We Train Pastors

We Train Pastors.

A Crisis in the Pulpit

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Across North America, ministerial education is in decline. The Association of Theological Schools has reported ten consecutive years of enrollment decreases; MDiv enrollment declined another 5% last year alone. Meanwhile, vacant pulpits multiply.

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As seminaries seek to address the looming crisis of empty pulpits, the popular response has been to lower standards and to move instruction online. Biblical languages get trimmed.

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“Greenville Seminary has certainly struck a tremendous balance between academic scholarship and Christian piety. While enjoying my interaction with fellow seminarians from across the globe and a genuinely approachable faculty, this well-knit community exudes the love of Christ in a manner I have not experienced before. I am sincerely grateful for the chapel services twice a week and the Thursday morning prayer groups, which give prominence to the fear of God upon which Greenville Seminary was founded.”
_{ARPHAXAD WAITHAKA, CURRENT STUDENT}
^{MDiv, ‘28}

Church oversight in admissions fades. Convenience replaces calling. The results are devastating for the church’s long-term health.

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Pastoral persistence has also collapsed. In the early 2000s, about 45% of MDiv graduates remained in pastoral work five years after graduation. This was a discouraging number. But today, that number has fallen to just 18%. Lowering the threshold for seminary education has also reduced the perseverance of seminary graduates, leaving many of God’s people “harassed and help-less, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matt. 9:36).  

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As pastoral perseverance in the United States has declined, so too has the number of long-term missionaries sent out from the US. In the 1950s–70s, the US sent an estimated 60–70% of the world’s Protestant missionaries. Today, the US share is around 30–40%. Short-term trips have surged, often outnumbering long-term placements by four to one, but the pipeline of lifetime workers has thinned.

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For a Lifetime of Faithful Ministry

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This is why we remain laser-focused on training pastors. Our aim is not to raise up ivory-tower intellectuals who retreat from the life of the church, but shepherds who know the Lord, love His people, and see it as their sacred calling to feed His sheep. The men who come to Greenville Seminary are not here to collect academic accolades; they are here to prepare for the hard, joyful work of preaching the Word, administering the sacraments, and shepherding souls.

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At GPTS, the Master of Divinity is intentionally demanding—120 credit hours with rigorous work in Greek and Hebrew, exegesis, systematic and biblical theology, church history, apologetics, preaching, and pastoral theology. Every class is shaped by the Westminster Standards and taught by seasoned pastors who disciple students in life as well as doctrine.

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By God’s grace, the results are clear: over 92% of our graduates persist in pastoral ministry—often in the same congregation for decades. Long-term shepherding stabilizes congregations, strengthens families, and deepens the local witness of the gospel.

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As we rejoice in the Lord’s kindness, we still look to the original inspiration for our seminary charter: “To furnish our congregations with enlightened, humble, zealous, laborious pastors, who shall truly watch for the good of souls, and consider it their highest honour and happiness to win them to the Savior.”

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Residential Formation Matters

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This kind of faithful, zealous shepherd is not formed in isolation. Residential education places a man under the Word, within the worshiping community, and in daily contact with mentors who know his gifts and character. It forges habits of prayer, disciplined study, and pastoral presence that cannot be downloaded or simulated.

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Over-digitized training promises speed but often produces fragility. It is disconnected from the oversight of the church. Lowered standards coupled with distance programs have not solved the crisis; they have accelerated it. The kind of training in which we engage is not a quick fix; it is the proven path for preparing men who remain steadfast through trials. Over time, these men stay longer in their posts. They preach with boldness and clarity because they have labored in the languages and lived in the texts. These are men who shepherd wisely because they have been shepherded in community.

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One evidence of a maturing believer is when they no longer ask, “What is the quickest or easiest path?” but instead, “What is the path that best prepares me for faithful service?”

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