Pastor led churches often struggle with how to most effectively utilize the time and talents of their pastoral staff without creating burn-out and rapid clergy turnover. Sue Mallory’s book The Equipping Church (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001) has provided a biblical sound option for churches in search of finding the right balance between pastor/ teacher and pastor/ burnout.
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These are anxious times for theological schools and seminaries, more so than normal, anyway. The plight of several seminaries (closings, downsizing, layoffs) has recently made the rounds in the religious press and newsmagazines. And talk about viability and relevance is lively among faculties, including questions about how long the shelf life of the classic M.Div. will be. Comments like these made by alumnus in response to a survey only serves to increase the angst of some professors:
“Taking Hebrew helped shape some of my thoughts and understanding of the Hebrew Scriptures, but other than that, I haven’t found it to be very useful in my week-in, week-out work with youth.” “I have never been asked a question about my Greek knowledge level. Luckily for me, there are Greek-English interlinears.”
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