Pastoral Apprenticeship Explained

Note: One of the things I am concerned about is the growing number of churches without pastors. This shows up first in the churches along the fringes, rural, smaller, unable to support a pastor full time. There are a variety of factors at play here, and thus more than one solution is necessary. Having said that, I cannot help but think part of the problem is the difficulty for the typical married man of preparing for the ministry. I am for education, and for a better one, but an education can and should be constantly pursued while pastoring. For those churches on the fringes, where the need for pastors is glaring, why cannot we establish some simpler process for sending men their way? I think it should be considered, and can be done. In today’s blog post, Pastor Ryan Hayden of the Bible Baptist Church in Mattoon, Illinois proposes one such solution, the pastoral apprenticeship.

  

## The story

 

Several months ago, I wrote a post on my blog about some of the perils inherent in the Bible college system. While I'm not against Bible college, I wondered aloud if pastoral training shouldn't happen inside a local church and suggested a kind of formal pastoral apprenticeship as an alternative.

Shortly after writing that post, a young friend of mine from out of state named Nathan Stahlman called asking for advice about becoming a pastor. Nathan is married, already had a bachelor's degree in business from a secular university, and works a 9-5 job. I asked him if he would be interested in becoming our first pastoral apprentice and, after praying about it, he moved his family to our town and has begun the program.

 

## Clarifying expectations

 

The apprentice is not a staff member. He is not moving to our area to be a youth pastor or a children's pastor or to be just free labor for our church. He is free to use his spiritual gifts as God leads, but his main responsibility at our church is to learn. He will continue to work his secular job and, outside of the training he receives, I will not try to dominate his time.

Immediately upon coming, we discussed in detail the following ten expectations for apprentices:

1. The apprentice (and his immediate family) are expected to model for the church an ideal church member. (1 Tim 4:12, Phil. 3:17, 1 Tim 3:4-5)

2. The apprentice is expected to model a servant's heart (Rom. 1:1)

3. The apprentice is expected to be ok with being invisible. (3 John 9, Mat. 23:5-12)

4. The apprentice is expected to meet with me every week. (2 Tim. 3:10)

5. The apprentice is expected to read the assigned books and be ready to discuss the assigned topics (2 Tim. 4:13)

6. The apprentice is expected to be ready for preaching assignments a week in advance, and to allow me to look over his notes and suggest edits. (2 Tim. 4:2)

7. The apprentice is expected to receive constructive criticism and coaching. (Prov. 9:9, 13:18)

8. The apprentice is expected to be proactive and to make friends inside and outside the church. (Titus 1:8, Heb. 13:2)

9. The apprentice is expected to be present at every church service and to arrive early and stay late for fellowship. (Heb. 10:24-25)

10. The apprentice (and his family) are expected to dress appropriately. (1 Tim. 2:9, Phil. 4:5)

 

## The Training

 

There are three ways I plan on training this apprentice during his tenure at our church: formal learning through a reading and tutoring, coaching in preaching, and observation.

 

## Reading/Tutoring Program

 

Reading and tutoring program Each month, the apprentice has a reading assignment that I read along with him. We meet each week for an hour or two and discuss what we are reading and how he can put it into practice in the ministry. My book list includes both books that would approximate what you would learn in Bible college and practical supplements that have helped me along the way.

Here are the topics I plan to cover, and book assignments for each topic:

 

Hermeneutics

- Understanding and Applying the Bible - Robertson McQuilken

 

Homiletics/Communication

- Biblical Preaching - Haddon Robertson

- Preaching and Preachers - D. Martin Lloyd Jones

- The 12 Essential skills of Great Preaching - Wayne McDill

- Preaching the Connects - Mark Galli

- The Back of the Napkin - Dan Roam

- Made to Stick - Chip and Dan Heath

 

Study habits

- Building a Second Brain - Tiago Forte

 

Bible doctrine

- Basic Theology - Charles Ryrie

 

Pastoring

- Letters to My Students, Volume 2: On Pastoring - Jason Keith Allen

- Elders - Jeremie Rinne

- How to Build A Healthy Church - Mark Dever, Paul Alexander

- Spurgeon the Pastor - Geoffrey Chang

 

Deacons

- Deacons: How they serve and strengthen the church - Matt Smethurst

 

Counseling

- The Christian Counselor's Manual - Jay Adams

 

Worship

- Why Johnny Can't Sing Hymns - T. David Gordon

 

Marriage

- His Needs, Her Needs - Willard F. Harley, Jr.

