Church Insurance

If you are operating an independent ministry, you may want to consider insurance coverage. Church Mutual Insurance Company along with others, offers insurance for church property as well as for professional liability issues such as clergy sexual misconduct.

Not all ministries will want this sort of coverage, but it is an issue to be aware of.

Clergy Killers

I first read this article over ten years ago, and it is never far from my mind. Clergy Killers by G. Lloyd Rediger first appeared in the August 1993 issue of Clergy Journal. In it, Dr. Rediger deals with the phenomenon of "Clergy Killers", people who maliciously persecute clergy. A "Clergy Killer" is not someone who is merely needy, nor are they people who simply have a personality clash with their pastor. "Clergy Killers" are, in a word, evil. They are people who maliciously set out to undermine church leadership and then, when they have accomplished that goal, go in for the kill. They have destroyed many good ministers and many good churches.

Just because you may be operating in a "non-traditional" ministry does not make you immune to these people. Read and learn.

Seminary No Guarantee of Salary

The Cleveland Plain Dealer ran an interesting article on September 23rd regarding the state of "mainline" Protestant ministry in the United States. Apparently there just aren't enough pulpits for all the graduates. The problem isn't a lack of churches, however, but rather the kind of churches that actually hire seminary grads. Jewish and Roman Catholic congregations, for example, are in need of more clergy (and the later institution only hires celibate males). Evangelical and "independent" churches are also hiring, but, strangely enough, they don't necessarily require their clergy to be seminary educated.

This brings two things to mind:

1. Are seminaries telling their 80,000 students that the chances of their getting a pulpit are slim? And are they telling prospective students this before encouraging them to relocate, give up jobs, separate from families, and invest $30,000+ in an MDiv? Or are they just saving this news for a surprise?

2. How can anyone argue for the "standardization" of the MDiv as "the" professional degree for clergy when those denominations that DON'T require it are those that actually have the job openings?


I am not against the MDiv. I have one myself and it has proven to be very valuable degree. But I believe that the Christian community has got to reassess the way it thinks about education and preparation for ministry. Does academic accomplishment really do much in the formation of good clergy?