Presbyterian Mission Agency theological education sunday Archives

Celebrating Theological Education Sunday on Sept. 19

Posted September 10th, 2021

The Rev. Dr. Baron Mullis sums up why theological education matters in a video we released in 2020.

Celebrating Theological Education Sunday this month

Posted September 3rd, 2020

The Rev. Dr. Mindy Douglas had her heart set on studying biology followed by a career as a geneticist when she entered college. But, as she says, “God did a little God thing,” and she was called into ministry.

Celebrate Theological Education Sunday

Posted August 30th, 2019

Nicholas Yoda, pastor of Pleasant Ridge Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati, credits his home church and seminary for preparing him for ministry as a “spiritual docent in a house full of wonder and a valley full of pain.” Together they nurtured his budding call to ministry and service as a pastor. Yoda is one of four pastors serving Presbyterian churches and graduates of Presbyterian seminaries featured in individual bulletin inserts your church can use to celebrate Theological Education Sunday on Sept. 15, 2019, or when your congregation chooses.

Minute for Mission: Theological Education/Seminaries Sunday

Posted August 21st, 2018

In 1996, the year after I graduated from seminary, presbyteries in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) ordained 408 new ministers of Word and sacrament. Many of them continue to serve and lead in the PC(USA) two decades later in critical ways. In 2016, the PC(USA) ordained about half (47 percent) of the number we did in 1996, with only 214 ordained. While we have fewer congregations in 2016 than 1996, it is only 17 percent less, not 47 percent! The need for qualified ministers of Word and sacrament will increase as Baby Boomer generation pastors continue to retire over the next decade or so. The median age of a Presbyterian minister in 2017 was over 60 years old. The PC(USA) pastorate mirrors the demographics of about 20 mainline denominations in the U.S.

Resources available for Theological Education Sunday

Posted August 20th, 2018

The Rev. Emily Zeig Lindsey, a colleague, Pennsylvania pastor and friend, summed up the importance of theological education beautifully in a video the Theological Education Fund shared in late 2017.

Resources available for Theological Education Sunday

Posted September 6th, 2017

Theological education is a critical resource for congregations and congregants in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). When the chaos of the world is great, theologically wise leaders help us all imagine promising ways we can live into the hopeful future God is calling us toward.

Minute for Mission: Theological Education Sunday

Posted August 24th, 2017

In 1996, the year after I graduated from seminary, presbyteries in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) ordained 408 new ministers of Word and Sacrament. Many of them continue to serve and lead in the PC(USA) two decades later in critical ways. In 2016, the PC(USA) ordained about half (47 percent) of the number we did in 1996, with only 214 ordained. While we have fewer congregations in 2016 than 1996, it is only 17 percent less, not 47 percent! The need for qualified ministers of Word and Sacrament will increase as Baby Boomer generation pastors continue to retire over the next decade or so. The median age of a Presbyterian minister in 2017 is over 60 years old. The PC(USA) pastorate mirrors the demographics of about 20 mainline denominations in the U.S.