- The Exemplary Husband - Stuart Scott

 

Weddings and Funerals

- The Pastor's Handbook KJV: Instructions, Forms and Helps for Conducting the Many Ceremonies a Minister is Called Upon to Direct

 

Current Culture

- Strange New World - Carl Trueman

- Confessions of an Unlikely Convert - Rosaria Butterfield

 

Church/Baptist History

- America in Crimson Red - James Beller

- Fundamentalism and American Culture - George Marsden

 

Gender Issues

- Men and Women in the Church - Kevin DeYoung

- Eve in Exile - Rebekah Merkle

 

Some of the topics (like homiletics) will have several books to read over many months, while others we will only spend one month on.

 

## Coaching in Preaching

 

The apprentice will preach in church at least once a month (usually during an evening service.) Sometimes, I will pick a topic and text for the sermon and at other times I'll let him choose as the Lord leads. Each time he preaches, he will provide me with a manuscript of the sermon several days in advance and we will discuss it in our regular meetings. After each time he preaches, we may discuss things he can improve about delivery.

 

## Observation

 

As much as is appropriate, I plan on having this apprentice observe me in every area of the ministry. He will sit in deacons meetings. He will sit in on pre-marriage counseling and funeral meetings. He'll be a part of just about every area of the ministry. The goal will be, when he goes out into the pastorate, that he will at least have a pattern for what to do. We will also discuss the "why" for how we do things and work together to try to overcome any challenges he faces and answer any questions he has.

 

## Culmination 

 

At the end of this two year program, if everything goes as planned, I plan on leaving for a month and letting my apprentice pastor the church in my absence to get a feel for the weekly duties of a pastor. During this time, I will observe and coach from afar. After this, we will ordain him and send him off to pastor a church and hopefully start all over again with another apprentice.

 

## Prerequisites

 

A program like this works best if the apprentice is already married and if they already have a sustainable way of providing for their family. A man who wishes to enter a program like this should already be a faithful church member and his gifts should already be evident to his local church. Specifically, he needs to have demonstrated some speaking ability - some men simply do not have the gift of preaching and aren't "apt to teach". An apprenticeship program can help develop a gift for preaching but it cannot create one *ex nihilo*. A lot of long term frustration will be solved by determining this lack of gifting before entering a program like this. While a college degree is not necessary, the apprentice does need to show an aptitude for reading, writing and study. I tell would be preachers that they will spend their life writing the equivalent of two to three 10 page research papers every week (and that is just the bare minimum) - if they don't care to study, you'll save both the apprentice and a future church a lot of disappointment by determining this early and ending the training.

 

## Benefits

 

I'm very early in this program, but I'm very hopeful about it and think that it could be replicated by faithful pastors across the country. Further, I think there is a biblical model for this type of instruction and that God will bless it. This program costs our church very little (maybe $250 a year in books) and it costs the apprentice nothing except for commitment. He is able to work and provide for his family and be an active part of a healthy church while being trained for the pastorate without all of his time being dominated and his finances strained by a Bible college or seminary. This apprenticeship will bless our church by allowing them to have a part in the ministry of godly men. It will provide our young people with an example and our elder people with a source of hope that all is not lost. It will bless me as a pastor with the challenge of having someone watch my every move and will no doubt cause me to sharpen my own skills.

Please pray for us as we take on this endeavor, and pray about doing something similar in your church.