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koda
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Anybody know what kind schooling these guys get (any domination - I’m curious about all of them)? How long they have to go? That sort of thing…
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Lurch104
Guest
I saw an interview with Al Sharpton last night. he claimed to have been ordained at 10 years old. I can’t imagine he had received much theological training by that time.
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carol_marie
Guest
I know that one of my Pastors rec’d a degree from Dallas Theological Seminary and my former Pastor here in Chicago went to Trinity Semenary… both of which offer 4 year college degrees.
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brotherhrolf
Guest
My boss is an ordained Southern Baptist Church minister. He has not attended a single day of theological training.
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ReflectHim
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How hard is it to study the Bible? It was written so that anyone could understand. I mean think about Pastors who taught or preached 1000’s of years ago, not everyone has the monetary means to get a Religious Education.
My great-grandfather [R.I.P] never had a day of schooling in his life and was a great man of the Gospel. He studied God’s word DAILY. That doesn’t disqualify him from not having a degree he studied the Bible and other texts, to be well rounded.
My dad has recieved his study in Religious Education and has a Master of Divinity (sp?) and honorary degrees. He also is a Bible professor at a Christian College in Texas.
My great-grandfather [R.I.P] never had a day of schooling in his life and was a great man of the Gospel. He studied God’s word DAILY. That doesn’t disqualify him from not having a degree he studied the Bible and other texts, to be well rounded.
My dad has recieved his study in Religious Education and has a Master of Divinity (sp?) and honorary degrees. He also is a Bible professor at a Christian College in Texas.
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Aaron_I
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spiritblows
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LOL, this statement really makes me laugh!
Yep, not one nebulous passage in the entire Bible, that’s right!
Everything is there, in black and white, with no room for arguement! 
That must explain why Christians all agree on everything, right??? 
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Zooey
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My (Methodist) pastor has a B.A. from Harvard,& a master of divinity from there also, as well as post graduste work from a university in Germany.
The United Methodist church requires continuing education classes of all ordained clergy.
That said, I think we have to recognize that different churches (denominations) have differing requirements for clergy…
Actually, one of the finest pastors & Bible teachers I have ever known, took all his advanced education through a (Free Methodist) correspondence course for pastors…I don’t know if this course is still around, but I know that at least one FM pastor (with a PH.D!) said that he doubted if he could have passed this course. It was that rigorous.
And then, of course, we have the Al Sharpton’s of this world…(Self-censored uncharitable!!!] remark about :whacky: Mr Sharpton…)
The United Methodist church requires continuing education classes of all ordained clergy.
That said, I think we have to recognize that different churches (denominations) have differing requirements for clergy…
Actually, one of the finest pastors & Bible teachers I have ever known, took all his advanced education through a (Free Methodist) correspondence course for pastors…I don’t know if this course is still around, but I know that at least one FM pastor (with a PH.D!) said that he doubted if he could have passed this course. It was that rigorous.
And then, of course, we have the
Al Sharpton’s of this world…(Self-censored uncharitable!!!] remark about :whacky: Mr Sharpton…)
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Zooey
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Bless you!!
** Right on!!!**
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flameburns623
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In order to be recognised as a Christian pastor one need only be acknowledged as such by two people unrelated to you. Hence, a significant number of Protestants of the fundamentalist sort are self-annointed and self-educated. They may have little or no formal education or training. Often such ministers support themselves in a secular job and engage in preaching and ministry on the side–sometimes called a ‘tent-maker ministry’, after Paul and Silas, each of whom supported their missionary work as tentmakers. Street preachers and tent-evangelists are often of this sort. Although technically not Protestants, the LDS Church is a good example: their bishops (leaders of the local congregation) are unpaid and usually are full-time employees in some secular business. Rarely do they have formal training in ministry, though to be fair, the LDS Church has an excellent on-going program of adult education and a progressive system of Church offices designed to prepare people for leadership roles. Typically these sorts of preachers will call themselves non-denominational Christians, or possibly will self-identify as Baptists or Pentecostals, though they rarely answer to any denominational structure.
Most established fundamentalist Christian denominations do require a four year degree. The independent Baptist, Pentecostal, and ‘Restorationist’ churches are examples of denominations like this. Often, degrees can be in any subject, but philosophy or religion are considered helpful. In addition to these, most such denominations will receive some measure of denominational training–sometimes as little as a few weeks, sometimes as much as two years in a Bible College. If a Bible College is prescribed, the candidate will usually attend school year-round, covering such areas as Old Testament, New Testament, Preaching, Evangelism, Biblical Exegesis, Apologetics, and Church History. Sometimes introductory courses in Greek and/or Hebrew are included. Such Bible Colleges do NOT cover subjects such as textual or historical criticism, except perhaps in the Apologetics course, where it is refuted as a liberal heresy.
Larger Evangelical denominations, such as the Churches of God/Assemblies of God, Disciples of Christ/Christian Churches, Four-Square Gospellers, the ‘African’ denominations, and so forth, have four-year degree programs leading to ministry. These would be much more comprehensive and broad, would include Philosophy, Comparative Religion, Counseling, probably Christian Music and Hymnody, and other subjects, and the colleges would usually carry degree programs recognised for their academic merit.
