In November 2024, NPR ran a story titled “Churches in America Are Having a Hard Time Finding Pastors.” The story opened with a sobering reality: “American religious institutions are facing a crisis: they don’t have enough clergy to lead congregations, particularly in rural areas.” Across the country, clergy are retiring and dying at a faster rate than new leaders are entering ministry. In response to this growing concern, the Lilly Endowment—one of the largest private philanthropic organizations in the country—has awarded more than $400 million in grants to dozens of universities, colleges, and theological schools to support collaborations that prepare ordained ministers and lay pastoral leaders. While this investment is significant, the solution to the clergy shortage does not begin at the seminary level; it begins at the congregational level.
The local church is most often where a calling to vocational ministry is either cultivated—or not. That conviction is at the heart of a new pilot project launched by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF), one of our denominational partners, with fifteen churches participating, including First Baptist. As part of this project, I will meet regularly with pastors from participating congregations to reflect on how we can cultivate a sense of calling in our churches—work that has already led to one small but meaningful outcome you may have noticed. When I extend the invitation at the conclusion of the sermon, I have begun adding these words: “If you feel called to vocational ministry, come down the aisle and speak with me.” This is a reminder, to me and to all of us, that nurturing future ministers is part of our responsibility.
Baptists believe in the priesthood of all believers. This belief grew out of the Protestant Reformation and the teaching of the reformer Martin Luther. Luther taught that through baptism, all believers are set apart as priests before God. As Scripture says in 1 Peter 2, “You are a royal priesthood.” This means that every believer can go directly to God through Jesus Christ. We do not need a priest or any other human mediator to receive God’s grace; Jesus is the mediator. The priesthood of all believers also means we are all called to serve God and to share in God’s work in the world.
That is why at First Baptist, one of our mottos is “Every member a minister.” This understanding also shapes how Baptists view the church. We believe that the primary authority of the church does not rest with popes, bishops, presbyteries, conferences, or other hierarchical bodies. Instead, ultimate authority belongs to Christ and is expressed through the local congregation as it seeks to follow Christ together. The congregation has the responsibility to set apart and ordain specific individuals, as clergy, for particular roles, such as preaching, administering the Lord’s Supper and caring for the life of the church. This is also why we lay hands on and ordain deacons; we are blessing them for specific ministry in the church.
All of this is to say that seminaries and colleges play an important role, but for Baptists, the responsibility for calling and affirming ministers ultimately belongs to the local congregation.
Thankfully, First Baptist has a long and faithful history of cultivating calling. We currently have two “homegrown” ministers on our staff, Mary Carol Anderson and Kyle Matthews, both of whom grew up in this church and experienced a call to ministry here. Later this spring, we will also have the joy of ordaining one of our own, Annie Deaton! You will hear about the CBF Cultivating Calling project in the months ahead; it may also bring a college student to First Baptist this summer, someone actively exploring a call to ministry, who will have the opportunity to learn and serve among us.
May First Baptist continue to be a place where such callings are heard, nurtured and joyfully answered.
—Carol