There is a huge range of debatable issues in theology and in the practice of ministry that a person could take sides on.  An average church member generally isn’t required to have fully developed theological opinions.  They are often asked to agree with and support the theological and philosophical stance their church, but aren’t required to be an evangelists for or defender of those positions.

Leaders, on the other hand, will be expected to have thought through a wide range of issues in ministry and theology, and to have an opinion on them.

Seminary is a great place to begin to formulate these positions.  No doubt you’ll have arrived at seminary with some issues already firmly settled in your mind.  But for those you’ve not yet considered, you can study the range of positions, pick one to defend, and duke it out with professors and fellow students who disagree.

On some debatable issues, you’ll take a position.  It may not be firmly held, but it will be at least a provisional opinion, an answer to give.  On others, your positions will develop into strong convictions, which will fuel your life and ministry.

Positions can be staked out pretty quickly, but convictions aren’t developed overnight. You need not have strong convictions on every debatable issue.  I would argue that a leader with many convictions will be less effective than a leader with only a few carefully chosen ones.

Here are some issues in theology and ministry you will very likely encounter, either in seminary or in ministry:

• The authority of Scripture, esp how it relates to tradition, reason, and experience.
• Is the canon of Scripture open or closed?
• Charismatic Gifts: Tongues, healings, miracles
• Baptism of the Holy Spirit
• The role of women in the church and in ministry.  Are you complementarian or egalitarian?
• Church Governance.  Where should the functional authority in the church be located?  Pastors, bishops, elders, deacons, trustees, congregation?
• Understanding of election.  In Southern Baptist circles, Calvinism and the doctrines of grace are becoming a flashpoint.
• Church discipline: when and how should it be exercised?
• Homosexuality: Is it morally acceptable or not?  What will your pastoral approach be to homosexual people?
• Abortion, stem cell research, euthanasia, and other life issues.
• Divorce and Remarriage: what is permissible?
• Weddings: for whom will you perform weddings (or not)?
• Counseling: who will you counsel or not, and to what extent?
• Baptism: who is a candidate? What mode is proper? How does baptism relate to church membership?  Should alien immersion be accepted?  What are its limits?
• Communion/The Lord’s Supper: What is its meaning? Should communion be open or closed?
• Church Membership: requirements and expectations
• Eschatology/Millennial Views.  (This is probably not as important to many churches as it used to be.)
• Translations of Scripture: Do you have a preferred translation of the Bible and why?
• Priority and focus of the ministry of the church: What things should the church be and do?  What is most important?

This list is just a beginning.  What else would you add to it?

• How did you get my name? (Probably through the seminary, but it’s good to ask.)
• What time does worship begin? When does it usually end?
• What style of worship does the church employ? For example, is the music all hymns, all praise choruses, a mix of both? What sort of instrumentation accompanies the music?
• Who will be writing the order of worship? (If not me) May I request or recommend certain hymns, praise songs, scripture selections, creeds? Will someone e-mail me a copy of it before that Sunday?
• Who will lead worship? (If not me) Will they introduce me, or will I simply begin preaching?
• What pastor, deacon, elder or other leader will be present that Sunday? Will you arrange for them to meet me before the worship service? (I like to know someone that I can refer to within the congregation.)
• Is there a nursery provided for small children?
• May I have the street address of the church? And will someone e-mail me directions to the church?
• Tell me about the denomination (if it is one I’m unfamiliar with).
• Tell me about the church. Who is the pastor? How long has he been there? How long has the church been around? What have been some recent items of rejoicing in the church? What have been some recent struggles?

That pretty much covers the conversations I have with whoever calls. I often feel like they are surprised that I have so many questions– maybe they haven’t had many folks ask questions like these when invited for pulpit supply. But I’ve found that it is important to get this kind of information. You will appreciate it, too, once you have it.

Ed Eubanks is a contributing writer for Seminary Survival Guide.

Along the way, I’ve learned a few things about having a fruitful ministry through pulpit supply. Here are some of the lessons learned:

Approach it as a ministry. If you’re doing this just for the experience– or worse, just for the money– then you shouldn’t be doing it. I try to see myself as the minister of the flock that I’m preaching to for that day. Attend to their needs, pray for them and with them, and generally make yourself available, heart and soul, for their spiritual needs for that time.

Be willing to preach. How much notice will you require to accept a preaching invitation? Here’s my policy: if they call me, even last-minute, because of some sort of emergency, I’ll go unless I’m preaching elsewhere. This policy has meant that, on a handful of occasions, I’ve had to preach with only a day or two of notice. But it has also meant the world to those congregations– and I promise you, it didn’t matter to them if my sermons were a little rough.

