In Church of the Nazarene, congregations report the number of clergy serving the congregation. The clergy may be full-time, part-time, paid, unpaid, active, or retired. There has been steady growth in churches reporting more than one clergy between 2000 and 2019, from 23 percent of churches (or 1,123) in 2000 to 37 percent (or 1,851)…
This article examines changes in the number of United Methodist churches with multiple full-time clergy between 2000 and 2019 and the changing makeup the associate staff clergy serving in these churches. The data come from those enrolled in the United Methodist pension program and are provided by through Wespath Benefits and Investments. By studying the…
By Lovett H. Weems Jr. As congregations seek to carry out their missions faithfully, they will want to assess their spending on personnel. In that process, they need to address spending that includes both clergy and lay staff. The Lewis Center has been seeking to learn the proportions of church budgets spent on paid clergy…
By Lovett H. Weems Jr. Church leaders often ask if their spending on personnel is reasonable in relation to comparable churches. This question is not easy to answer. We look first at some elements of church budgeting and the place of personnel. Churches spend their funds for a variety of purposes to fulfill their missions,…
The previous four posts discussed seminary enrollment trends among were Roman Catholic students and students from selected clusters of denominations from Black Protestant, Evangelical Protestant, and Mainline Protestant denominations. In this final post in this series, we discuss some observations and possible implications of the data presented. Observations While there are limitations of this review…
The previous two posts discussed seminary enrollment trends among students belonging to some Black Protestant and Evangelical Protestant denominations. In this post, we discuss seminary enrollment trends among students from Mainline Protestant traditions. The enrollment data come from the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) for Master of Divinity and Professional M.A. degrees from the years…
The previous post discussed seminary enrollment trends among students belonging to some Black Protestant denominations. In this post, we discuss seminary enrollment trends among students from Evangelical Protestant traditions. The enrollment data come from the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) for Master of Divinity and Professional M.A. degrees from the years 2000 through 2020 for…
Mark Chaves and researchers from the National Congregations Survey note that “clergy are a highly educated segment of American society,” with a majority of clergy holding graduate degrees.[1] However, there is much variation across denominations and traditions. Roman Catholic congregations have the most highly educated congregational leaders (91% have graduate degrees), closely followed by mainline…
By Lovett H. Weems Jr. For seventeen years, the Lewis Center for Church Leadership has issued annual reports on clergy age trends in the United Methodist Church. The reports emerged originally from a perceived absence of young clergy compared to previous eras. Working in partnership with Wespath Benefits and Investments, the denominational pension agency, the…
By Lovett H. Weems Jr. A significant concern within many faith communities in recent years has been the increasing age of clergy in the United States. Such increases in clergy age have been cited since the 1980s. Several reasons are suggested. One is the entrance of second-career clergy. The factor most often identified as the…