As the landscape of American life becomes more thoroughly secular and biblically illiterate, I do believe that dynamic, spiritually healthy, and theologically strong churches are essential in the ongoing process of the Gospel's spread. These can be churches that have existed for some time, groups that have been revitalized and re-watered, or new church plants (although I believe there are ways church plants can ensure the healthiest growth, and a team approach is the top strategy). But the bottom line is that these churches will require clergy and leaders.
To that end, American evangelicalism (which I admit is a term that needs heavy scrutiny) has been training its ministers in several ways. Some churches and networks--Acts29, to wit, before and after the Mark Driscoll implosion--don't necessarily place a premium on seminary training and opt for a more individualized process of discipleship. That can work as long as "discipleship" doesn't mean a pastor saying "read this John Piper book and make sure you mow my lawn". However, many churches and denominations over the years have insisted on their clergy not only being well-educated, but having completed seminary training.
It is this seminary training that seems to be at a crossroads, in my opinion. This is evident in a couple of ways. For one, the amount of credit hours now to receive a Master of Divinity degree (the professional graduate program for many denominational requirements) is significantly less than when I completed my M. Div. from Covenant Seminary years ago, with 102 credits in 1996. Now, for example:
Azusa Pacific: 74 credits
Fuller: 80 credits (semester equivalent)
Midwestern Baptist: 81 credits
Phoenix: 88 credits
Union (Richmond): 81 credits
And there are others. Some, like Covenant (99), Gordon-Conwell (96), and Westminster (an eye-popping 111) are holding strong in classroom requirements. But the lessening of hours seems to be the rule, not the exception.
Another trend is toward more online education. It is this crossroads that I think will have even greater impact on the church. First, let me say I have tremendous sympathy for those who would find it difficult to uproot one's family and move to Boston or St. Louis or Pasadena (well, Pomona, now) at great financial cost, taking on a burden of debt, etc. Online education is cheaper, more efficient and streamlined, and can be offered more widely than the traditional classroom format. It is, as Fuller Seminary president Mark Labberton notes, "an increasingly challenging and disrupted higher education landscape". Covenant Seminary--my M.Div. alma mater--has introduced a new hybrid format for its M.Div. program, in which two-thirds of the degree requirements can be done online with only six visits to St. Louis needed for on-campus intensive courses.
I get that. Some people don't have the time or money. I get why undergraduate schools that resist the online flood in favor of a residential-only experience--like Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, or Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas--do so with great difficulty. But I can't help but think that the Scots (Covenant) and Ravens (Benedictine) are on to something here that translates with a lot of power to the seminary level.
Ministry in the name of Christ is a calling that deserves and demands face time. The Gospel proceeds and flows through the connections of relationships and the slog of personal living in spiritual community, and when you take that "residential" capacity out of the system, or mostly out of the system, I fear for what we're left with.
If we have a future inhabited with pastors trained mostly/primarily online, insulated from the life-on-life rubs and bumps of everyday life, then American evangelicalism (again, whatever that means) is headed for a serious reckoning. This shift in education--however seemingly pragmatically necessary--is going to serve to undercut the mission of the pastorate by undercutting the incarnational quality of pastors. Learning on screen is not the same as learning in community. Online education can help you with sermon preparation; it doesn't prepare you for difficult ruling elders or vestry members. You can view a lecture on church history online, but you cannot have the impact of that professor praying with you when you are overwhelmed by the stress of work and academics.
Ministry by nature is residential and incarnational. Christ did not accomplish his ministry at arm's length or from a great distance. Certainly, those of us called to ministry, who represent Christ to those whom we serve, should imitate Christ in this way.
Alas, I fear we will be getting very different pastors and leaders for a very different church in a very different future. And that's not necessarily a good thing.
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