the delegates approved the merger of the Northern Wisconsin District Institutional Ministries with the institutional ministries of Madison Institutional Ministries, Inc. and Wisconsin Lutheran Institutional Ministry, Inc.
Called worker shortage: Delegates were urged to communicate more actively the need for young men and women to prepare for the privilege of full-time work in the public ministry.
Convention paper: Wayne Mueller, administrator of the Board for Parish Services, presented "What Do We Mean, Jesus Is the Lord of the Church?"
6 comments:
Ichabod's post highlighted the WELS 1998 synod-wide call for more people to enter the ministry (see excerpts below).
Why actually subsidize the preps, college, and seminary so more attend and complete the program when all one has to do is put out the word that there's a looming pastor shortage (same trick as is used in the LCMS).
I heard a CG pastor say that if only they could get a 1,000 students at MLC, it would be self-supporting, and would free up the $2 million MLC synodical subsidy for CG programs. Knowing that the WELS could never give calls to even a fifth of all those graduates, and that the credits and training don't transfer readily to other careers (except bartending), it seems unethical to even suggest loading up MLC with 1k students. (It seemed unethical even when I believed in UOJ, so it seems even more unseemly now).
To make my point, let's take the case of the 1998 call for more called workers due to a looming "shortage."
I bet it was based on the number of pastors in the retirement age bracket. In 1998 their retirement funds were doing GREAT, and they were actually retiring, but many have given up on the idea of ever retiring--at least before they must use a walker and cane.
I wonder what person with what motives figured out there was a shortage. Was it professor who wanted more job insurance and a raise? A recruiter who needed more respondents? A DP who didn't like the quality of graduates, and so wants more candidates so the seminary could weed deeper?
An eight grade student who responded to the 1998 call to prevent a shortage of called workers would have just graduated from seminary this year, in 2010! During those twelve years he would have seen the synod shrink so there was less need for pastors, and he'd see that there were 11 seminary graduates unassigned in 2009, and several of those received only one-year temporary calls. This year, 4 are unassigned as of Call Day. Some shortage!
cont'd...
Cont'd:
http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/
excerpt: 1998 Called worker shortage
District convention news, June 1998
http://archive.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?1712&cxDatabase_databaseID=1&id=831&magazine=Forward%20in%20Christ
Dakota-Montana:
Called worker shortage: Richard Lauersdorf, the synod's vice president for mission and ministry, emphasized the challenge of retaining young people as well as recruiting and retaining candidates for the public ministry.
Michigan
Called worker shortage: Throughout the convention, discussion centered on the current and future shortage of called workers. Suggestions and encouragements, as well as many prayers, were offered.
Minnesota:
Called worker shortage: President Cross drew special attention to the need for worker recruitment. The delegates called for an increased emphasis on recruitment by calling more full-time recruiters to reach more congregations. They also called on all congregations to establish recruitment committees to explain the need for young people to study for full-time gospel ministry.
Nebraska
Called worker shortage: Delegates focused on the great need for called workers because there are 70 pastoral vacancies and 55 teacher vacancies in the synod--24 vacancies in the Nebraska district in May.
Northern Wisconsin
Called worker shortage: Delegates were urged to communicate more actively the need for young men and women to prepare for the privilege of full-time work in the public ministry.
Southeastern Wisconsin
Called worker shortage: President David Rutschow noted the high number of called worker vacancies throughout WELS. He encouraged delegates to pray and recruit future called leaders.
Western Wisconsin
Called worker shortage: There was a repeated drumbeat for the delegates to encourage young men and women to enter the preaching or teaching ministry.
More preachers need a 'day job,' too
By Bob Smietana The Nashville Tennessean
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2010-06-21-preachers20_ST_N.htm
Ray Gilder has some advice for Baptist preachers who are just starting out.
Prepare to get a day job.
"Make sure you have a marketable skill," said Gilder, bivocational ministries specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Convention.
Gilder was in Orlando this past week to meet with bivocational ministers, preachers with day jobs, at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention. They are truck drivers and government workers, contractors and teachers, who also feel called to preach. They often minister in out-of-the-way places, far from the spotlight.
But while Baptist megachurch pastors get the spotlight, says Gilder, bivocational ministers keep the convention running. Without them, many small churches would close, says Gilder, national coordinator for the Southern Baptist's Bivocational and Small Church Leadership Network.
And they are a growing group.
About three-quarters of Southern Baptists churches draw fewer than 100 people on Sunday morning. That means they often can't afford to pay a preacher a full-time salary. So about half of Southern Baptist churches nationwide, and two-thirds in Tennessee, rely on bivocational ministers.
Don’t confuse serving the Lord with being preyed upon by the Love Shack and worthless drones.
Don’t confuse serving the Lord with being preyed upon by the Love Shack and worthless drones.
and that the credits and training don't transfer readily to other careers (except bartending)
This is actually flat-out wrong. Maybe in the 1960's the credits wouldn't have transferred, but these days every single credit transfers to major public universities, aside from maybe one or two advanced pastoral classes.
Credits transferring in to MLC, however, is another story.
Post a Comment