Diverse group of pastors of different ages

Lovett H. Weems, Jr., highlights some of the significant findings in the Lewis Center's annual Clergy Age Trends Report. Of note is the modest downturn in recent years in the number of clergy under 35 as well as the number and percentage of young women clergy, following a decade of improvement.

Read more, watch a summary video, and download the report now.
Young pastor carrying a laptop bag while crossing a city street
 
Data from the Lewis Pastoral Leadership Inventory™ (LPLI) suggest that younger clergy share many of the same strengths as their older colleagues and that they get high marks for their creativity and new ideas. The challenges seem to be sustaining that creative edge over time and translating new ideas into fruitful outcomes when it comes to worship attendance and discipleship growth.

5 Reasons the Church Still Needs Young Clergy
 
For many years, the Lewis Center has monitored the presence of younger clergy in the church. Why do these trends still matter? Lovett H. Weems, Jr., and Ann A. Michel remind us that despite modest progress in the past decade, encouraging the ordination of more young candidates for ministry is just as important as it was when they first articulated the case a decade ago in the book The Crisis of Younger Clergy.

The Right Question
Leaders do not need answers. Leaders must have the right questions. 

The questions we ask can tell us much about our unspoken assumptions and priorities. How would you answer these questions for your church?

What questions do we ask all the time?
What questions do we seldom ask?
What questions do we never ask?

Hello-my-name-is nametag with Visitor written in

After visiting several churches, Lyda K. Hawes offers candid observations for congregations seeking new members, including "No public humiliation. No stalking. Remember us. And tell us what you really believe." Read To the Point: A Letter to Churches Seeking New Members today.

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Leading Ideas is made possible by contributions to the Lewis Center for Church Leadership from readers like you. Thank you.

Taking Clergy Mentoring to the Next Level Video Tool Kit cover

Clergy mentors indicate overwhelmingly that they need more training for their task. Mentees value mentoring but also indicate that their mentors need more resourcing for this important responsibility. Taking Clergy Mentoring to the Next Level is designed for clergy mentors who wish to prepare for a ministry of mentoring. Available in Group Training and Individual Study versions.

Quotable Leadership

One sign of the need for reform: if we experience contradiction between the promise of life which the church professes and the life it actually embodies.

Margaret A. Farley
Doctor of Ministry graduate in robe and tam
 
Wesley Theological Seminary and the Lewis Center together offer two Doctor of Ministry programs.  The Public Engagement track equips participants to lead congregations in healing the brokenness experienced in communities while being beacons of hope.  The Church Leadership Excellence track provides clergy the enhanced knowledge, skills, and motivation to increase congregational and denominational service, vitality, and growth.  


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