Generally, a graduate of either a denominational Bible College or an Evangelical denominational four-year program would NOT become a full-fledged minister immediately upon graduation. They would be eligible to be hired as ‘Associate Pastors’ , ‘Youth Pastors’, "Pastoral Counselors’, etcetera, and would be expected to serve in a ‘junior’ role in ministry for some number of years before becoming the sole or senior pastor of a church.
Historic Evangelical and Mainstream denominations will typically place a great premium on ministers with a through education. These would include Lutherans, Anglicans, the UCC, Methodists, Presbyterians, and others. Typically candidates would not be accepted for seminary coursework until they have a minimum of a four-year degree, preferably in a liberal-arts program. (It is possible in many older denominations to ‘Read For Orders’–i.e. to embark in a guided personal study leading to ordination. However, such candidates would generally be middle-aged persons with little time to spend in seminary, and they would nearly always be expected to have the equivalent of a four-year degree as well). Seminary can be anywhere from one to three years long–usually the latter, and usually leading to the equivalent of a Master’s Degree or even a PhD in theology. Typically they would be under strict tuteleage both during seminary and for some time following. Such ministers would have an education roughly equivalent to the same received by most Roman Catholic priests, and would often have experienced a similar process of spiritual formation.
Hope this clarifies things enough. As you can see, the Protestant minster’s education and training runs the full spectrum–little-to-none all the way up to very extensive.
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ReflectHim
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Zooey said:
Bless you!!
love how its so funny. i see why no one would come to the boards to chat unless catholic. you want to boast about being so right that you forget that not everyone thinks as you do, and that you are so closed minded that you don’t even seek to see why others differ from you. judgemental in my opinion. its always said WWJD? in this case i’m sure he wouldn’t do as some have…IMHO. but its fine…you catch more with honey than you do with vinegar.
just as you think you are so right in your conviction ever think that others feel the same…of course not. but at least i am here learning, even if just for research so that i can get an understanding, and not judge.
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jim1130
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Zooey said:
Bless you!!
I think that this is a little insensitive and not altogether the type of representation we need to exhibit. On behalf of the Catholic Church, I apologize for this display.
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Trick
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Church_Militant
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Guys…they are being facetious.
There are those who are minimally trained and then some who are very well trained, more like our own priests.
The hardest thing is that much is accepted from a pulpit without really questioning where the info comes from, or if the preacher really knows what he’s talking about. Christianity is not nearly as oversimplified as some folks would have us think.
How many nCs do ya know who would recognize the names of Polycarp and Ignatius of Antioch or know what the Didache is?
And I’m no priest!
I think every believer should make every effort to know his faith and why we believe what we do. And we should do all we can to inform ignorance as we go along, so that eventually it is a thing of the past.
Pax vobiscum,
There are those who are minimally trained and then some who are very well trained, more like our own priests.
The hardest thing is that much is accepted from a pulpit without really questioning where the info comes from, or if the preacher really knows what he’s talking about. Christianity is not nearly as oversimplified as some folks would have us think.
How many nCs do ya know who would recognize the names of Polycarp and Ignatius of Antioch or know what the Didache is?
And I’m no priest!
I think every believer should make every effort to know his faith and why we believe what we do. And we should do all we can to inform ignorance as we go along, so that eventually it is a thing of the past.
Pax vobiscum,
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jim1130
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Church Militant:
How do you view the Elders of a church, those people designated as special ministers who may not receive any special training?
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tkdnick
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There are plenty of churches started by those who have no training. I have a friend who’s pastor is a former professional baseball player. As far as I know he has no training. Realistically, what does this person know? No matter how learned he is, it ultimately comes down to his personal opinion.
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carol_marie
Guest
Realistically, our Church grew… not through the words & teachings of the educated religious leaders of the day, but rather through the words of some fishermen - and the Holy Spirit. I think God can and does use regular people to spread His word.
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tkdnick
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carol marie:
Very true…
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John_Paul_III
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The Reverened Al Sharpton said last night in an interview that he was ordained at age 10. Now I am not sure which denomination he is with but in todays age, age 10 seems a little too quick, unfortunatley many of these Reverends get it for tax reasons.
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koda
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Church Militant:
This is really why I asked in the first place. I converted to Catholicism when I was 30. The rest of my family is either Baptist or Pentecostal. I have an uncle and a second cousin who are Baptist ministers. I know they both went to the same school in eastern KY but I don’t think either went for 4 years. I found a something Creek Bible College which may be where they went but their website doesn’t really mention how long it takes to complete their course of study and I got the feeling that there were programs of different lenghts. My second cousin just got ordained last month. We live far apart and I don’t want to quiz them on their theological knowledge (rude) but just wonder how much they know, and if what they were taught is correct or if they all think I’m nuts. Luckily my husband is Catholic and his parents and relatives live in the same town as my uncle so when I visit I’m not outnumbered.
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