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AUTHOR:
Chaplain (Major) Timothy S. Mallard

ADDRESS: 
Office of the Chief of Chaplains
Directorate of Ministry Initiatives, Suite 10600
1421 Jefferson Davis Highway
Arlington, VA 22202-3259
Phone (703) 601-4452
Fax (703) 601-4455

BIOGRAPHY: 
Chaplain (Major) Timothy S. Mallard holds the B.A. from Stetson University, the M.Div. from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and the Th.M. from Columbia Theological Seminary.  He is a former Reader-in-Residence at the College of Preachers and is an endorsed pastor of the Southern Baptist Convention.  He currently serves as the Spiritual Leadership Officer in the Office of the Army Chief of Chaplains, Washington, DC.

DESCRIPTION:  The thesis of this article is that there is a critical need for preachers to intentionally develop a culture of vocations, or calling, within contemporary church life in order to develop the next generation of pastors.

INTRODUCTION

What does it mean to be called of God to the profession of ministry, and more specifically, to preach the Gospel?  Indeed, if a calling is necessary to the task of preaching, why have we in the church or academe not devoted more critical thought to the topic?  If one has spent anytime at all associated with a parish or congregation, then one has no doubt heard the terms call or vocation [1] without perhaps having ever heard them defined.  Indeed, that someone needs to have experienced a calling as a prerequisite to serve in ordained ministry is usually presumed among most denominations.  Sometime within the past 30-40 years, however, the community of faith began to live with this as an unexamined assumption.  Be that as it may, we in the church can no longer afford to be so unseeing, for Christian churches are in the midst of a clerical crisis that necessitates our renewed interest in this issue.

What are the parameters of this crisis in religious leadership?  In a recent study by Auburn Theological Seminary of students from all denominations studying for the basic Master of Divinity degree, while approximately 60% of the respondents planned to pursue ordination, only 33% planned on a career in congregational or parish ministry. [2]   Of course, such a trend is well-documented within both Roman Catholic and mainline Christian churches [3] , yet this study includes seminary and divinity school students from conservative and evangelical Christian denominations as well.  Similar data from the Association of Theological Schools reinforces the conclusion that most Christian denominations are facing or will face a shortage of ordained clergy within the next ten years. [4]   The U.S. Army Chaplain Corps is also experiencing this social phenomenon, as there currently is a shortfall of over 67 entry-level captains out of only 685 authorizations for chaplains at that rank. [5]   In short, the phenomenon that was once thought to be isolated is now widespread: our churches are facing a potentially catastrophic drought of bearers of the Word.  The purpose of this article is to assist church leaders and homileticians in understanding what a call to preach is and, from this, how to develop a culture of vocations [6] that will help sustain the Church into the twenty-second century. 

TOWARD A DEFINITION OF CALL 

To begin moving toward developing a definition of the call to preach, however, we must note that many people come to the table with varied notions of this broad concept.  As a result, we first need to be attentive to differences in understanding and language.  For instance, while it is fairly safe to say that most denominations understand this mysterious process of God's call through the two terms of call or vocation, [7] many non-Christian denominations would not necessarily understand them as relating to professional service as clergy at all. [8]   Still, the majority of Christians or their pastoral leaders will hear the phrase a call to preach and have vaguely similar echoes of what these words mean. 

To dig somewhat deeper still, however, we must also realize that language and understanding are outgrowths of context, so an ability to name or describe a call or vocation to ministry will be closely related to the ecclesiology of a faith community.  For instance, while a Baptist will have a clear understanding of the phrase a "call to preach," a Lutheran may have a clearer notion of what a calling to preach both "law and gospel" entails.  At the outset then, we must be cognizant of not only differences in understanding and language but also how those differences are attenuated by various contexts. 

