Jennifer Kay Smith
in love with creativity & its sourceArchive for umc young clergy
UMC Young Clergy article in UM Reporter
Church renewal program focuses on young clergy
Recruiting young clergy is becoming a serious problem for the church.
In 1985, there were 3,219 United Methodist elders who were under 35, according to Lovett Weems and Ann Michel’s book, The Crisis of Younger Clergy (Abingdon). In 2007, there were only 876.
“Many young leaders I know have considered jumping ship and starting new churches,” said Jenny Smith, a 26-year-old United Theological Seminary (UTS) student and ministry candidate. “Many of us question the relevancy of the United Methodist Church when our peers are finding faith and church boring and irrelevant.”
Responding to this two years ago, the UTS faculty revised the curriculum with an academic focus on church renewal, which is now a concentrated study at the seminary in Dayton, Ohio.
Reflections from Presentation
The view count on the videos went from 50 on Sunday afternoon to over 400 today! And over 300 people have been on UMC Young Clergy since Monday. Keep the conversation going!
A great next step is for young clergy in each conference to establish a support network among if there isn’t one already in place. More next steps here…
I was overwhelmed with emotion as we prayed last night right before the presentation. I don’t want to spend my life doing anything else but being used by God to further God’s kingdom here on earth. What an amazing feeling to know my days count for much more than I could create.
I was overflowing with joy to watch 120 people see these interviews for the first time. The 30 people we interviewed were honest, open and vulnerable. Because they were willing to put it on the line so our denomination can continue being renewed, that gives every conference hope that the same thing can happen for them.
I could go on forever but a church finance meeting is calling my name. So just know Monday night was a huge highlight and I was thrilled that Aaron went with me. We talked for hours on the way home about how we can keep filming more stories and using the power of image & story to keep asking tough questions.
We’ll post the Q & A session soon.
My logo was on an elephant!!
UMC Young Clergy video shorts
We’re giving a UMC Young Clergy presentation to the new Board of Ordained Ministry chairs & registrars in Nashville on Monday. These are the people who organize & pass candidates into ministry in each of our conferences. It’s crucial that we continue to discuss some of the reasons why our numbers of young clergy are declining.
I’m very interested to see how God will move among people as we realize this problem is solvable. And a HUGE thanks to all the people involved in these videos who put their heart and passion on the line to help advance this conversation.
Thank YOU.
Annie Arnoldy, Jason Rathod, Andrew Craig Bishop Mary Ann Swenson , Nicole Conard, Molly Simpson, Bishop Will Willimon , AJ Thomas, Candy Benson, Rebekah Miles, Bishop Deb Kiesey, Paul Gravley, Dave Beckett, Andrew Conard, Adam Hamilton, Sarai Case, Jessica LaGrone, Jeremy Smith, Kelli Beard, Nico Romejin-Stout & Walter L. Dry Sr.
General Conference
Statistics & Hope
Why we love ministry in the UMC
Candidacy Process
Naming Elephants for Young Clergy
Words to Older & Younger Clergy
Closing Reflections
