Church Ministry Career path...

Members-

You know ever since I have been lurking, and once inclined, registered, I have never once seen a thread discussing the acceptance of RA v NA and U.S. compared to overseas DL degrees as it pertains to working in a Church ministry. Would you not agree that Church ministry, regardless of denomination and belief is also a career path? Not just Preaching, but other functions within the Church; Accounting, Teaching, Transportation, Business Administration, Psychology, etc

 

I would say there are many Christian oriented professions and degree programs geared towards them but not restricted to them. For example, there are MBA's at Christian Universities and PhD in Psych programs.

When it comes to preaching and teaching (to a certain extent) the issue is more complicated. RA or NA can be less important than denominational affiliation. For some denominations it will not matter as long as you have an accredited MDiv degree (72-90 credit hours). For others, better to have an unaccredited MDiv from one of their seminaries than to have an accredited MDiv from Havard Divinity School. For instance, there some are bricks and mortar (ie residential) Reformed Seminaries that are not accredited but have good faculty, facilities, etc. Probably the groups whose clergy candidates attend those schools would far rather ordain a grad from there than one from Drew. Similiarly, I know of a denomination (rather liberal) who would really look hard at a graduate from an excellent school like Gordon Conwell(excellent academic reputation) simply because what they teach is out of step with the liberal denomination's theological perspective. All of this is why anyone who wants to pursue pastoral ministry needs to check with the denomination they intend to end up serving in and take guidance seriously or doors could be shut. A silly example would be that a Roman Catholic feeling the call to the priesthood would not be advised to skip meeting with his Bishop but instead enroll at Southern Baptist Seminary in Kentucky since "What the heck it is accredited".

 

Very good post here.

I can speak of "Southern Baptist land."

The first question is denominational affiliation.

The second is of theological orientation.

For instance, in a congregational denomination, the church likely will want someone sharing theological beliefs with "appropriate" credentials.

For a conservative, non-Calvinist, Southern Baptist church, the church will likely want someone with a degree from a few seminaries in the "Big 6" of official affiliation or possibly from Mid-America Seminary in Memphis or possibly Liberty University. Southern Seminary in Louisville has a Calvinist reputation (deservedly so), and non-Calvinist churches might be reluctant to look at a student from there.

Similarly, a Calvinistic Baptist church would be highly suspicious of a Liberty grad because the school is decidedly non-Calvinist.

For churches with dispensational leanings, Dallas Theological Seminary opens doors, but it will close doors for non-dispensational churches.

For smaller churches, the seminary training doesn't matter so much, as there are many people who have an undergraduate preparation. Many also have unaccredited or non-RA degrees. Luther Rice Seminary is a prime example of a TRACS-accredited school that can help in some Southern Baptist circles.

With a non-Baptist seminary, you are going to face major issues. For Calvinistic Baptist churches, you can get away with a Reformed-leaning seminary, but these seminaries will be poison pills for non-Calvinist churches.

A nondenominational seminary might open doors locally, but it may be viewed with suspicion out of the region. I've seen MULTIPLE adds that specifically require a Baptist seminary education, some requiring it from an officially-affiliated seminary.

For the Ivy league MDivs, fageddaboutit. A PhD from one of these schools is generally well-respected, though.

 

Whoa! I did not know it was that complicated.

 

For a lot of church jobs, I'd guess that the NA/RA distinction doesn't matter. Ex, for hiring a church secretary, it probably doesn't make any difference. Similarly, if someone wants to be a missionary I wouldn't think it would matter much (unless special skills were required for what they wanted to do, ex ESL training, computer skills, etc) ...

As others have suggested, hiring a pastor, youth worker, etc is a different story. Churches in the denomination of the church I currently attend (Christian & Missionary Alliance, C&MA) would (I assume) prefer pastors to have degrees from one of its own seminaries, but any reputable, accredited school is worthy of consideration. Ex, the youth pastor at the church is a friend of mine who attended also attended Tyndale (Canadian, non-denominational, ATS accredited). Exceptions may also be made, ex the pastor of my church has no explicitly religious degrees but holds a masters and PhD in psychology from a secular school.

 

I must admit guys, this is indeed complicated, and as such overwhelming as well. I did not know there was such a division among sector of the country when it came to beliefs.

But I do remember when I was attending a Baptist church in NC that this younger guy went to a seminary that was affiliated with the church, and not just any old seminary.