In an even narrower vein, we must move our definition from a generalized understanding of being called to ministry to one of being called to the specific task of preaching, for two reasons.  First, such a concept ties in to the historically Christian understanding of a calling to preach as occurring for, in and through the gathered worshipping community under the body's continuing life in the power of the Holy Spirit.  In essence, since the Reformation, Protestants have inherently understood the preaching event to be the timely expression of God's call to faith and task that, by design, elicits a response from the hearer, and that this process occurs as a result of the Holy Spirit's summons to the gathered community to worship as the principle expression of its corporate identity and mission.  As Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote,

Second, and in a more confessional sense, defining a call to preach more accurately reflects the evangelical theological focus of proclamation and response as being not only a primary act of worship but also the central task in evangelization.  Note that we are not saying that the end goal of evangelization is to produce preachers, only that the process of call and response is central to the practice of evangelism.  Since this is the framework evangelicals own and since the author shares that label, honesty dictates that this article own this as the confessional stance from which it works.  Even given this lens, however, we trust that our task will speak a helpful word across the spectrum of Christian denominations.  Having said all this, can we arrive at workable definition of a call to preach the Gospel? 

A helpful way to begin may be to delineate the content from the process of a call to preach.  For example, the content of one's call may consist of a transformational religious experience or a series of less demarcated yet seminal events that shape one's religious identity.  The content of one's call may even be wholly extra-personal, not consisting of personally formative experiences or events but rather of being identified or called out for service by the community of faith.  The content of one's call is predominantly shaped by the definition of that call as agreed upon by the community of faith.  In short, any number of religious experiences, formative persons, or ecclesial cultural understandings can serve to shape one's sense of that call to preach.  As an aside, these intra-personal, extra-personal or communal religious experiences or understandings frame the content of calling within one's memory of how God has lead one into ministry. [10]   Not surprisingly, we typically will rely on these constructs to shape our future thinking and to reinforce others' frames of reference about what call means.  In this way, our personal and corporate understandings of what a call to preach is and our language for describing it are undoubtedly used to perpetuate these constructs from one generation of the faith to the next.

Even given differences in the content of a call to preach attenuated by differences in understanding, language, and context, however, what remains remarkably consistent across denominational traditions is the process of a call to preach.  Generally this process has two parts: (1) one commits to follow Christ as a disciple in the means acceptable to one's church and eventually, (2) one commits to serving God in that same community or another connected to it as a preacher, clearly set apart to do so with the approval of that body of believers (Rom.10: 14-17; Eph. 4:11).  For the purposes of this paper, this may serve as a reasonable definition of the call to preach.  Is there, however, a basis for this definition other than just a generalized claim?  Yes, and there is some new empirical data that will amplify this experiential model.  More importantly, this data suggests some directions toward which the contemporary church must go if it is to be more intentional in developing a culture of vocations in which the call goes forth to the next generation of preachers. 

THE CHAPLAIN CORPS-WIDE SURVEY 

In the fall of 2000, the United States Army Chaplain Corps developed a survey to determine whether there are demarcated patterns of call experiences to ordained ministry across denominational lines.  To our knowledge, this is the first serious research effort aimed at addressing this issue within American religious life. [11]  

With over 200 different endorsing agencies, denominations, churches or faith groups represented by 2,500 Army Reserve and Active Duty chaplains, clearly there exists in the Army Chaplaincy the multi-faith pool of clergy such a study would need to analyze.  Each Army Chaplain is required to have completed 72 hours of graduate theological education (for most chaplains this entails possessing the basic M.Div. degree) and to be ordained or endorsed by his or her church, denomination or approved ecclesiastical agency.  So also, this pool of clergy represents a standard of theological education and professional accreditation that would be a benchmark from which to draw conclusions about patterns of call.

