But sometimes God speaks to people through the challenge of a new situation. To many it seems contradictory to evaluate a call to ministry by the compensation package that comes with it. Others point out that many ministers have chosen lives that involve a great deal of sacrifice, and few, if any, are working just for the money. A pastoral position does not seem to carry the status and prestige it had 20 or 30 years ago. Douglas Oldenburg, former General Assembly moderator and retired president of Columbia Theological Seminary, plans to devote as much as four years of his retirement to helping to solve these problems.
Every seminary has some wonderful students.
But I want to see what we can do to improve the quality of persons going into theological institutions and into the ministry. A lot of pastors tell war stories about their ministry, but for me being a pastor has been a wonderful part of my life. Paul Stavrakos, the Board's vice president for church relations and assistance, says they hope to be able to provide 50 such grants per year for five years, and then hand off the program to other church agencies. Grant recipients would agree to serve for a certain number of years in small churches designated by presbyteries. They also would be required to attend budgeting and debt-management classes.