Where Have All the Pastors Gone?
The old song by Peter, Paul, and Mary, “Where have all the flowers gone?” came to my mind as I listened to the leadership of my church in North America discussing a report by the Ministerial Association on the number of pastors. The number of retired pastors and those eligible for retirement is increasing. The number of pastors who leave pastoral ministry due to attrition, as they call it, is substantial. The young people studying theology and religion majors at Adventist Universities will never make up for these numbers. Where have all the pastors gone? The song repeats the question, “When will they ever learn?” Of course, the song is not about pastors. Nor does it offer answers, because the answers lead to further questions. Where have all the young girls gone? Gone for husbands every one. That’s what women should do, isn’t it? Not preach or teach. So why even think of studying theology and becoming a pastor? I didn’t follow the discussion well enough to find out whether the re