The methodology for conducting the survey consisted of four distinct components.  First, Chaplain (Lieutenant Colonel) Michael T. Bradfield, along with the author of this paper, both assigned to the Office of the Chief of Chaplains in Washington, DC, wrote and staffed the instrument, respectively.  Second, both the faculty at Wesley Theological Seminary and the staff at the United States Army Research Institute reviewed the proposal to ensure the instrument's questions and structure and the proposed methodology were valid.  Third, the survey was fielded with two separate means of distribution.  Working in conjunction with the United States Army Recruiting Command, the Chaplain Corps sent 300 paper versions of the survey to chaplains at 12 separate installations.  As well, the survey was fielded in a web-based version in which chaplains stationed anywhere in the world could complete the instrument on-line.  Chaplains at the installations where the paper versions were sent were instructed to only fill out that version and to ignore the on-line version, whereas chaplains who took the survey on-line were prevented by an electronic filter from taking the survey a second time.  The survey had a run period of November 1, 2001 to February 1, 2002, after which no more surveys were accepted for tabulation.  Fourth, in a supporting effort, the survey authors conducted voluntary, videotaped interviews of 93 survey respondents on their experiences of call.  These interviews, ranging in length from approximately 20 minutes to 1 hour, provide a body of narrative material that fleshes out the statistical trends found in the survey.

Chaplains submitted a total of 766 valid survey responses representing 62 endorsing agencies, denominations, churches or faith groups, an overall response rate of 31%.  Demographically, the survey found that respondents were: 

• 95.5% male and 4.5% female

• 83.6% Caucasian, 7% African-American, 4.9% Asian-American, 1.7% Hispanic, 1.2% American Indian, and 3.4% Other 

• 50.3% between 40-49 years old, 25.3% between 50-59 years old, 22.1% between 22-39 years of age, and 2.3% between 60-68 years old

• 65% held at least an earned masters degree, 22% indicated they had completed some post-graduate work, and 12.5% percent held an earned doctorate

• 39% captains, 35% majors, 17.5% lieutenant colonels, 7% colonels, and less than 1% general officers.

Generally there were two groups of data that are germane to our concern: the environment in which chaplain's were raised and the specific people, persons or experiences that influenced their sense of call.  Regarding the first area, chaplains indicated that there were major elements of church and faith life that shaped them in terms of their personal development.  First, chaplains were asked to assess the impact their religious training had on them, both at home and in church.  The two categories compared as follows: 

Second, chaplains were asked to evaluate their participation in youth ministries within their church as they grew up.  The survey revealed that chaplains were very active in such ministries, with the specific ratings appearing thus:

  Finally, in assessing the environment in which chaplains were raised, the survey asked chaplains to reflect on the positions of their church on a number of attitudes about call as posited in true or false responses to certain statements.  The purpose of these questions was to gauge the ecclesial/cultural influences about calling under which chaplains were raised, and thus acculturated.  The data showed that chaplain's denominational traditions uniformly held that religious leaders are or should be:

Next, the survey sought to capture the specific influences, including events, persons, or factors, that shaped chaplains' decisions to respond to a call.  Thus chaplains were asked how much or how little certain persons in their lives encouraged them in their decision to pursue a calling.  The data revealed that those with the greatest influence on such decisions were (in order from left to right and combining the categories of "Much Encouragement" and "Some Encouragement"): 

In the survey, chaplains were also given a group of factors from which to choose in evaluating specific influences upon their calling.  The below list does not contain all the factors but notes the six most critical factors were (in order from left to right and combining the categories of "Very Important" and "Fairly Important"):

Finally, chaplains were asked, in two separate sections of the survey, at which ages they decided they had received a call and at which ages they actually entered service as clergy within their church or faith community.  It is interesting to compare the two sets of answers.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

While the scope of the Chaplain Corps-wide Survey went beyond even this body of data to explore parallel reasons for clergy entering the Army Chaplaincy, our purposes here are served by confining our examination to the above information because we are concerned with chaplains' initial senses of following a call to preach.  Indeed what we see is that statistically, chaplains from multiple denominations experienced strikingly similar patterns in living the process of their call.  When seen as a whole, these patterns center around two phenomena: first, chaplains started their careers in ministry by initially following Christ in faith (though exactly where in each chaplain's life this occurred was not a measurable task for the survey), and for most this seems to have occurred in childhood.  Second, at a later time (that the data sought to and does delineate), the community of faith sanctioned that chaplain for the service of the Word to or on behalf of that community.  It is from this similar pattern that we draw our definition. 

