By now most of you are probably aware of the current clergy supply crisis, and the fact that this shortage is unprecedented in our lifetimes.
Just one factor—among many—contributing to this crisis was highlighted in a Wall Street Journal article this last month. And while this article was not specifically about clergy, it was definitely relevant to what churches are facing when they have pastoral vacancies. The article was about the lack of mobility among American households. The August 17th, 2025, WSJ article began with this subtitle: “Nobody’s buying homes, nobody’s switching jobs—and America’s mobility is stalling.” Another quote: “Americans are stuck in place.” Even more specifically, this article stated that, “Those who bought homes when mortgage rates were low or have stable white-collar jobs (which would, of course, would include clergy collars) are clinging to those jobs.”
This article included the following statistics:
1. In 2024 home sales fell to their lowest level in almost thirty years.
2. In the 1950’s and 1960’s 20% of Americans would typically move each year. In 2024, only 7.8% moved.
3. In one study, “Couples where both people work have the lowest levels of interstate mobility of any group.”
Of course our current clergy shortage is not just about economic realities and housing. We are also dealing with a significant drop—over the last 30 years—in the number of seminary graduates. And we still have large numbers of currently-serving Boomer pastors reaching retirement age.
Now there are three caveats to this mobility crisis and whether or not it impacts your church:
a. If a pastor you call is not currently a homeowner that might simplify his or her relocation to your community.
b. Also, if your congregation owns a parsonage then there would be time for a new pastor to relocate and wait until mortgage interest rates drop before buying a home in your community.
c. Third, if your congregation is located in a metroplex your next pastor might already be living in your area and could commute to “work.”
However, the primary point of this article is indicated in my title above. And here is the bottom line: It’s time for congregational leaders in many congregations to consider the long-term implications of this clergy shortage, and adopt a strategy to insure they will have competent pastoral leadership in the future. This new strategy is especially imperative for churches who currently have fewer than one hundred worshipers on a typical Sunday—which is the majority of LCMC, NALC, and ELCA churches. If this describes your congregation then this is what you need to consider: That you will likely not be able to find and call a competent, ordained full-time pastor when your current pastor retires or departs to accept a new call. In fact, the traditional operating assumption that your next pastor will be moving to your community from a different region or state is becoming extremely unlikely.
But why is this issue something that especially needs to be addressed by smaller congregations? Three reasons:
1. For smaller congregations there is a limit to how long most of them will remain stable and viable without an ordained pastor leading them. Is this because pastors are, on a practical level, always indispensable? Not at all. But unfortunately, a significant percentage of life-long Lutherans perceive this is the case. As a result this could mean a significant drop in worship attendance over time. And that would threaten the viability of a small congregation’s ministry.
2. Congregations of this size can no longer necessarily count on their national church body to somehow provide them with their next pastor. Why? Because the shortage of ordained and competent pastors is simply too severe to be effectively addressed and overcome by our national church leadership. And it’s not that they aren’t aware, or aren’t trying to address this crisis. It’s due to the continuing exodus of retiring Boomer pastors and how full-time seminary enrollment over the last 20 to 30 years has plummeted. In other words, this crisis cannot realistically be solved from the “top down”; at least not over the next five to ten years.
3. And while the clergy supply crisis will also have an impact on larger congregations, odds are that qualified pastoral candidates—when they are considering calls to more than one church—will often end up accepting calls to the larger congregation.
So what can smaller congregations do given these challenges? Pray? Definitely pray. Prayer helps. But I suggest one particular prayer request: That God would help “raise up”, from among your active members, your congregation’s next pastor. In other words, it’s time for churches to take full ownership in addressing this worsening clergy shortage by identifying and enlisting one (or two) members willing to be educated (online) and trained (in-house) to provide future pastoral leadership for your congregation. This is nothing less than a strategy where your church takes ownership—on a practical level—to insure your future long-term viability as a congregation.
Now for some good news. The great majority of seminary courses are now available online. This means that a seminary education does not require that your future member-pastor leave your community to pursue her/his studies. Also, eventually hiring and calling an active member means that your future pastor has already been thoroughly vetted in the best way possible; as one of your active members and lay leaders. Furthermore, your pastor-in-training can be trained in-house by being employed by your church part-time while taking seminary courses part-time.
Finally, the biggest single challenge in this strategy is to identify and enlist the right active member who is willing to consider pastoral training. And the smaller your congregation, the more difficult this might be. So “cast a wide net”. Consider members of various ages who are in various life stages; whether active retired, empty nest, nesting stage, young adult, single or married. Also, consider an active member who might have to be bi-vocational; in other words, continue his or her current job while serving your church as your part-time future pastor.
For a more detailed description of what this strategy might look like, click here. And if you still have questions, by all means contact me directly.
Pastor Don Brandt
Lutheran CORE’s Congregational Lay-leadership Initiative
