New thinking on addressing the collapse in ministry recruitment and training?

Posted on May 5, 2026 
Filed under Resources

From Dominic Steele at The Pastor’s Heart –

“In the UK there are serious signs of a narrowing pipeline into ministry recruitment and training. Fewer people are coming forward through some of the traditional routes. Traineeships are under pressure. Residential theological education is changing.

And churches are asking: Where will the next generation of pastors, evangelists, church planters and ministry leaders come from?

In Australia, it is not the same story, but there is a similar question. Geoff Folland has argued that the old model of the young, full-time, residential theological student is no longer the dominant reality. Colleges face rising compliance costs, changing student profiles and tighter finances. And, churches, apprenticeships, parachurch organisations and mission agencies are now doing more of the early work of formation.

So is this a Bible college problem? A local church problem? A recruitment problem? A funding problem? Or an ecosystem problem?

Orlando Saer is Senior Pastor of Christ Church Southampton, Chair of Trustees of 9:38 and part of the team behind the Yarnton Gospel Workers Trust launched last week — a new UK initiative seeking to remove blockages and multiply gospel workers for the harvest.”

– Watch or listen here.