What Young Clergy Want You to Know (Methodist Revised)

A former seminary colleague of mine posted on facebook a blog from a young, Lutheran pastor about what young clergy want you to know. It is from a Lutheran perspective (involving serveral polity issues particular to the ELCA), but it got me to thinking about what I, as a young clergyman in the Methodist tradition, want people to know. You can read the original blog post at this link:

http://pastorkeithanderson.net/item/what-young-clergy-want-you-to-know

Otherwise, here are my points as a United Methodist Pastor in Oklahoma. Some I share with the above, others are my own devising.

If you happened to show up at a gathering of young United Methodist clergy (let's say at the Hideaway), they would perhaps tell you (if you asked)...

1. They love Jesus, and most certainly love Christ's Church.
2. They are willing to do what it takes for the sake of God's mission in the world.
3. They understand that they are pastoring in a time of American Christianity's slow (but quickening) death.
4. They don't waste their time lamenting that (there's too much to do).
5. They want the church (people in the pews) and its leaders (the heirarchy) to be honest about where we are.
6. The sooner we can come to terms with our dyings (we are not the church we once were), the sooner we can live into the new life that is emerging from it. Despite their concerns, young clergy are remarkably hopeful.
7. They are native to a culture that the church, on the whole, does not fully - or hardly - understand or engage. That doesn’t just go for parishioners. It goes for clergy, too.
8. They are never going to act or sound like previous generations of clergy.
9. That is not a criticism of previous generations of clergy, only a new reality that does happen from time to time.
10. They feel the expectations placed on younger clergy are not enforced among older clergy.
11.  They are no less theologically committed than their predecessors.
12. But their work looks different, and their language sounds different.
13. This does not mean that they are unbiblical in their approach to ministry, only that they have learned to translate biblical truth for a new culture.
14. Many of their initiatives do not fit into existing church structures.
15. This does not make them less equipped or less effective at being pastors.
16. They are drowning in student debt.
17. They are not sure it is possible to have a full career at ministry, let alone service their student debt, cover expenses, and have a life and a family.
18. But money is not an obsession to them. No one goes into ministry for the money.
19. They understand the difference between Institutions (which are necessary for the furtherance of our mission) and Institutionalism (the self-perpetuation of structures as an end unto itself).
20. The paradigms of Old vs. New, Traditonal vs. Contemporary, Sacramental vs. Evangelical do not resonate with them. They see ministry more as Both/And rather than Either/Or.
21. They realize that this is the cultural context we are all in (whether others realize it or not).
22. They are not against the Itinerancy.
23. They are against cronyism.
24. They do not love business meetings.
25. They do love mission and will share their faith.
26. They understand that accounability, submission to authority, and selfless service are part of the covenant of ordination.
27. They do not believe, however, that all clergy live into this understanding.
28. They are frustrated by the inability or unwillingness - or both - of congregations and denominations who are not honest about why they can’t, won’t, or don’t change.


Ok. These are my points. I don't mean to cause a stir or to enrage any of my colleagues. There is nothing sacred about these points, and I am sure some young clergy would agree and disagree, add or change many of these. But, I hope it will be a good conversation piece.