Be considerate of the church you’re preaching in. If you’re a Presbyterian and you’re preaching in a non-denominational church, it’s probably not the time to pull out your sermon on predestination. Sure, it’s part of your deepest convictions, but there’s no need to ram it down their throats. Tone down your language if you’re talking about a topic of difference; if you have to discuss predestination, use “election” instead. You’re there to love them, not tell them everything they’re doing wrong or that you disagree with. If you want to have a lasting, long-term ministry to them of any sort, be considerate.

Don’t preach in a vacuum. If something huge has happened, be sensitive to that in your sermon. I spent all of Saturday, Sept. 3rd, 2005 writing a new sermon, even though I had plenty of sermons I could have preached. Why? Because Hurricane Katrina had hit Louisiana and Mississippi the week before, and the people I was preaching to needed to hear God’s word speak to them about tragedy and disaster. I’ve also written a sermon for a church whose pastor’s wife had a heart-attack the Wednesday before– they called me on Thursday to preach.

Show up 10-15 minutes earlier than they tell you. Chances are, they won’t tell you what time to arrive– just what time the service starts. But the chances are also good that the Elders or other leadership will want to pray with you before worship. If nothing else, being there early will give you a chance to look over the order of worship and note any changes you should be aware of. Or, if you have trouble with the directions it will allow you a few minutes to find your way without being late.

Take a partner. Whenever I can, I like to take someone with me when I go to preach. Often this is Marcie, and she is a great partner to me. But a number of times she hasn’t gone with me for one reason or another, and I almost always try to take someone else. Why? For starters, it’s easier if you’re not alone; if you have a companion, then you know that you have one supporter. (But don’t believe the lies of your own heart here: everyone else there is for you, too.) It’s also good to have someone to help you evaluate the sermon– what worked, where you could improve, how well you did on that one part you weren’t sure of. I know it’s easy to hate the evaluations in the cold, sterile Homiletics class environment, but you long for some kind of honest feedback when it’s live and in front of regular people.

Be prepared to lead worship. Think about it– the churches that are likely to call you for pulpit supply are not the ones likely to have another pastor on staff to lead worship. Sometimes there will be an Elder who does it, and occasionally a music director that takes a strong part. Most of the time, it will be up to you. It’s a good idea to be ready for it: have some scripture ready for a call to worship, assurance of pardon, and other readings that are appropriate for your sermon topic (or at least appropriate for those functions); maybe even have some hymns picked out that you could suggest if they’re needed (be sure to pick hymns that are familiar to most people AND that you know, since you’ll probably be leading them). If you’ve never done this before, pay attention to the way your pastor does it at your church. Note the way that he has something to say between the elements of worship, how he gives a brief explanation of some parts, etc.

Let one of their Elders/leaders pray for the congregation. I rarely will lead the congregational prayers, because they need to be very personal and familiar prayers– and I can’t offer those for a congregation I don’t know very well. In fact, there is only one church that I’ve preached at where I’m comfortable leading these prayers, and that’s partly because I’ve been there more than 10 times. You may end up leading them anyway, but ask their leadership to take them if they will; most will quickly understand why this is a good idea.

Show your gratitude to the musician(s). If you’ve ever led worship without accompaniment, you’ll understand why this is so important. But it goes beyond that; if you are open with them in your appreciation of how they share their gifts, you are acknowledging that it’s not all about you. You can be sure that the musician(s) will not be the only ones who notice this, and it underscores the value of your ministry to them tremendously.

Be ready to stay for lunch – or at least be ready to stay for a while. You shouldn’t just take off right after the service; if you want to minister to them, talk with them for a few minutes after worship. Often there will be some sort of fellowship time, with coffee and doughnuts or other food. Sometimes there will be a potluck dinner afterward. Now and then someone will invite you out. Don’t deny them their opportunity for hospitality; if you do, you’re communicating that you don’t really care about them, but only about the preaching opportunity. At very least, have a good reason why you can’t stay; “I’m tired” won’t do, but “I have to pick up my family at our regular church” will. “We have to get the kids home for their naps” is iffy.

Thank them on the way out. Be sure to seek out one or more of the leaders and tell them how much you appreciate the invitation to preach. You should feel honored and privileged that you were given that blessing, and you should also feel obligated to communicate to them that you feel that way. I thank everyone I speak to after the worship service for having me there, but I make sure to give a particular word of appreciation to the leaders.

