They come from a host of Christian denominations, but one thing unites them: they are part of a shrinking number of theology students nationally who are interested in taking over a pulpit rather than doing something else with their degrees.
About 100 seminarians from over two dozen denominations, from Baptists and Roman Catholics to Unitarian Universalists, are attending a weeklong conference aimed at reversing a trend of young people shying away from the gaps in churches nationwide left by retiring Baby Boomer ministers.
The conference by the Atlanta-based Fund for Theological Education will also bring in 50 undergraduates from colleges nationwide who are thinking of attending seminary and then going into ministry as a profession.
“The image of being a church leader is very boring,” said 25-year-old conference attendee John Helmstadter, a student at Yale Divinity School. “It doesn’t seem like a vibrant sector. It excites me to be a part of the revival of the church.”
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Georgia group aims to coax more seminarians to pulpit
They come from a host of Christian denominations, but one thing unites them: they are part of a shrinking number of theology students nationally who are interested in taking over a pulpit rather than doing something else with their degrees.
About 100 seminarians from over two dozen denominations, from Baptists and Roman Catholics to Unitarian Universalists, are attending a weeklong conference aimed at reversing a trend of young people shying away from the gaps in churches nationwide left by retiring Baby Boomer ministers.
The conference by the Atlanta-based Fund for Theological Education will also bring in 50 undergraduates from colleges nationwide who are thinking of attending seminary and then going into ministry as a profession.
“The image of being a church leader is very boring,” said 25-year-old conference attendee John Helmstadter, a student at Yale Divinity School. “It doesn’t seem like a vibrant sector. It excites me to be a part of the revival of the church.”
Read it all.