Our institutions are out of date; the long career is dead; any quest for solid rules is pointless, since we will be constantly rethinking them; you can’t rely on an established business model or a corporate ladder to point your way; silos between industries are breaking down; anything settled is vulnerable. [1]

So writes Robert Safian in the article, “This Generation is Flux: Meet the Pioneers of the New (And Chaotic) Frontier of Business,” found in the most recent edition of Fast Company.

While I have often been skeptical (even critical) of plying business techniques, practices, and models in ministry, I found myself rereading and pondering this article (which can be accessed by clicking here). In the article Safian makes many points of note. Here are just a few:

• The pace of change in our economy and our culture is accelerating—fueled by global adoption of social, mobile, and other new technologies—and our visibility about the future is declining. [2]

• The next decade or two will be defined more by fluidity than by any new, settled paradigm; if there is a pattern to all this, it is that there is no pattern. [3]

• The new reality is multiple gigs, some of them supershort, with constant pressure to learn new things and adapt to new work situations, and no guarantee that you’ll stay in a single industry. [4]

• Future-focus is a signature trait of Generation Flux. [5]

• In a world of flux, what succeeds for one industry or company doesn’t necessarily work for another; and even if it does, it may not work for long. [6]

What does this have to do with the church? How might this apply to the church? Here are just a few thoughts…

Education

Bible colleges and seminaries have long served as the training institutions for clergy. While the church has undoubtedly benefited from the specialized and focused training provided by these institutions (and while I have personally benefited from education at a private Christian college and an excellent seminary), there are limitations to this model of training/education. Namely, clergy often graduate from the hallowed halls of these institutions with a rather narrow knowledge base and a limited (and not very marketable) skill set. Consequently, pastors vie with one another for positions at churches that can afford full-time pastors and pastoral staff, or can provide the hope that they will be able to do so in the near future.

Pastors aren’t the only casualties of this system, however. The small local church and the church that is yet-to-be-born are also victimized. Because the well-educated pastor has student debt, a family, and the necessities of life to tend to many pastors are unable or unwilling to minister in small churches or as a church planter.

Those that are able or willing to give it a try regularly encounter another challenge: ministering bi-vocationally. In many respects, bi-vocational ministry is ideal in that it keeps the pastor grounded in reality and allows him/her to develop meaningful connections with those who are outside of the church. Connections with the wider community can occur naturally, through the ordinary ebbs and flows of work and life. But, where does a pastor work? What skills and training does he or she bring to the table? Bible colleges and seminaries, while providing invaluable education in ancient languages and biblical exegesis, don’t often teach pastors-to-be how to weld, do graphic design, copy-edit, develop a business plan and start a business, etc. Thus, the bi-vocational pastor often has to work a job that does not provide a living wage, requiring them to work two or three jobs in addition to pastoring part-time (while in actuality putting in full-time hours). The weary, beleaguered, and indebted pastor then (on many occasions) burns out or leaves for the greener pastures of full-time ministry.

I would suggest, therefore, that the pastors of the church of the future will need to possess a diverse skill set. Biblical knowledge, the ability to exegete a passage, and pastoral counseling skills will need of be supplemented with knowledge and skills that will allow them to gig just as effectively (if not more so) as their non-ministerial counterparts. Colleges and seminaries will need to adjust to meet this growing demand.

Additionally, the debt load of those who are graduating into ministry will need to be reduced. The cost of education continues to skyrocket, yet financial compensation for pastors has not been able to keep pace. The problem in most instances is not with the local congregation. Many congregations, especially the small ones, are exceptionally generous and strive to provide for their pastors as best as they can (and often at great sacrifice). Rather, the problem lies with the denominations who require four years of college and a three or four year masters degree, yet do little to subsidize the education of their pastors. The result of this system is an increasing number of pastors who have loans spanning seven to eight years of educational costs at $20-30k per year.

Many pastors have seven to eight years of college and graduate education, but still make far less than someone who has a four-year college degree.

I would suggest that the solution is not to be found in either forcing the churches to pay their pastors more (in many cases this isn’t possible), nor in dumbing down the required education. Instead, the solution is to be found in making education more affordable. Whether this means that a denomination digs deep into its coffers or that denominational schools find a way to lower the cost of education for future clergy (through the implementation of online programs or some other means), I do not really know. All that I know is that if the pastors graduating from Bible college and seminary did not have exorbitant amounts of student debt, they would be able to invest their time and energy into some churches and communities that might really benefit from their (undivided) attention and involvement.

Formation

The days of standardized curriculum and one-size-fits-all discipleship are over. The days when people would show up at 9:30 on a Sunday morning to become spiritually formed are all but over. (I write this as the pastor of a church that has roughly 2/3 of its congregation taking part I Sunday School.)

Sure, people can sit through our Sunday School classes, our four week discipleship small group meetings, and emerge on the other side with a great deal of information.

Where the church has often failed, as of late, is in teaching people how to think critically and biblically about life and life issues. Rather, we have taught people how to passively absorb information dispensed by a pastor/teacher/small group leader. They then take this information and regurgitate it as necessary.

Yet, for the most part, people remain unformed by the knowledge that they have.

In a culture that is changing rapidly, congregations need to be equipped to think on their feet. They need to be so formed by the Christian faith and a biblical imagination that they can navigate the often fluid and chaotic waters of social media, politics, and religious pluralism with grace and wisdom (and not the know-it-all attitude that so often accompanies the mere regurgitation of knowledge).

[1] Robert Safian, “This is Generation Flux,” in Fast Company (http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/162/generation-flux-future-of-business).

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.