Editorial

Mennonite Church USA needs its seminaries now more than ever, and Mennonite congregations will best serve the future by calling ministers who have been trained—preferably with a Master of Divinity degree—through one of our many seminary programs available.
The word “seminary” comes from the Middle English “seedbed” and is defined as “an environment in which something originates and from which it is propagated.” Any group must have ways to pass on its values, and our seminaries are one of the most important ways we do that.

Our pastor-training schools and programs are places where notions of good preaching and solid Anabaptist theology are being planted. From this soil will sprout the preachers and pastors of tomorrow. To understand how important these seedbeds are, imagine what it would be like without them: Congregations would need to find pastors from any Christian tradition that seems a close approximation to what we believe.

It is possible for a congregation to find a pastor trained through some other school that is a fine preacher, has a pastor’s heart and solidly supports the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective. I have had several such pastors and been blessed by them. But from a systemic point of view, relying on such finds is risky.

A Mennonite Polity for Ministerial Leadership (Faith & Life Press, 1996) is one of our formation documents that describes who may receive a ministerial credential. It is clear in its call for pastors to be trained with a Master of Divinity degree through one of our seminaries.

“A Master of Divinity degree is highly recommended and encouraged for those in pastoral ministry,” says the statement in its “Qualifications for Ministry” section. “A clear grasp and understanding of Anabaptist-Mennonite identity, theology and faith is assumed as well.”

It is doubtful that any seminary other than those belonging to our denomination will provide this identity, theology and faith. This means that students studying in the programs offered by our seminaries are the seed stock for congregational leadership over the next decades. As these leaders grow and their ministry bears fruit in congregational life, it will be a harvest we recognize as being Anabaptist.

Last October, the campus pastor at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) in Elkhart, Ind., alerted us to an increase in seminarians preparing for ministry.

“This year, the number of young seminary students at AMBS exploded,” wrote Janeen Bertsche Johnson, “and most of them are entering the M.Div. program. Not all of them will end up in congregational ministry, but a significant number are headed that way. We are very excited about this trend and want to see these talented, committed young adults serving the church.”

This is encouraging news. Since many current pastors will be retiring in the next decade, it is vital that these young leaders are being nurtured to replace them. In 20 years, when our pulpits are filled by the next generation of pastors, what they preach and the church history they know will have continuity with the Anabaptist-Mennonite identity, theology and faith that is the essence of our church today.