Interesting that the responses are so positive. I would have expected somewhat more ambivalence because that's what I've heard from my friends in the midst of seminary.

I wonder if, in part, pastors value seminary because they had to work so hard at it, and it would be discombobulating to then think about it as not valuable. (Something along the lines of reducing cognitive dissonance).

Interesting stuff...

Interesting though not surprising. Yet even while they value it (I do) only 10 percent think it is necessary for most of the pastoral ministry functions they themselves oversee.

What would the church in America look like if we made just that much of a change--we only required seminary for senior pastor leadership?

I worked for a church for about 8 years and then went to seminary where I am currently in my 2nd year. I think what I am learning is definitely valuable and I would do it again BUT I think there needs to be huge overhaul of how we train pastors outside of the professional degree model. There also seems to be a trend at my seminary of people going straight from undergrad to seminary because there are a number of full-tuition private scholarships out there for people under 27. I don't blame them for doing it and the seminaries don't discourage it because it increases their revenues but I don't think this is an advisable pattern.

Marty,

I'm with Brad. I found it surprising that it was so positive considering the many comments I hear from pastors.

I would have liked to have asked some open-ended questions about what they did not learn, would do different, etc. But, that will be for another survey on another day.

Ed

Well, I was going to essentially say what everyone else seemed to notice. I found it very interesting that they all seemingly highly valued their own education but didn't require it in those that would work with them. I'm hoping to plant a church in the next year or so and I've already thought that, as someone who has attended seminary, knowing the time and monetary demands, I wouldn't think of requiring it of others that I wanted to work with.
On a personal note, I dropped out of seminary this month - I was halfway through my degree program. It was something that I felt more and more strongly about over the last year. I'm not going to talk negatively about seminaries in general - certainly the education I got was beneficial. However, I think these days it's MORE of an expectation and norm than it is actually necessary for what pastors and church planters will be doing. The men who started and led the greatest church in history had no formal education - the Apostles. Have we strayed so far from that as to think that if someone doesn't have a degree they are somehow LESS capable than someone else who does to make a huge impact in the Kingdom?

I just wanted to let some of my thoughts flow on this subject. Thanks for listening. I really do think highly of seminary experiences, however I think we go too far in how much we value it and require it. We need to keep going back to Scripture as our first and foremost model for life and church. I'm thankful for every Christian leader who has followed God's call in their life - and whatever training they receive along the way.

Jeremy-

I really disagree with the whole "well, the Apostles didn't go to seminary, so why am I required to go?" card. Yes, the apostles didn't learn theology the way we do. They had different circumstances than we do! They walked and talked with THEOLOGY. They were with God himself! What better "training" can you have?

The reality is, we are not and never will be the Apostles. They new Greek and Hebrew (way more than we will ever know it). They grew up in the law and then walked with the Fulfilled Law. They knew more about Jesus and his ministry, than any modern man will ever know.

Simply put, they have more credentials than any seminary can give us. They weren't Master's of Divinity (M.Div), they knew Divinity. The least we can do is go to seminary.

My biggest gripe I have with seminary is the cost!

EJ

EJ,

I didn't mean to imply that we are today in the same circumstances as the Apostles. And it is no excuse or "card" that I feel people need to play. However, they showed that it is possible to not have a high level of formal education and still have a huge impact in the world.

I definitely see your points, especially about how they were with Divinity in a way we're not able to be today. So we strive to do the next best thing. But Jesus did say that once He left we would be even better off because He was sending the Holy Spirit. In fact, it wasn't until they received the Spirit that they really started changing the world. And don't we have that same Spirit? Don't we have the Word of God that teaches us just as the Living Word taught them?

I'm really not trying to be cranky on this. I'm not trying to defend my decision or imply that others should not attend. Certainly, many should! It is a great experience and education. My point was merely that perhaps we put more emphasis on it as a requirement than we ought to. There have been many great Christians who never went to seminary and my hope would be that people would follow what God was leading them to do and submit to being prepared however He leads, as opposed to just going along with the crowd because it's the norm.

I feel I've taken this blog post pretty far off on a tangent. So, I'll just point back once more to the stats that say that most of the people who went to seminary felt like it was the right decision. Seminary is a good thing for lots of folks.

Thanks for listening,

Jeremy

I've scoured a number of studies on this topic and find it interesting that most seminary professors advocate for a heavily classical theological education model (heavy on the theory/theology, light on the praxis) while most seminary students and pastors advocate for a much more "practical" approach. Most seminary curricula make little room for practical courses in leadership, church administration, and conflict resolution, which is where most pastors have difficulty (much of which is not the pastor's fault, I would suggest). If you look at why most pastors are fired (of the 1000+ who are fired each month, depending on which study you read), it's almost always due to church politics and almost never due to errant theology.

Ed - Any possibility the research study itself has been (or will be) released? I poked around and didn't spot it anywhere yet. Thank you for your contribution to the Kingdom! -Sam

Ed,

I guess the reason I am not surprised is that with all the complaints I have heard over the years about seminary education (most of which I think have merit), things like:

not practical enough
too cerebral
too theoretical
profs without pastoral experience
profs without any realism
profs who can't do ...etc.

I don't normally here a lot that devalues what they do get at seminary. I hear a lot about what they wish seminary had included but not that they devalue the experience as a whole.

What was valuable for me was the contacts I made that I have for the rest of my life. Also valuable was meeting and picking the brains of men like Jarislav Pelikan, Roland Bainton and Dr. Schweitzer.
In spite of cost and tuition, that exposure is
priceless.