We have reached a new milestone when it comes to the median age of currently-serving Protestant pastors.  It is now sixty.  (I deliberately spelled out “sixty” in case any of you would have thought the number “60” was a typo.)  This is the current estimate from author Thom Rainer, founder of Church Answers, an organization focusing on congregational revitalization and outreach.  “Sixty.”  Reflect on that for a moment.  I consider this something of a milestone; and not in a good way.

I realize that my repeated articles regarding the clergy shortage are beginning to sound like a “broken record”; at least to those of you who are old enough to remember what “records” are.  But I am becoming convinced that many denominational leaders, seminary staff, pastors nearing retirement, and congregational leaders are simply not paying attention when it comes to the gravity of this situation.  Or perhaps they do understand the severity of this crisis but are hesitant to acknowledge it publicly.  After all, none of us want to be labeled as “alarmists”.  And then there is always the possibility that the world is about to end, so why worry?  Anecdote: Survey results this last March of 3400 Americans indicate that one third of them believe the world will end in their lifetimes. The New York Times labels this a recent “mainstream apocalypse” world view.

Allow me to speculate on possible questions from those of you who might consider my concerns about the clergy supply situation “alarmist.”

1. “As a pastor who is still a few years from retirement, why should I be overly concerned regarding my congregation’s transition after I leave?”  Answer: Because odds are your congregation will not be able to replace you, and might need to consider “raising up” the next pastor from among your active church members.  And training, mentoring and educating (with online seminary courses) that prospective pastor will take years, not months.

2. “But why would it take years to replace me?”  Answer: Because the current median age of serving pastors is sixty; in case you already forgot.  And because twice as many Lutheran pastors retire each year as there are new seminary students graduating.  To put it bluntly, this crisis is something that is beyond what denominational leaders can manage on their own.  Not because they aren’t trying, but because this crisis is unprecedented.  Unprecedented in my lifetime, and even unprecedented going back a century or more.

3. “As congregational lay-leaders why can’t our church manage even a long-term interim on our own? After all, we might be relatively small and have an older membership, but we are a strong fellowship of believers; both in terms of our commitment and our financial support.”  Answer: Perhaps you can manage a two or three-year transitional interim, but what if it stretches to four or five years or more?  Consider this September/2025 quote from Karl Vaters, a pastor and author who focuses on the challenges faced by smaller churches: “Pastoral transitions are dangerous and traumatic times for churches…Other than the church planting phase, more churches close due to pastoral transition than for any other reason.”

One Current Example of a “Pastor-in-Training” Ministry Initiative

Here is one case of a church seeking to plan ahead when it comes to an upcoming pastoral transition.  Not coincidentally, I happen to be a member of this congregation.

The dual-rostered (LCMC/NALC) congregation I attend is Our Savior’s Lutheran in Salem, Oregon.

Our Savior’s (OSLC) is currently served by one full-time, lead pastor: Tom Hux.  Pastor Hux has announced his plan to retire in four years; at the age of 65.  Just this last April (2026) OSLC formally voted (overwhelmingly) to hire an active member—Greg—to join our congregation’s full-time ministry staff as a lay minister.  His job description is to work three-quarters time to assist Pastor Hux in the area of pastoral care, teaching, worship leadership, and occasional preaching.  However, one quarter of Greg’s full-time position will be devoted to his taking online seminary courses; with the goal of eventually earning a Master of Divinity degree.  The congregation’s hope and expectation is that, once he graduates with his Master of Divinity degree, Greg will then be formally called to serve OSLC as an ordained pastor

So what led OSLC to this point?  These seven developments:

a) In June of 2023 OSLC’s full-time Associate Pastor resigned after serving five years.  This was the beginning of OSLC’s pastoral vacancy.

b) In March of 2024 a call committee was organized to launch a search for a new ordained pastor to serve with Pastor Hux.

c) After a two-year unsuccessful search process, the call committee endorsed—unanimously—a proposal to begin a “pastor-in-training” strategy in an effort to identify and enlist an active lay leader to join OSLC’s ministry staff and—simultaneously—begin an online seminary education.

d) At a special congregational meeting in the fall of 2025 the decision was made to support the formation of a “Pastor-in-Training” team to begin working on pursuing this new ministry strategy.  At this point the call committee would still continue to meet, and OSLC continued to list its pastoral vacancy.

f) In March of this year (2026) a second, special congregational meeting was announced and scheduled (for April 12^th) to vote on hiring our recruit Greg, an active member, as our new lay minister and pastor-in-training.  This upcoming congregational meeting would also be when the call committee—at least temporarily—would disband, and when OSLC’s pastoral vacancy would no longer be posted.

g) One month prior to this upcoming special congregational meeting a Sunday forum was held to introduce Greg to the membership; and to explain the agenda for the congregational meeting. Over 150 members attended this forum.

h) The official congregational meeting (and vote) was held on April 12^th of this year.  Greg spoke to those in attendance prior to the motion and vote.  The vote outcome—by written ballot—was just over 98% in favor of hiring Greg as part of our “pastor-in-training” strategy.

