Where do Pastors Come From?

From The Forum Magazine, Winter 2025 - view the full issue here

She gathered her thoughts to ask a question that was important to her, her local church, and the wider denomination.  Standing before her was a well-known leader in the Christian Reformed Church.  He was a pastor and a preacher.  Over 100 people had gathered to hear his thoughts on the church and at the end of his presentation there was a time for questions to be posed.

When she was recognized, she asked concisely: “Why don’t we have better preachers in the church?”  The well-known leader took off his glasses. With thanks for the question, he then used those glasses to point to all those in the room and said: “We don’t have better preachers, because you don’t call your best into the ministry.  You encourage your young people to go into business, law, banking, medicine and more.  If you want better preachers, you and I need to call our best into the ministry.”

I was in the room when this exchange occurred.  I was an undergraduate student at Trinity Christian College and the then-editor of  The Banner, Andrew Kuyvenhoven, was speaking.  I was headed to law school, but that question and answer from over 40 years ago, still lingers in my understanding of my calling as President of Calvin Theological Seminary.

Yes, we need more and better preachers.  Calvin Theological Seminary was formed in 1876 to develop and train more and better preachers. Through the years, Calvin Seminary has created a curriculum that addresses our need for more and better leaders for preaching, counseling, chaplaincy, Bible teaching, youth groups and so much more.  

Since the fall of 2012, I have been co-teaching a class called “Leadership in Ministry.”  In that class, I provide a vision that encourages all of our students to flourish in ministry.

How should we answer the question about where preachers (and other church leaders) come from?

I would like to start with the insights of Andrew Kuyvenhoven. While we acknowledge that it is always and ultimately the work of the Holy Spirit to call people into ministry, God has chosen to work through the actions and prayers of His people.

Naturally, parents want their children to do well and have “good lives” and for some that has meant encouraging their off-spring toward higher-paying careers and away from the challenges of church ministry. Even my own mother initially felt I should stay in the legal profession instead of entering seminary as a second-career student, fretting I might be “hurt” in ministry.  

For a number of years, Calvin Theological Seminary sponsored a summer program meant to help high school students think through vocation and calling.  Initially, it was a success. We had more applicants than open spots.  But over time, we noticed fewer and fewer applicants. Increasingly, these young people were finding it difficult to take three weeks “off” during the summer, with some students saying they needed to keep their summer jobs and could not devote the time for “Facing Your Future.”

My challenge to the church and to anyone who asks “Where Do Pastors (and Leaders) Come From?” is framed by these three questions: 

1. When was the last time someone from your church was encouraged to consider ministry as a calling?
2. When was the last time you prayed for or prayed over someone who was discerning a calling for ministry?
3. When was the last time your church leadership had a session to identify which person – young and even not so young – might consider a call to ministry?

I have visited Sully Christian Reformed Church in Sully, Iowa, a congregation organized in 1896. This congregation has raised up more than 20 young people through the years to go to Calvin Seminary. What if every local church lifted prayers and provided encouragement for people to enter into ministry?  I believe the Sully congregation deliberately planted seeds over time and that intentionality resulted in people who said “Here I am, Lord.”  

What if we took seriously Luke 10:2?  We should remember that Jesus still says: “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

I’ve noticed that our students who come from a community where there has been consistent prayer and constant encouragement for ministry will have a foundation for understanding their calling and are more likely than not to experience flourishing in the ministry.

Once a student enters Calvin Theological Seminary, we are intentional in our curriculum to help them know the Bible, know himself or herself, know others and know their context. Elsewhere in this issue of Forum, Director of Vocational Formation Geoff Vandermolen will give an overview of some of the ways we frame this work of education and formation.  

Listen on most podcast platforms.

Our curriculum has a purpose.  We desire to educate and form leaders who are disciples of Jesus Christ and help them know they are called to serve and called to form communities of disciples.

The four curricular areas gather key biblical-theological principles that inform effective pastoral leadership.  It includes GOSPEL, as we are carriers of the message of the grace of God.  We want to deepen a student’s awareness of the impact of personal strengths and weaknesses, including their own, on their pastoral leadership (PERSON); increasing students' capacity for contextual discernment necessary for effective leadership (CONTEXT); and giving students practical leadership skills needed to form communities of disciples (CALLING - GOAL). 

Our curriculum has been shaped and continues to be reshaped to meet a variety of demands and callings. But the goal continues to be the same – we are forming disciples who form disciples.

One of the challenges of ministry is that while the Gospel does not change, the context in which it is shared has and will continue to change.  Consider the many recent challenges in the church – the political polarization, the effects of the COVID pandemic, and the ongoing cultural storms swirling around us.  We are seeking to provide students with navigational tools for ministry, including the inevitable challenges of our current context.  

One of the key challenges today is recognizing that pastors and churches that find it necessary to “separate” from each other do so not solely due to theological differences, but because of “fit.”  And where there is a lack of fit, there will probably be pain in the parting.    

In the Christian Reformed Church in North America, one way for a church and pastor to separate is to go through what is called an Article 17, which references the Article 17 process in the CRC Church Order.  

Here is a statistical trend line within the CRC that should cause us all to pause.

• The 1980’s – Article 17’s affected 31 pastors and churches
• The 1990s – Article 17’s affected 38 pastors and churches
• The 2000’s – Article 17’s affected 172 pastors and churches
• The 2010’s – Article 17’s affected 189 pastors and churches    

Not all separations are painful.  I know of one pastor who left their congregation to pursue additional training in Clinical Pastoral Education and they were blessed by their church to do so.

At the same time, I know that there are many stories of pain and loss. I am concerned about the impact on the generation of emerging leaders who witness such pain and do not want anything to do with church vocations. 

Yet, through it all, Calvin Theological Seminary remains dedicated to training church leaders who serve well and who are used by God in the building up of the Church and the wider Kingdom.    

May we again – and always –  see pastoral ministry as a worthy calling and a necessary calling for the health of the Body of Christ, the Church!