We now refer back to the current crisis we in Christian churches are experiencing in terms of not attracting or recruiting enough preachers to serve our needs in the future.  While a pattern of call may be manifestly evident to most Christian pastors and teachers, it seems that we have simply supposed that God would continue to make this happen without any intentional planning, leadership or effort on our part.  However, the current crisis dictates that we can no longer make such an assumption.  Rather, we must intentionally lead our congregations to become cultures of vocations, literally places where each and every person is made aware of the discernment process, urged to explore his or her personal gifts and talents, and then encouraged to ask whether God is calling them to either lay or ordained ministry.  Indeed, this idea is summed up by the doctrine of the Priesthood of the Believers, a historically Protestant principle since the Reformation.  However, modern churches seem to have traded a personally empowered laity for a professionally overworked clergy within our ranks.  Though we lack enough preachers to meet our future needs, modern Protestant churches have so legitimated the pastor's role that the laity is often underutilized in terms of carrying out the work of the community.  A return to a balanced sense of calling within our theology is in order, and in some corners this is underway. Yet what would a culture of vocations within a church or denomination resemble?

At least five principles emerge from the Chaplain Corps-wide Survey that provide a target at which to aim in developing congregationally based efforts to shape a sense of calling in parishioners.  These principles are: 

• The hearing of preaching and participation in corporate worship are key communal religious experiences that impact the discernment process.  Consequently, we must intentionally emphasize in preaching and worship the timeless spiritual processes of call and response and build in time for the affirmation of potential candidates for lay or ordained ministry.  Ideally, this emphasis should occur year-round and not simply annually.

• Religious education, both at home and at church, plays a critical role in shaping one's sense of calling.  As a result, we must foster creative religious education that not only imparts the tenets of the faith but also helps people understand their gifts, talents, and the needs of the church.

• Participation in youth activities within the community of faith, and early leadership of the same, are good predictors for identifying emerging faith leaders.  Therefore we need to invest church resources in developing supportive and challenging youth ministries, identifying leaders of the same, and involving young adults in the active decision-making and leadership of the church.

• Most ordained clergy make a decision about feeling called to ministry as a young adult between the ages of 17-34.  While chaplains overwhelmingly responded to their call and entered service as clergy in this same time frame, the majority of clergy delay acting on this decision until middle age. [13]   Consequently, we must intentionally and continually target church members in the above age bracket to aid them in the discernment process and to challenge them to follow their call sooner rather than later in their adult life.

• Religious leaders, parents and spouses are absolutely vital persons of influence in reinforcing another person's sense of calling.  As a result, we must intentionally highlight to church staff, parents and spouses the critical role they play in the call process, taking special care to help them be supportive yet challenging to those who are struggling with how God might be calling them to serve.

These principles provide us a type of target at which to direct our efforts to develop a culture of vocations.  The following questions may assist us in determining how close we are to the mark. 

• In our preaching and worship, have we highlighted the process of discernment and built in time for prayer, reflection, and response to the question, "How is God calling me to serve Him?" 
• Is our religious education pointedly leading folks, particularly young people, in a discernment-based process that helps them study the faith, study themselves, and match their talents with the ministries of the church? 
• Are we actively cultivating leaders within our youth groups and intentionally inviting them to participate in church decision-making or worship planning and execution? 
• Are we targeting key leaders within our congregations in the 17-34 year-old range and intentionally developing relationships or programs that facilitate God's call in their lives? 
• How well, if at all, are we assisting parents, spouses and staff in understanding how they influence fellow church members in hearing and responding to the movement of the Holy Spirit in their lives? 

Our answers to these questions and others will be a significant starting point for gauging where we may need to go in developing a culture of vocations within our churches or denominations.  Once answered, we should be able to do more than simply address a functional crisis of not having enough preachers or pastors today.  We will be prepared to redevelop a healthy theological emphasis on each person having a call from God, we will be prepared to energize both lay and ordained ministries within our churches, and we will surely sew the seeds for the next generation of preachers to herald the Word to the world for decades to come. 

