Ministers or Pastors

About one half of the pastors in the SBC have never been to seminary. Some I know have never been to college. A number of the missionaries have a small amount of seminary. That would depend on their mission assignment.

 

A lot depends on the group or fellowship. A man may be ordained with no formal education, if the local church deems him called to ministry. Some organization require a minumum before they will consider ordination. The Anglican Church will allow a man to minister and be ordained, coming from a secular career and entering ministry late in life. For this, they created a LTh degree..a licenciate of theology.

In years gone by, the Baptist Conventions in Canada required a BA and some formal theological training, generally a BD.

The Fellowship has no formal demands, but expects some formal theological training. The standard in, say the fifties, was a BTh from one of the seminaries (Toronto Baptist or Central Baptist Seminaries, or a diploma or degree from one of the leading Bible Colleges (Toronto Bible College or London Bible College). Again, the church does the calling, and the Fellowship assembled a group of ministers to test the candidate and either approve or disapprove the candidate to the local church.

As Baptist churches move closer to a denomination, so certain academic demands are made.

I believe the local church ought to maintain control as to who becomes pastor. The title "pastor" is a given for any under-shepherd who so ministers in the local church. The term "Reverend" simply denotes an ordination has taken place. A degree does not ensure that a man is equipped for ministry. DD's were conferred like confetti at a wedding a few years back. It was partly an attempt to rid the clergy of the term "reverend", and partly to confer degrees on many preachers who had no degrees.

Cheers,

Jim

 

College doesn't ie you that title. Calling does.

 

rex, why do you believe one has to have college to have that title? It's obviously not a Biblical standard...just wondering.

I would love for you to hear Pastor Brian Michaels of Rocky Mountain Calvary here in the Springs...he never even graduated from H.S., yet can preach circles around most pastors, in any denomination.

It is 100% about calling...all formal education at a university does is allow us to form opinions on doctrinal issues (on top of the historical study) that someone else espouses to you. The Bible is clear that the Holy Spirit gives true believers discernment with the scriptures, not any man (or Seminary).