Don’t make a big deal about the money. Most churches will hand you a check at some point while you’re there. By all means, don’t make this exchange any more awkward by drawing attention to it. If they give you a check, smile, quietly thank them, then tuck it in your Bible or your pocket. Definitely do not open it up and check how much it was for. If they don’t have the check ready, there will probably be someone who is very uncomfortable and apologetic about it; assure them that it is no big deal, and they can send it in the mail later. Again, if you’re there just for the money, you shouldn’t be there. I always approach pulpit supply as something I am willing to do for free; I’ve never refused an honorarium, but if a church couldn’t pay me I would still go when they asked me to preach.

If you take these lessons into consideration, you’ll probably find the ministry of pulpit supply to be even better. Your preaching will improve, your confidence will improve, and you’ll probably get more invitations back to churches you’ve preached at before.

Ed Eubanks is a contributing writer for Seminary Survival Guide.

If you are, or have been, in seminary, you may have heard a classmate say this. Perhaps you have said it- or thought it- yourself.

Now, there is nothing wrong with “recycling” a sermon. I don’t happen to be among those who advocate pastors throwing out their sermons after they finish a series (though some are such advocates, and I understand their arguments). God can, and does, use sermons preached multiple times in various contexts, and if a sermon has been well-prepared (and sometimes even if not) then it should have a message that is timeless and applicable to all of His people anywhere.

But seminary students should be careful not to over-use the “recycling” opportunity as they pursue pulpit supply experience. Not because their sermons aren’t that good (though I’ll admit that, for good reason, I don’t reach back to my “elementary homiletics” material when I get a preaching invitation) but because they need to pursue as much real experience as they can while in seminary. And let’s face it: when you’ve preached a sermon before, it isn’t half the learning experience that a fresh sermon is.

I’ve mentioned before how important I think it is to pursue preaching opportunities while in seminary. How many sermons should a seminary student write while in seminary?

I’ve preached in pulpit supply opportunities a lot– far more than the average seminarian (or recent graduate). During seminary, I preached nearly 100 times in area churches, many of them multiple times. Of those, I’ve probably prepared nearly 50 sermons (yes, the rest have been “recycled”). On the other hand, some seminary students emerge from graduation with six sermons in their file cabinets. How do you go from 6 to 50?

Start with your exegetical papers. (You are electing to do exegetical papers some of the time, right? You’re not taking the alternative assignment every time, are you?) In theory, at least, once the exegetical paper is done, the sermon is half-finished. This is because a well-taught homiletician will be instructed to do good exegesis first. (In actuality, the sermon is probably more than half-finished because the assignment inevitably included some instruction regarding application.) So starting with your exegetical papers means that you may already have a handful of sermons half-written. During my seminary career, I wrote exegetical papers every chance I got– resulting in no less than 10 papers.

From there, start working on developing sermons out of a sense of preparation. Maybe outline a book or a topical series that you want to preach early in your first ministry call, and then start preparing those sermons. Here’s why: your first six months of ministry after seminary will be months of transition, and you will not likely have the time to put to sermons as you will want. Having a stock of sermons to be ahead with will fill the gap during this time. Here’s why else: as John R. W. Stott mentions in Between Two Worlds, the more sermons we prepare, the more familiar we are with the Word. Over time, our preparation time grows to be less and less because of this. Thus, if you spend more time preparing sermons while in seminary, you’ll be closer to that point than if you don’t.

Two more reasons why:

1. As I said before, one preacher suggested that it took about 100 sermons to “find your preaching voice”. He didn’t mean only 100 times preaching, but also 100 sermons prepared. So the more sermons you prepare, the more you will know yourself as a preacher (and the more likely the church that calls you will know you as a preacher).
2. Also, to answer the most frequent rebuttal I’ve received when suggesting this to others: it’s true that there’s hardly time during seminary to be writing sermons you haven’t been assigned. But in reality, there won’t be a lot of time available for most pastors, either. Unfortunately, there will always be other things that are legitimate, good ministry that can, and will, demand your time if you will give it. So if you don’t learn to carve out time for sermon preparation now, when do you plan to learn it?

Ed Eubanks is a contributing writer for Seminary Survival Guide.

Depending on the seminary, the answer may start at only two or three, since some schools offer only a couple of classes in preaching. Even at the seminary I attended, which is known for its strong emphasis on preaching, we were required to take only four classes in homiletics (the study of preaching); of those, we preach in only three of them (although we do some initiatory presentation in the first class as well). So by the end of my seminary career, I was required to preach all of six times to fulfill the requirements of my degree– a pastoral ministry-oriented degree.