Footnotes 

1 At first, I will use these terms almost interchangeably, for reasons outlined below, and in order to pay attention to the ecumenical nature of this problem.  However, my central definition will move to understanding a call to preach. 

2 See Barbara G. Wheeler, "Is There a Problem:  Theological Students and Religious Leadership for the Future," in Auburn Studies, No 8., July 2001, pg. 12. 

3 For example, see the excellent ongoing statistical analysis conducted only within the Roman Catholic tradition by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (C.A.R.A.),  Georgetown University, Washington, DC. 

4 The problem goes beyond simply one of not having enough persons to engage in ministry.  There is an underlying disparity between post-modern culture, and its emphasis on deconstructing all norms and truths, and the necessarily consistent nature of theological education and ecclesial life.  For excellent commentary on this issue, see "The Public Character of Theological Education," Theological Education, Journal of the Association of Theological Schools, Fall 2000, Volume 37, No.1 and also Elizabeth Lynn and Barbara G. Wheeler, "Missing Connections:  Public Perceptions of Theological Education and Religious Leadership," in Auburn Studies, No. 6, September 1999.  

5 Figures valid as of the date of this document according to the Office of the Chief of Chaplains, Directorate of Personnel, Presidential Towers, Suite 12500, 2511 Jefferson Davis Highway, 22202. 

6 This unique phrase was coined by Tom Beaudoin in "Believable Hope: Shaping the New Evangelization for Vocations," Keynote Address for the National Religious Vocations Conference, September 8, 2000.   For further reading in what generational differences might be attenuating the shortage of clergy in America, see his Virtual Faith:  The Irreverent Spiritual Quest of Generation X, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1999. 

7 Note particularly the difference between a generalized Protestant understanding of calling and a Catholic understanding of vocation.  Both can be said to basically refer to the same phenomena, the process of God leading someone to respond in faith by committing to service in the faith community, whether lay or ordained.  However, note also that in Catholic life, vocational theology has more fully developed since Vatican II to include vocations to the priesthood, the laity, religious life, marriage, singleness, etc.  In contrast, Protestant theology of late generally has avoided any nuanced understanding of a theology of calling, ignoring the great history of such a concept arising from the Reformation, and focusing on a rising emphasis on clericalism within denominational life.  For further reading on the Roman Catholic strategy for increasing vocations, including an official vocational theology, see A Future Full of Hope: The U.S. Bishop's National Vocational Strategy, 1996-1998, the National Council of Catholic Bishops, Washington, DC, 1996.  For a classis Protestant understanding of vocational theology, see Gustaf Wingren, The Christian's Calling: Luther on Vocation, Edinburgh: Mulenberg Press, 1957.   

8 See Basil Herring, The Rabbinate as Calling and Vocation: Models of Rabbinic Leadership, Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, Inc., 1991, for an example of Jewish attitudes that exist toward vocational theology. 

9 Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Sanctorum Communio: A Theological Study of the Sociology of the Church, in Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Vol. I, trans. J. von Soosten, R. Krauss and N. Lukens, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1998, pg. 227. 

10 See the excellent work done by William Myers on patterns of call within the African-American Christian traditions.  Of note here is his particularly excellent chapter on "Narrative," in which he argues that it is only narrative which guides our memories of how God led us into the ministry.  See God's Yes Was Louder Than My No: Rethinking the African-American Call to Ministry, Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1994. 

11 I stress here the qualifiers of our goal of conducting a research survey across multi-faith lines.  The only similar empirical research on this issue that we uncovered is that of William Myers (1994), but it was not denominationally broad enough to meet our needs. 

12 For instance, so-called "seeker sensitive" churches have gone to great lengths to assist laypersons in discovering their spiritual gifts and then employing those gifts in ministry.  However, this trend generally does not seem to address the lack of focus in these and other evangelical churches in emphasizing to and assisting parishioners with answering the "call to preach." 

13 Wheeler (2001), pg. 4.