Learning and serving
at the same time
Student pastors fulfill a unique role
By Sybil Davidson
Wesleyan Christian Advocate
Ministries take place in small towns, in urban settings, in foreign countries and in nearby states—and often in United Methodist Church pulpits. The Teaching Parish, a program through which theology students serve as full-time pastors, is one such ministry.
Lon Tobin was a local pastor in the Holston Conference in Tennessee for eight years, but he felt a strong calling to be an ordained minister.
Through Candler School of Theology’s Teaching Parish Program he was able to follow that call. Nearly three years ago when Tobin started at Candler, he was paired with Mt. Gilead UMC in Woodstock, a church that has long been associated with the program.
“It’s wonderful to be able to integrate education and ministry this way,” said Tobin.
As a second-career student with a wife, Terry, back in Johnson City, Tenn., it was a much-needed bonus to be paid a salary and provided a parsonage by the church.
“For the past three years Mt. Gilead has been my family,” Tobin said. “I live in the parsonage a quarter-mile from the church and about 50 miles from campus. This semester I have class three days a week and teaching parish meetings one day, so there is a lot of traveling.”
Mt. Gilead is a small church with about 35 or 40 worshipping on Sundays. Tobin plans services, officiates at funerals, makes hospital visits and meets all the district and conference requirements of a pastor, on top of a full load of classes.
“I probably spend more time at school [than at the church],” he said. “But the church is so great. They don’t put unreasonable pressure on me and I try and reinforce to them how much I appreciate them.”
The church gains a lot from this partnership as well.
“Churches that opt to have a student pastor get someone who is recently educated, who has a strong network, and they get a good quality leader who is invested in the church,” Tobin explained.
Mount Gilead agrees.
“When you get a student minister, and they care about the church and come up with new ideas, before long you’ve got this close interpersonal relationship with each other and with God,” said Debbie Hendrix, chairwoman of Mount Gilead’s administrative board. “Student ministers can get to know our parishioners and because we’re small enough, they get to get their feet wet a little bit at a time.”
“It goes right along with the basis of United Methodism and being a connectional church,” Tobin continued. “We’re sharing resources and helping each other.”
“There were a few years that we went with a full-time pastor instead of a student pastor,” said Hendrix. “But people came and went just like at any church. We’re an older congregation and many are on fixed incomes, so when a few people passed on, it became difficult to pay the rising salary costs.”
“Our philosophy is, why not turn a problem around and use it as a ministry? The program helps the church, because it lessens our financial burden some, and at the same time, we’re doubly blessed because we have new opportunities. We benefit so much from the things [the student pastors are] learning and the people they’re in touch with. There’s nothing dull or mundane about a student pastor, and when he succeeds in school it makes us feel good.”
Mt. Gilead’s small size and close-knit membership allow Tobin the flexibility he needs.
“We make phone calls and take care of a lot of sick visits,” said Hendrix. “The congregation has realistic expectations of him.”
One downside of having a beloved student pastor is that they move on even faster than a full-time ordained minister. Candler’s theology program is just three years.
“Lon truly is a blessing to us,” Hendrix said. “The sad part of having a student pastor is that for a year I’ve been dreading his leaving. His ministry is so strong and we’re sad to lose it.
“But through this program we have really come across some wonderful pastors,” she continued. “I’m still in touch with some of them and have seen them go on to great things.”
Tobin and Hendrix agree that the program isn’t designed for just any church.
“It works best for a small church because it allows you to focus more on ministry and not so much on finances,” she said. “God really uses the little churches this way. I don’t ever expect this church to grow really big. We won’t have a grandiose music program, but my heart always goes back to the little church.”
According to the director of the Teaching Parish Program, the Rev. Alice Rogers, there are churches all over North Georgia who opt to have a student pastor.
“At one time there were 150 student pastors in the state, but now North Georgia has about 20,” Rogers said. There are 57 students in the program overall, with some coming from Tennessee, Florida, Alabama and other states.
Though the program did wane over the years, Candler has a renewed focus on it. The school did a study recently and determined that the Teaching Parish is an important avenue to have available to students and to churches.
“I’ve really felt that support,” said Rogers, who is in her second year as director. “And Candler truly appreciates these churches. We are indebted to them. They are playing an important role in the kingdom of God.”
Reprinted with permission, “Wesleyan Christian Advocate,” the official newspaper of the North Georgia and South Georgia Conferences.
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