Doing something wrong, perhaps?

According to a source, the largest diocese in Europe has reported a catastrophic decline in seminary vocations.  So, for 2013-14, the diocese reported 150 seminarians, dropping slightly to 139 in 2017-18 and then dropping precipitously to just 78 in 2022-23.   Then there is this -- only 6 seminarians were admitted in 2022.  Of course, there are any number of reasons for this decline but chief among them has got to be the direction of the Roman Catholic Church, the news from the Vatican, and the witness of the current Pope for nearly all of that same period.  What is true, however, is that this decline cannot continue.

Before we Lutherans snicker, we need to admit the decline of seminary vocations in our own back yard.  Plus, we are in a position to see upwards of 25-40% of actively serving pastors retire within the next 5-10 years.  We are not in any enviable position either.  We have tried inventing alternate routes, tried substituting an online option, and offered financial scholarships to cover all the seminary tuition and still we have not made progress in the recruitment of young men as first career pastors and rely on second career seminarians as the primary seedbed of new pastors.  While there is certainly nothing wrong and entirely laudable about those second career men, the truth is that many of them will only serve half as long as first career pastors and many less than that.  This means that second career men cannot be the primary source of pastors for our churches though they should and must always be a strong secondary source.

This decline cannot continue.  We are no better position to sustain our congregations with the diminishing numbers of men coming out of our seminaries.  We must take this seriously.  Sure, we have a Synod-wide program to highlight pastoral vocations and other church work careers but it is not the Synod's job to find recruits.  It is the job of those in the pews and the pastors in the congregations.  We better start taking it seriously.

Barriers to recruitment of young men for the pastoral vocation include:

1. Lack of support from their family and friends
2. Low esteem many of our people hold their pastors
3. Low numbers of those families who attend weekly
4. Low salaries and high educational debts
5. Lack of support and encouragement from congregational leaders
6. Abundance of alternative careers
7. High cost of our church colleges and seminaries (not just tuition, folks)
8. Naysayers who suggest that the church is in decline and not many pastors are needed
9. Terrible portrayals of clergy in the media
10. Thinking it is somebody else's job to encourage pastoral vocations

All of these are true and real but one of the biggest reasons never cited is prayer.  Are we really praying the Lord to send out laborers and shepherds into His vineyard and flock?  If we prayed more about this, perhaps the prayer would find a greater willingness in us to work for what we pray.  If we prayed more about this and more in earshot of young men in the congregation, they might hear the greater need and hear the Lord calling them to consider more seriously this vocation.  I have been actively serving as a pastor for 43 years.  Many of my peers are already retired and my family is encouraging me to do that also.  If you love your pastor and appreciate what he does, look around your parish for smart and dedicated young men and encourage them to follow in his footsteps.  Pray for them.  Pay for them to make their education easier.  Support them by honoring the calling and the office.  Rome is certainly in worse shape than we are but we could be right behind them.  And it is our own fault.  We have contributed to the decline at least in part by not esteeming the office highly and by presuming it is somebody else's job to identify and recruit young men to serve the church as pastors.