Training the Next Generation of Pastors

Every generation of church leaders has two major challenges: to serve their generation well through evangelism and church planting and to prepare the next generation of pastors who will continue the process.  Not every generation of Christians is successful in achieving this balance.  Both are formidable tasks.  Preparing the next generation of pastors is not usually on the present church’s agenda.  The average church is busy just trying to stay alive, let alone worrying about who will replace their pastor or continue their legacy.  Yet, preparing the next generation of pastors is necessary if we expect the church to survive and thrive.  An old adage says that if you want apples tomorrow, you must plant apple trees today.  The same applies to producing pastors.   We need to start today.

The Problem

The need for pastors is not new.  It has existed from the beginning of the Christian church and is well described in the ministry of Christ: ”Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.  Then He said to His disciples, the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.  Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:36-38).  Our Lord impressed upon us the human race’s need: they need a Shepherd, Christ, and shepherds and pastors to lead them to the Good Shepherd (John 10:11-15).  Only Christ can save a lost generation and become the sheep’s great guardian Shepherd (I Peter 2:25; Hebrews 13:20).  The solution is to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Next, the Lord mentions the dilemma.  The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  The church has the solution to the problem of sinful humanity in the blessed and glorious Gospel of Christ.  The harvest is not only plentiful (Matthew 9:35), but it is also “white for harvest,” prepared by sin and the Holy Spirit for evangelism and discipleship (John 4:35-38).  The main problem is the lack of workers, evangelists, missionaries, church planters, and pastors to shepherd these “sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:38; Luke 10:2).  Every generation is in desperate need of pastors to gather in and care for the harvest of souls.

The church today is facing a crisis of not preparing for the current and next generation of believers.  We are in desperate need of pastors.  We, too, face a plentiful harvest with not enough workers and pastors.  America faces a growing population of non-believers and unchurched people.  Many of these are immigrants whom we need to reach for Christ.  They represent the harvest that God has brought to us.  The church also faces the double crises of an aging pastoral leadership and a declining church population.  Our churches and seminaries are not producing enough men to replace our retiring pastors, let alone fill the position of starting new churches.  We need to focus on doing our part in preparing the next generation of pastors.  No matter the size, every pastor and church needs to do its part to solve this problem.

The Solution

Our Lord not only described the urgent need and problem, but He also provided the solution.  The Lord’s solution was fourfold:  First, pray (Matthew 9:38); second, challenge or choose workers (Matthew 10:1); third, train the workers (Matthew 10:5; 11:1); and fourth, send them out (Matthew 10:5).  Every church and church leader can be involved in training the next generation of pastors by following this four-step process.

1. Pray for Pastors

The Lord’s first recommendation is to “beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:38).  The problem is the Lord’s, not the church’s.  He is the “Lord of the harvest,” and He will send workers into His harvest.  In sending out the seventy workers, the Lord gave the same request (Luke 10:2).  Prayer is the first step in preparing workers for the harvest.  Our Lord spent the night in prayer before selecting the twelve to commission them as apostles (Luke 6:12-13).  Prayers also preceded or accompanied the selection of workers in the early church (Acts 1:14-26; 6:6; 13:3; 14:23).  Pastors are the result of intercession and petitioning prayer by parents, by churches, by pastors, and even by the workers themselves who need to hear the voice of God (Isaiah 6:8; Jeremiah 1:4-10).  God calls into ministry and equips for ministry (I Timothy 1:12-17; 4:14; 2 Timothy 1:6).

2. Challenge

After praying for the workers (Luke 6:12), the Lord chose 12 disciples and called them apostles, or sent ones (Luke 6:13).  This implied a selection of men in answer to His prayer.  We, too, must challenge our congregations, especially our men and young couples, to consider the Christian ministry as a life vocation.  Paul challenged Silas and Timothy and invited them to join him in ministry (Acts 15:40; 16:3).  The church should not hesitate to lay the burden of ministry upon the people of God so that God might reveal whom He has chosen to be His ministers.  There is also a place for a believer to dedicate his life to ministry simply out of a love for the Lord and a passion for souls (I Timothy 3:1).

In preparing future pastors, the church must be willing and able to put men and couples into local church ministry even before they express a desire to be in full-time ministry.  A passion for the pastorate grows out of a passion for ministry.  In addition, in local church ministry, a man reveals his giftedness for the pastorate and his qualifications for the office (I Timothy 3:1-8; Titus 2:5-9).  Through local church ministry, the church can identify if such a man has the gifts, desire, and passion for the pastorate.  No man should aspire for the pastorate without the approval of the church.  In addition, the existing church and church leaders should be quick to show the serious nature of the call and the joys, blessings, and privileges of ministry.  A constant degrading of the pastoral office is the best way to empty the pulpits of generations to come.