This is, of course, just one congregation’s “journey”; a journey that will be playing out over the next few years.  However, I share these details to make a point: Given the current clergy shortage, churches need to be—more than ever—engaged in advanced planning related to their pastoral transitions.  For Lutheran congregations this is in part about taking the New Testament (and Martin Luther) seriously when it comes to the “priesthood” we all—clergy and laity alike—share as Christ followers.  This clergy shortage will not, in my opinion, be “fixed” in the foreseeable future.  As a result, many congregations will need to organize to be effectively lay-led for the years it will take while one of their active members is educated (online), trained, and mentored for ordained ministry.  This is especially true for smaller churches; but will also be the future faced by many mid-sized and larger congregations.

However, on a less-bleak “note”: We want to keep some historical perspective here.  The first and second century church not only survived but thrived in a Roman Empire that was not only pagan, but  was openly persecuting the Body of Christ.  And that persecution began, needless to say, long before there were seminary-trained clergy available for call.  So we must not forget that, for most of today’s churches, their strength and institutional viability has been built on the commitment of their active members even more than their serving pastors.  And let’s never forget that the local church, when well-led, and guided by the Holy Spirit, is still an incredibly effective means of witnessing to the love and mercy of Jesus Christ.

Finally, the details of how a congregation faces the challenge of a major pastoral transition can be incredibly complex.  There’s nothing “easy” about this.  As a result, the best way to address this challenge always needs to be a strategy customized for the unique characteristics, strengths and mission of each individual congregation.  But perhaps you’re not even sure how to begin when it comes to facing this challenge; whether your time of transition is already happening, or it will be sometime within the next few years.  If that describes what your church is facing, Lutheran CORE’s Congregations in Transition and Congregational Lay-leadership Initiative ministries are available to assist you.

One last thought for you to reflect on: Whenever congregations are about to face a major leadership transition, it is essential that church lay leaders and pastors plan in advance to address this challenge.  Let me be of assistance.  Details for both the CiT and CLI ministries are available on the Lutheran CORE website. 

If you have any questions you can always email me at pastordonbrandt@gmail.com.

 

First off, this is not an article about the relative merits of traditional and/or contemporary hymns and songs.  So even if you suspect you might have a “chip on your shoulder” on that particular issue, you can calm down and read on.  This article is about congregational singing regardless of whether your church sings traditional hymns; or contemporary Christian songs; or a blend of both.  I want to focus on what is involved in facilitating quality congregational singing.  In other words, what pastors and congregational leaders can do to encourage a high percentage of your members to actually participate and sing aloud during worship.

Before I get to some practical suggestions for improving congregational singing, it’s important to recognize two primary factors which tend to undermine congregational singing and decrease the percentage of worshipers who join in and actually participate.

A. The number of worshipers in attendance on any given Sunday.  Now if you have more than one weekly service this issue is, obviously, about the number of worshipers attending at a given hour; not your cumulative, total attendance for your two (or more) services combined.  Here’s the general rule related to your attendance at any one service: The more worshipers present the more likely the majority will feel comfortable singing aloud.  Conversely, the fewer worshipers, the more essential it is to facilitate singing when selecting and leading your hymns and songs.  And keep this in mind: It can be physically and mentally exhausting to sing aloud if you are one among a very small number of worshipers.

B. The median age of your worshipers is also an important factor.  If a majority of those in attendance are over 65 to 70 years of age, this is an added challenge that should not be ignored, and one more reason you need to do all you can to facilitate and encourage congregational singing.

I suspect that, in many smaller and more elderly worshiping communities, the lack of participation in congregational singing is one factor—no doubt among others—directly leading to decreasing worship attendance over time.

So let me address this ministry challenge for a hypothetical Lutheran congregation that has one weekly service.  This church—Grace Lutheran—has a worship attendance average of between 25 and 65.  And the median age of their worshipers is between 55 and 70.  And let’s assume that the acoustics in Grace Lutheran’s sanctuary, though not ideal, are adequate.

Grace Lutheran’s pastor is Rev. Olsen.  Now like most pastors, Rev. Olsen can indeed carry a tune.  (In fact, like many pastors, the best experience Pastor Olsen ever had experiencing quality congregational singing was at seminary chapel services.)  However, though he can indeed “carry a tune”, Rev. Olsen does not have a solo-quality voice and does not consider himself a songleader.  More important, he has always considered hymns to be an integral part of worship; and is painfully aware of the poor quality of congregational singing at Grace.  So Pastor Olsen starts searching online for articles about “Facilitating and Encouraging Congregational Singing in Smaller Churches”.  After exhaustive research, these were among the most helpful and practical suggestions he found for improving congregational singing at Grace.

1. The majority of worship hymns and songs should be familiar “favorites” among your members.  How was he going to discern which compositions fit this description?  A survey, of course. And from the results of this “List Your Favorite Hymns and/or Christian Songs” survey Pastor Olsen came up with a “Top 40 (or 50)” list.  Not that all worship songs on a given Sunday needed to be from this list.  However, more often than not, Rev. Olsen made sure that at least one or two of the hymns at a weekly service was from the list of “favorites”.  And when it came to hymn and song selection in general, Pastor Olsen learned the importance of avoiding hymns where the melody had a range of much more than one octave.  (In other words, seven whole notes.)  This is, he learned, especially important for older worshipers who are discovering that they can’t “reach the high notes” like they used to.

