Where is the next generation of church leaders coming from? Is there really a crisis in ministry recruitment? And if so, how can we work together to address it? This was the theme of a major consultation day held just recently.
The National Consultation Day organised by 9:38 – which serves local churches as they envision people in gospel ministry and raise up the next generation of gospel workers – was held at Yarnton Manor in Oxfordshire.
Each of the 38 delegates in attendance spoke for a significant body in ministry recruitment and training. They included directors of six theological training institutions from around the UK, ministers of established training churches, and leaders of mission agencies. Also present were representatives of evangelical denominations, networks and ministries including the Anglican Mission in England (AMiE), the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC), Grace Baptists, International Presbyterian Church (IPC), Anglican evangelical organisation Renew, student group UCCF, Contagious Bible Ministries (which provides children and youth residential conferences), Biblical Counselling UK, Bible-teaching event Word Alive and evangelistic organisation A Passion for Life.
What does the data say?
Considerable work had been undertaken in preparation for the day, including two major national surveys conducted earlier this year.
The first was the Ministry Aspiration Outcome Survey (MAOS). It was directed at young adults (aged 23–34) in a variety of conservative evangelical churches who had previously explored vocational ministry. It sought to identify the causes for their hesitancy. Why hadn’t they proceeded?
Among major reasons cited by the 833 respondents were the cost of training (29% pointed to this as a major factor), negative perceptions of ministry (22%), a sense of lacking the appropriate gifts (16%), disqualifying character flaws (17%), mental health issues (13%), concern about a toxic leadership culture (11%), family responsibilities (9%), uncertainty about the future (7%) and disillusionment about the trajectory of their denomination (7%).
The second survey, the Routes into Pastoral Ministry Survey (RPMS) was directed at those already in church-based ministry, largely but not exclusively in conservative evangelical churches. The 422 respondents were asked to review their own backstory and identify key factors influencing their decision to pursue vocational ministry.
Significant influences included informal encouragement by an older Christian (76%), a formal apprenticeship (58%), supervised ministry opportunities (49%), a formal event/conference aimed at potential workers (38%), deliberate mentoring by an experienced pastor (36%), and books and other resources addressing the subject of ministry (32%).
This survey also looked at the secular work experience of these church workers, their age on pursuing training, where and how theological training had been received, and their expectations of continuing involvement in ministry.
Encouragingly, 81% of all respondents (of whom the great majority were aged between 30 and 50) expected to continue in their present role or similar roles until retirement. However, a large majority (81%) were troubled by the reluctance of young adults today to consider vocational ministry, including 42% who were ‘really concerned’ or ‘alarmed’.
Data on the extent of a ‘recruitment crisis’ is hard to come by, so some effort had gone into finding what was available. Ahead of the day, 9:38 had tracked attendance figures at representative foundation-level training providers (ministry training courses run by regional Gospel Partnerships and the Proclamation Trust) and seminary-level theological colleges. The former group saw a 23% decline overall between 2018 and 2024; the latter saw overall numbers relatively steady but a very pronounced movement from full-time/residential to part-time/distance-learning approaches, making meaningful comparisons difficult.
Also tracked over a similar period were recruitment figures for nine representative mission agencies. These saw an average 9.5% decline over the past seven years. In order to find reference points in parallel constituencies, investigations included Church of England ordination recommendations over a similar period (35% decline) and ordinations in the Catholic Church of England and Wales (37% decline).
What are we seeing on the ground?
Against the backdrop of this hard data, the purpose of the National Consultation Day was to enable a discussion of factors at play as observed in real life by the stakeholders present.
The event was convened by recently appointed Chair of 9:38, Orlando Saer. His opening address drew parallels between the rise of popular ‘antinatalism’ (not wanting to have children) and ministry hesitancy. A cluster of factors – notably financial strain, personal self-confidence issues and concerns about the future – have been working together to reduce the fertility rate in countries like the UK; the same trio seem to be very much ‘in the mix’ in a growing reluctance of young adult Christians to pursue vocational ministry: ‘Can I afford it? Am I up to it? Where is the world heading?’’
As delegates shared observations, a wider picture emerged. As well as factors indicated in the MAOS results, anecdotal experience pointed to uninspiring models of ministry, concern about long-term financial support of church workers, generational issues (e.g. anxiety, and reluctance to take responsibility), unwillingness to sacrifice comfort and security, widespread pornography addiction, lack of obvious ministry pathways or access points for those outside the traditional norms, and poor quality ministry traineeships in some people’s experience.
Attention turned to the question: ‘What can we do?’ To help consider this in a way that stood on the shoulders of others, presentations were heard from Ben Pfahlert (National Director of MTS Australia) and Robin Sydserff (Chairman of Scotland’s Bonar Trust). Both these organisations have developed clear strategic plans and resources for facilitating recruitment and training over several years.
Where to from here?
From these contributions and further brainstorming of delegates, at least seven major addressable needs were identified.
First, a commitment to urgent, informed, concerted prayer in line with ‘the other Lord’s Prayer’ (Matthew 9:37-38). Second, assisting busy church leaders with developing a training culture, identifying ministry potential (especially where individuals do not match traditional norms) and ensuring high-quality mentoring and equipping. Third, building a consensus around flexible training pathways which allow for access at different life stages and circumstances. Fourth, securing significant funding to make training a feasible option for a wide range of individuals. Fifth, signposting potential trainees to training providers and complementing existing offerings with additional resources where helpful. Sixth, ensuring continued encouragement for those who have expressed interest in vocational ministry but have moved churches and thus potentially ‘fallen through the cracks’. And seventh, finding ways to restore a sense of the ‘noble calling’ of Christian ministry that has been lost in recent times, in such a way as to break through negative perceptions that have been allowed (perhaps unsurprisingly) to emerge.
The day felt more the start of a conversation than the end. But it was a major step forward for a newly energised 9:38 and the Trustees have committed under God to addressing each of these areas with humility, diligence, vigour and hope in the months and years ahead.
