A congregation that is not equipped to properly evaluate a pastoral candidate is going to be particularly apt to rely upon formal credentials to qualify a man as academically able. This is understandable but far from optimal.
As our churches grow we need to be encouraging gifted, godly young men to consider the ministry and elders should train them and/or oversee their seminary training.
In my case, my church didn’t hire me off a “pastor wanted” website. Rather, I served in the church for years while cultivating my gifts. In God’s timing, the church called me to be their pastor. At that point, I was no stranger to them. They knew my life and gifts because I had already been serving them for years.
I think this sort of approach to vocational ministry is most optimal, even if education is also sought at a seminary (and good seminaries are truly a blessing!). If young men would hunker down and serve their local churches while developing their skills and wait upon God’s calling to office, I think both they and the church would be best served.
As is, many churches hire ministers like a company hires a CEO, and many ministerial candidates train as if they are going into the ministry much like a secular career. It’s a shame.
I once attended a SBC church where the lead pastor put in his two weeks notice and left to pastor a church in another state. That’s an issue for another topic of conversation but what struck me as odd was that this rather large congregation had at least three perfectly good candidates (“assistant” pastors) to step in and fill the role of lead pastor. One did on a temporary basis and IMHO should have taken over the role permanently – but this church for some reason had to go through a year long hiring process to find a guy outside of the congregation to come and lead them. I guess this sort of thing happens frequently but I like the implication of your blog article that a local church should first seek a Shepard from within its congregation to lead the flock before going outside of it to find one.