The Rising Need to Train Men in the Local Church
"The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task." (1 Timothy 3:1)
The average age of pastors in the United States is currently 54 years old. The percentage of pastors under the age of 40 is just 15%. Our pastors are getting older, and there’s no one coming up behind them to replace them. This is the crisis local churches face today.
I remember when I was starting in ministry about 10 years ago—there were a lot of men my age entering the pastorate. Now, many of them have fizzled out, and when I think about it, I may be one of the only ones still serving in ministry. This crisis will reach a boiling point if we do not act to turn the tide.
What Must the Local Church Do to Address This Crisis?
1. Seek Out Aspiring Pastors and Walk with Them
I use the word aspiring because this is the language of Scripture. Somewhere along the way, we have mystified the pastorate with the “calling” language of the Old Testament prophet. However, that language is not found in the New Testament.
Instead, 1 Timothy 3:1 states:
The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.
Bobby Jamieson puts it this way:
There are a lot of advantages to simply framing that desire in terms of aspiration. It recognizes that you want something but haven’t arrived at it yet. It recognizes that there’s an objective standard you need to measure up to—the biblical qualifications for elder—which are primarily a matter of character, but also of competence and ability to lead and teach in the church.
So, we must identify those who aspire to pastoral ministry and walk with them toward church recognition. As I often remind the men I mentor, the majority of a pastor's qualifications are related to character. That’s why we must walk alongside aspiring pastors—to see if they are living in a way that glorifies Jesus. Observe how they live, how they speak, and how they love others.
We need qualified pastors before we need talented pastors.
2. Open the Church as a Training Ground for Aspiring Pastors
When I was 17 years old, I preached the gospel for the first time at a ministry event at my home church. That opportunity led to more chances to preach and teach. This kind of training should be the norm in our churches.
Aspiring pastors need hands-on experience. They must "cut their teeth" at some point. Look for opportunities to help them do so. Need someone to teach a Sunday School class? Lead a youth or children’s lesson? Facilitate a Bible study? Find a young man and let him do it! It may be rough at first (just ask Jason and Kathryn Rogers about some of my early sermons), but preaching and teaching are skills that are both caught and taught.
Train and equip young men to become good preachers and pastors.
At Woodward Avenue Baptist Church in Muscle Shoals, AL, we are doing this through a ministry called The Shoals Cohort. "The Shoals" refers to our geographic area, and a "cohort" is a group of people with a shared characteristic. When I arrived in the area, I sought opportunities to pour into younger men in ministry. This led to relationships with our Student Ministry Director, his friends, and several aspiring pastors at our local BCM. One evening, we gathered on my back patio and hatched the idea for the Cohort.
Now, on the last Saturday of each month, we meet for two hours in the early morning. We read books together, pray together, preach to one another, and offer constructive feedback. It’s been incredibly edifying to watch these men sharpen their skills in proclaiming God’s Word. Right now, we have 11 men in the Cohort.
Will you commit to praying for each of them and for this ministry to grow?
This is the kind of training I wish I had in my early years of ministry. Perhaps you could be the key to starting something similar in your church or community.
3. Shepherd the Young, Aspiring Pastor
Pastors need to be shepherded, too. Just recently, I received a phone call from another pastor, “just to check in on me.” I have numerous men in my life who serve that role. I also meet monthly with a local pastor who has been at the same church for over 25 years to talk about life and ministry.
Young, aspiring ministers need to be reminded that ministry is a marathon, not a sprint. The race must be run well. And as a runner, let me tell you something about distance running—you don’t want to start out too fast. If you do, you’ll burn out and be gasping for breath when you need it most.
Meeting with seasoned pastors teaches young men the discipline of pacing themselves in ministry. Ministry is more like farming than any other profession. There are seasons of planting, watering, weeding, harvesting, and waiting. In fact, in ministry, you spend a lot of time waiting.
Why not submit to men who have been waiting longer than you and learn from them? Their wisdom will spur you on as you follow in their footsteps, sojourning after Jesus.
I truly believe that if more pastors had such mentors, we would see:
• Less burnout
• Fewer disqualified men stepping out of ministry
• More faithful leaders in our churches
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We have a crisis on our hands. But in times of crisis, leaders rise up and take the mantle of leadership. What a task the church has before it—to seek out the next generation of pastors.
What a joy it will be to accomplish this task!
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About the Author: Tyler Armstrong has served as the Senior Pastor at Woodward Avenue Baptist Church since April 2023. Previously, he served at churches in northeast Alabama and Texas. He is a graduate of Jacksonville State University with a BSE in Secondary Education and History, and completed his Master of Divinity (MDiv) from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Tyler loves spending time with his wife and two sons, playing disc golf, and running hundreds of miles a year.
Learn more about Woodward Avenue Baptist Church here.
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