Thank you, Charlie, for your phrasing of this question and the emphasis you’ve placed on needed change. First, we can ask whether or not the institutional church is viable. As fewer people are choosing to participate in church, it’s understandable that those called to the ministry might look for a livelihood that’s not dependent on members and pledging. Denominations need a changed understanding of ordination so that one can be ordained to the ministry of their calling (detention centers, community care, elderhood, disaster response, correctional systems, hospice, spiritual formation, biodiversity protection, and so forth) rather than a particular institution, congregation, and building.

Intensifying Christian nationalism also discourages those who are called to nurture a community but instead must put their scholarship and energy into debunking inaccuracies and trying to halt social, spiritual, and political harm from happening.

Given the magnitude of so much at stake, there are many reasons why fewer might feel called, but for the plenty who still do, seminaries are not responding with learning that matches the moment. To attract clergy, divinity schools need to prepare seminarians to think and act as Jesus did in an empire that was falling. People are looking for honest and thoughtful interpretation. As this empire's systems fail, we want tools for creating more resilience together, in community. As extreme weather worsens and the planet gets hotter, we need practical skills for providing care as well as welcoming spaces to share our grief. We need language and knowledge to speak up in the face of misinformation.

Ordination needs to be for those who, amidst the break-down, can sense the breakthrough and are willing to convene and lead us with humility and courage. Affirming and witnessing the one who is called provides trust and encouragement for that minister to follow and be shaped by Spirit’s lead. This has always been true. As members of the great Earth community, it is also on us to prioritize relationships over independence, trust over separation, and love over fear. Spiritual communities help us practice this, so I hope that – in whatever spaces they serve – clergy will continue to answer their calling to serve as only they have been summoned.

~ Rev. Lauren Van Ham