Priests, Preachers, Teachers, Elders, and Evangelists, Oh My!

 When it comes to spiritual matters, most Americans are followers, not leaders. So who are the individuals that are teaching and preaching to us? Are they more knowledgeable than we are? Are they divinely appointed (Called)? Do they believe in the same things I do? Let's see what the Bible says and compare that to what Priests, Preachers, Teachers, Elders, and Evangelists say about their own beliefs.

For the sake of brevity, for the rest of this thread, I'll use the term “clergy” to define Priests, Preachers, Teachers, Elders, and Evangelists. How many clergy are in America? According to the Harvard Institute for Religion Research (https://hirr.hartfordinternational.edu/), there are “reportedly 600,000 clergy serving in various denominations in the United States. But that figure included retired clergy; chaplains in hospitals, prisons, and the military; denominational executives; and ordained faculty at divinity schools and seminaries. The 600,000 figure did not include independent churches, not tied to a denomination.” Additionally, “There’s no way to know how many there are,” said Jackson Carroll, Williams Professor Emeritus of Religion and Society at Duke Divinity School. In addition, Carroll said that the figures provided by the denominations may not be that accurate. Nevertheless, at present, it is the best figure to use. Next, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, part of the Southern Baptist Convention states the same number at roughly 600,000. While the Department of Labor Statistics claims that only 53,180 Americans are employed as clergy. (There are currently 47,000 Baptist churches in the United States and its territories.) Finally, according to Zippa, a job site (https://www.zippia.com/) There are over 29,944 non-denominational pastors currently employed in the United States.

Here are a few more facts about our clergy. I include them because I believe it's important to understand these folks are a reflection of our society, culture and the times.

• The median age of an American clergy is 57 years old, for the various denominations and 51 years old for non-denominational clergy.

• Most clergy first felt a calling to ministry in their teen or early adult years, more than half (55%) had another career before going into ministry. Roughly one-quarter (26%) remains bivocational, currently holding some other kind of (paid or unpaid) role in addition to working in ministry, usually for non-financial motivations like personal fulfillment or having other outlets for their gifts.

• Most clergy value the education they received at the seminary. More than three-fourths (76%) of clergy have graduated from some form of religious education.

• 12.9% of all clergy are women, while 87.1% are men.

• The most common ethnicity is White (68.3%), followed by Black or African American (11.7%), Hispanic or Latino (9.0%), and Asian (6.6%).

• 16% of all clergy are LGBT.

I know this is dry, but it's necessary because these individuals are the folks Jesus charges or calls to lead us to heaven. Next time, let's look at what they teach and believe. Until then...

Walk in the guidance of the Lord.

G