Where pastors are engaging in negative behavior toward each other or parishioners, they could help put a stop to this by engaging solutions in Problem 1. For instance, the pastor engages youth in assisting him with pastoral duties besides worship, or at worship in such duties as acolyte or greeting worshipers. Pastors of larger congregations could hire a young person with ministry potential to assist with tasks at home, to give experience with a healthy person in ministry. Recruiting is about relationships. Seminary recruiters need to remember that building relationships is just as important for them.
Districts can operate programs to identify and recruit potential church workers.
Parents reluctant to encourage children into clergy. This is closely related to solutions for retention problems. As the life of the pastor is made more humane and peace comes to more congregations, parents will be more supportive of encouraging children toward pastoral ministry. Pastors need to take time to establish personal relationships with young people in their congregations. Even if seminary enrollments doubled and dropout rates were cut in half, the Synod would still have more than 1,000 ministry locations without a pastor.