2. The next suggestion pastor Olsen found for improving congregational singing is to provide the best possible music leadership.  Since Grace Lutheran had an organ they could no longer afford to “keep up”, and since they had been unable to find a competent organist after their previous organist retired, Pastor Olsen realized that something needed to be done in this regard.  He decided his best option was to find a competent song leader, accompanied by a competent pianist, to play a high-quality piano. (Which—fortunately—Grace Lutheran already owned.)  He also learned that for this songleader-and-pianist duo to be effective, they needed to lead from the front of the sanctuary, not the back balcony.  But unfortunately, no one among the members at Grace had the necessary confidence to be a solo worship song leader.  However, Rev. Olsen did convince three members with good voices to lead congregational singing as a trio.  And for the pianist?  For that position he needed to find and hire someone from the surrounding community.  Fortunately he found the right person who not only had the necessary keyboard skills, but who was familiar with many Christian hymns and songs.

3. A third suggestion in the articles Pastor Olsen read was that hymn and song lyrics should be projected for worshipers.  This was to serve two particular goals: a) So worshipers would be looking, while singing, in the general direction of the song leaders, and b) so worshipers were not singing with their heads buried in their hymnals or songbooks.  Pastor Olsen initially had some misgivings about this suggestion.  After all, there was the considerable expense of purchasing a projector and screen for the sanctuary, and the fact that it was not feasible (due to limited space on a screen) to include musical notes along with projected lyrics.  But Pastor Olsen was pleasantly surprised by the difference projected lyrics made in the quality and volume of congregational singing.  And to minimize member complaints, the hymn/song lyrics were also printed out each week in the worship bulletin for those who preferred that option.  (Not to mention the fact that the hymn number was also listed in the bulletin for those who wanted to sing from the hymnals still located in the pew racks.)

There were other suggestions Rev. Olsen found in his online research.  For example, the recommendation that unfamiliar songs and hymns should always be taught, and that new hymns or songs should always be a part of the worship service at least two consecutive Sundays.  In the past Grace Lutheran members would often have to struggle through new hymns that were totally unfamiliar; without any instruction or practice of any kind from worship leaders.  Another recommendation: That worshipers should rarely be expected to sing more than four verses of any hymn. 

Suffice it to say that congregational singing at Grace Lutheran Church markedly improved—once these changes were implemented—and improved in a matter of weeks, not months.

Pastor Don Brandt

Congregations in Transition  

“They attack, they lurk, they watch my steps, as they have waited to take my life.  Because of wickedness, cast them forth, in anger put down the peoples, O God!”  (Psalm 56:6-7)

All around are those who mean harm.  Yes, there are wicked people in the guise of everyday normal people.  Do not fear and do not fret over them.  Their time is short but the Word of the Lord is forever.  Look to the Lord, be guided by His Spirit and know the truth He revealed once for all.  The peoples will be put down and the Lord lifted up.  Keep your eyes upon the Lord.

Lord, You know the times and events and the ways of people.  Guide me, O Lord, that I would walk in the ways You have established now and forever.  Keep me from the tangles of the wicked ones who plot to lie, cheat, steal and destroy.  Lead me in the way of life that I would go there.  Help me now and always to be one who studies Your Word to see the simplicity and goodness of Your commands.

Lord Jesus, without You it would be impossible, but with You it is possible.  You are the One who makes my salvation possible.  Lead me away from the foolish thinking of this age and into the truth You have revealed for all.  Grow my faith to become action, firmly witnessing Your goodness in the world and guiding my footsteps to be pleasing to the Father.  Amen.

“Confuse, O Lord, divide their tongues, for I have seen violence and strife in the city.  Day and night they go around her upon her walls, and iniquity and mischief are in her midst.”  (Psalm 55:9-10)

 

The Lord knows all that needs to happen in this age.  He has set history upon its course and knows the outcome of where it will lead.  In Him is the hope of the ages.  In Him is the truth of eternity.  Yes, the Lord will confound the wise and confuse the wicked.  But let not this truth set Your course.  Turn to the Lord and walk in His ways, for He is kind and gentle, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

 

Lord, I want what I want and I want the kind of justice and control I imagine.  But You are working out an eternal plan that will end in glory.  Teach me to trust You through all circumstances that I would forever hold fast to the truth of Your Word and walk in Your ways.  Lead me to ignore the things I can do nothing about and live for the goodness of Your will.

 

Lord Jesus, You have come that we may have life and have it abundantly.  Let me not so much seek justice as to walk in the truth that Your justice has already triumphed.  Let me not seek vengeance, but learn to love as You love.  Mischief is all around, but greater are the things You have done and are doing than all the wickedness that surrounds us.  Set me heart upon You and the goodness You give by grace.  Amen.