I don’t imagine any (successful) church would look seriously at anyone for a pastoral position who does not have an M.Div?

Having no degree to speak of myself, I’d have to say that it’s not impossible to succeed in your calling without a degree, but not having one makes things a lot more difficult in my industry, and downright impossible in others. I think it goes back to a credibility / industry standards issue.

Most lay people, whether they are the general public, customers, or congregation members, don’t probably appreciate what someone has gone through to get the degree they hold, nor do they always understand what the degree actually means, it’s more like a comfort level thing I would suspect. It makes me feel pretty comfortable when I’m in my Pastors office, my Doctors office, or my car dealerships service reception area and I see a lot of certificates on the wall. Sure, a lot of those certificates are fluff, and a lot of them are effectively useless, but I’d still rather like to see them than NOT see them.

I think it’s a lot like art appreciation. Most people really don’t know what “good” art is because they have no frame of reference and no training. You show them a piece, tell them it’s art, and they will nod and agree. However, among people who are all artists, and all have a good basic competency, their reaction is different, something on the order of.. “Wow, that’s really BAD”. Maybe we are being critical because we are among peers in our industry and we are starting to questions the relevancy of certain training? I think this recognition speaks volumes about why any training or experience is relevant. It gives us the perspective to understand when it’s no longer relevant, or starting to diminish in importance.

As another example, I have been witness to a lot of changes in the technology field. Things we used to pay “specialists” for years ago are now things that anyone with a few extra hours can accomplish. Years ago, it was not expected that individuals in an organization or institution would have to know anything about HTML or Web design. All those things were left to the web master. Nowadays, there are people who are expected to be content managers / contributors for websites that are owned by the institutions they work for.

Knowledge that was specialized years ago is now just another facet of our other job responsibilities and comes with the territory. As people become more aware, informed and intelligent, their expectations also rise. My point is, I think all specialized training becomes common knowledge or obsolete at some point. This process is unfortunately greatly accelerated due to the wide open nature of the communication mechanisms that are available to almost everyone today. Even the recognition that free flowing information is the norm is taken for granted by anyone under 25.

Most folks who have an M.Div. defend its value if not its relevance, and express appreciation for what the degree inculcates that helps them be effective in ministry. But the nature of congregational ministry has changed and continues to shift and the tension is on how effective the “classic” M.Div.—in both content and educational approach—is addressing those changes.

Let’s confess that there have always been gaps between what the academy’s M.Div. offers and what clergy actually wind up DOING in congregations. And, that gap may be widening. This is not surprising given that you can only address so much in a three-year curricular program.

Most non-theology degree-granting institutions seem more adept at re-tooling their curricula in anticipation and response to “market needs” and therefore remain ‘relavent’ (or marketable). That seems to be less true of tradition-bound disciplines like “divinity studies” for whom a main function is the preservation and perpetuation of Tradition and orthodoxy, however defined.

I’ll leave it to others to identify what components of the classic M.Div. are becoming obsolete. I’ve asked two ministers out of seminary ten years out “How much of what you learned in seminary do you actually use in your ministry?” They both said, “Zero.” Perhaps they went to the wrong seminary—or, perhaps the components of the classic M.Div. have a shorter half-life than most are willing to admit.