wfn.org | Commentary: Seminary debt weighs down pastors

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Nov. 15, 2000  News media contact: Tim Tanton·(615)742-5470·Nashville, Tenn.
10-71BP{515}

NOTE:  A photograph of the Rev. Charles Sigman is available.

A UMNS Commentary
By the Rev. Charles Sigman*

A crisis is quietly and slowly working its way toward the United Methodist
Church. No one wants to talk about it. It doesn't grab the headlines like
some issues have recently. 

Across the denomination, especially in any annual conference without close
proximity to a Methodist seminary, more and more pulpits are becoming empty.
One does not need to be a mathematician to see the danger when you count the
number of clergy retiring and compare it with the number of new pastors
coming into the conference. 

Many factors contribute to this decline in clergy. Unfortunately, a key
factor is money. More specifically, the cost of seminary education is
soaring year after year.

At every annual conference, one of the historic questions asked of the
incoming elders is, "Are you in debt so as to embarrass you in your work?"
(Par. 327.18, Book of Discipline) Every time this question is asked, a
chuckle rises among the clergy. The chuckle acknowledges the harsh reality
that many of our new pastors carry heavy seminary debt.

For instance, when I graduated from the Candler School of Theology in
Atlanta and gladly accepted my first appointment, my seminary debt was one
and a half times my base salary. For the next three years, I was unable to
make the minimum monthly payments, so approximately $1,200 was added on to
my loan at the end of each year. This summer, for the first time, I was able
to pay enough to stop interest from accumulating, but I was still short of
paying on the principal.

When I was in seminary, Candler based scholarship money on the time in which
you applied and were accepted. As a result, you were locked into that
amount. I applied and received some private scholarships in the community,
but they were nickel and dime scholarships. The money that came from my
Arkansas conference purchased books and paid for two or three months'
utilities at best. Despite graduating cum laude in my class, my overall
scholarship never changed. Fellow students whose grades were far lower than
mine received much higher scholarships. 

While I was in school, my wife worked very hard, and I worked as many hours
as possible in the library. When our son was born, we had to borrow money.

It is time to begin looking at potential clergy members as a mission
project. If we don't have strong local churches, our international
missionary presence will feel the pinch. If we can apportion churches to pay
for various projects in the state and around the world, why not apportion
churches to take care of our own clergy? Or why not encourage church members
to leave their estates to help fund clergy education? A well-trained,
well-educated clergy is good for our denomination. However, mounting debt is
not.

At one time, there was talk about setting up a fund at one of our
seminaries. This is a fine idea. However, the United Methodist Church
preaches diversity. How diverse is it to have all the clergy coming from one
seminary? Diversity of theological and Christian education is a necessity.

I believe it is time we do something about the debt.  

It is too late for me, but maybe we can reach out and fund the clergy of
tomorrow 
and start filling empty pulpits.
# # #
*Sigman is pastor of the Rowell Circuit in the Monticello District of the
United Methodist Church's Little Rock Annual Conference.

Commentaries provided by United Methodist News Service do not necessarily
represent the opinions or policies of UMNS or the United Methodist Church.

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
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