3. Train

The Lord Jesus trained His disciples (Matthew 4:19; 5:1-7:29; 10:5; 11:1).  The church also must focus on training the next generation of pastors.  It must neither minimize nor neglect the importance of trained leadership. First, because the task demands it.  Pastoring is much more than delivering a thirty-minute sermon every Sunday.  It involves leading and perfecting the church to become all that God intends it to be (Matthew 16:18; Acts 20:17-30; Ephesians 4:11-16; Colossians 1:24-29; I Timothy 3:14-16).  Secondly, because the times require it.  The world today is educated, sophisticated, ignorant of the Scriptures, and hostile toward Christianity.  We must train our pastors to minister in such times as these.

The training of the next generation of pastors requires a proper theological education, which usually involves a seminary degree, the financial help to accomplish it, and an internship program that provides practical training in ministry.  Pastors and churches can commit two mistakes in preparing men for ministry.  Churches sometimes think only of their own needs and will support or sponsor a man only if he will return to serve in their church.  Instead, churches should consider investing in the kingdom of God, the worldwide church of Christ.  We are preparing men for the “great harvest,” not just for our own churches.  The fear of poorly trained pastors is greater than the fear of losing our men to the “greater harvest.”

We must remember that the greatest need is for pastors, or shepherds, for Christ’s church. The church urgently needs pastors, men who see themselves as leaders of the flock and equippers of the saints (Ephesians 4:11-16; Titus 1:5-9).

Theological education is expensive.  Money should never be an obstacle that keeps a man from answering the call to the ministry.  The church must be willing to help financially to prepare the next generation of pastors.  It begins by advising the prospective pastor not to get into debt, even in the undergraduate programs.  No man gets into the ministry for the money (I Timothy 6:5-10; I Peter 5:2-3) and will probably not make much money in the ministry.  Churches should seek to establish a scholarship fund to help prepare men for the pastorate.  Churches should establish this fund before it has a suitable candidate.  It can then partner with a seminary to help train men for ministry.

The church should also include some type of internship program to give seminary students the practical experience necessary to do the job of pastoring.  These can be paid or non-paid internships.  The internship programs should not be just a position for cheap help or for someone to help in a particular ministry.  The program exposes the student to all the facets of leading a church, from the nursery to the preaching in the main pulpit.  It provides the needed experience in the various tasks the pastor will perform, such as baptisms, funerals, weddings, soul-winning and discipleship, and even marriage counseling.  The internship program should also serve to perfect the weakness a man might have that would hinder him from being an effective pastor.  This includes his personal qualifications as well as his people and ministry skills.  The internship program must allow him to perfect his teaching and preaching skills.  A man who does not know how to shepherd should not be unleashed upon a helpless flock.

4. Placement

Upon completing his training, the church should help place the man into ministry.  The church needs to be open to all the options:  to allow the man to return to his home church to serve, to allow the man to go where he thinks the Lord is leading him, and to place the man where he is needed.  The church can help the prospective pastor find his place in the needy harvest.  Even after he is sent out to minister, the church needs to monitor his well-being, continue to pray and encourage him and his family, and be a resource to help in whatever way it can.  Paul’s letters to the churches and his letters to Timothy and Titus exemplify how churches can ensure the success of preparing the next generation of pastors.

A Testimonial

Our church is not a mega-church or very wealthy, but early on, we saw the necessity of preparing pastors for our community.  While pastoring the church, I pursued further training to qualify me to teach in a local seminary and help prepare pastors.  With the church’s permission and vision of preparing men for the ministry, they allowed me to pastor and teach for over 20 years.  We also established a Spanish-speaking seminary to train men for the great Hispanic harvest since, back then, none of the seminaries offered a Spanish-speaking program.  The motto for the seminary is: “Preparing the next generation of Hispanic pastors.”  We also identified certain Bible schools and seminaries we could endorse and use to train men for ministry.  These included credited and unaccredited schools, in-person and online training, bible institutes, and master’s programs so that we can train men for pastoral ministry no matter their academic, social, or economic level.  We also established a scholarship to help fund those who desire to be pastors and church planters in the Hispanic community.  Finally, we established an internship program to give our seminary students elder-supervised exposure and experience in all aspects of church life.  In addition to planting 16 churches, we have provided pastors and church planters for various churches. 

Our churches in America need to take seriously the challenge of preparing the next generation of pastors. As we have seen, it is a biblical mandate, an urgent need, and a doable task, regardless of size. Every pastor and church can do their part. Let’s be involved in training the next generation of pastors for the good of the church and the glory of God.

©2024 Alex D. Montoya. Used with permission.