In my denomination, these six times are insufficient to be ordained (thankfully– can you imagine a pastor who had preached only six times before beginning his ministry?). My presbytery required me to preach not just six, but 12 times in order to complete my internship. And, since a preached sermon is part of the ordination exam itself, I guess technically the requirement is 13 times.

Still, that strikes me as simply not being enough. Consider this: one pastor I know remarked that it takes a preacher about 100 sermons to find his “voice” in preaching. That is, assuming he preaches twice a week, the 13-sermon ordinand will need nearly a year before he is comfortable with his own style of preaching. (Of course, this number is approximate, and some guys will be comfortable long before that, but the exception proves this rule in this case.)

Some classmates have responded to my critique in this way: “that’s true if you’re going straight into a solo pastorate, but I’m going to be an Associate Pastor, so I’ll get plenty of time to find my voice.” When, I ask, do they expect to get that time? The very nature of the Associate or Assistant Pastor position implies that they are not the Head Pastor, and therefore probably not the main preacher. (For some Head Pastors, this means that the only time the Associate will preach is when the Head Pastor is on vacation!) Even if you assume that you’ll get one or two preaching opportunities per month, that means it will be more like 3-5 years before you’re truly comfortable preaching.

What is the alternative? Seminaries could always offer more preaching classes, but that would mean that elective hours would be devoted to them (not necessarily a bad idea), or that the already-bloated Master of Divinity degree– usually between 100 and 112 credit hours– would become longer still. No, the time-tested traditional method for garnering preaching experience is the so-called “Pulpit Supply” option.

Pulpit supply is just what it sounds like: some church needs a preacher to be in their pulpit, and seminaries supply one. Most of the pastors I know who were seminary-trained a generation ago tell great tales of their pulpit supply experiences, including which churches were always cold, which ones were sure-fire Sunday dinner opportunities, and so on. This great tradition lives on for only about 15% or less of today’s seminarians, by my estimation.

I knew a few guys who were out filling pulpits almost every Sunday; they actually got to their “home church” only once or twice per semester! But most of those who go for the pulpit supply opportunities get a few– say, 3-6– chances to preach each semester. Some guys I was in seminary with preached the same two or three sermons every time (which doesn’t help their training in sermon preparation, but it does help their actual preaching experience), but most of us wrote a few new sermons each semester.

Pulpit supply can be a good way to earn some extra money, as most churches pay $75 or $100 each time you preach. This represents a big shift away from convention– instead of paying big bucks for your education, you actually get paid for it. Preaching is hard, and sermon preparation is harder still, so even $100 is no easy money, but it can be a great way to earn and learn at the same time.

The dividends might pay off in even more ways. By pursuing pulpit supply opportunities, not only did I get good experience and progress toward “finding my voice” (I preached almost 100 times during my time in seminary), and not only did I earn some good money doing so, but I also developed a sermon series while in the process. I worked through much of Ephesians, as I anticipated preaching that series at my first call after graduation. Although I’ll rework the sermons to fit the context and revisit the important considerations of explanation and application, I already have a foundational framework in place.

Ed Eubanks is a contributing writer for Seminary Survival Guide.

There were a few churches like this at my seminary. One of them had so many seminary students that-get this-they had multiple Sunday school classes just for seminary students. I can’t imagine a greater waste. Groups of twelve to twenty men and women preparing for ministry… sitting in another class on Sunday morning, expecting someone from that church to lead and teach them. Unbelievable.

Don’t you dare do that. God did not call you to ministry so you can sit on your behind and be served. Every seminary student should be serving on Sunday morning. There are dozens of churches in driving distance that need leaders desperately. Go there, take responsibility and serve.

Some of you will be full-time or part-time pastors or staff ministers, serving in the real world as you’re studying at seminary. This is difficult. You’ll be underpaid and overworked… but it is probably the best ministry preparation you can find.

But even if that’s not you, find a church where you can have responsibility for leading some ministry: youth, children, senior adults, discipleship. Teach Sunday school. Lead outreach. Coordinate Children’s Church. Preach at a nursing home. Help your pastor with sermon research or hospital visitation.

A few suggestions:

Pray for God’s leadership. This seems like a no-brainer, but it’s easy to skip. God uses our current task to prepare us for our next assignment, so choose prayerfully.

Ask around. Some students may be serving in a less-known church with plenty of needs. Seminary placement offices often have information about local churches with full- or part-time ministry positions.

Don’t be picky. We all know churches aren’t perfect, so don’t expect it. The preaching may be average, the music may be crummy, and the people may be weird. Get used to it.

Look for a pastor to learn from. If you’re not pastoring a church yourself, then look carefully at the pastor when you consider a church. He won’t be good at everything-no pastor is-but he will have some strengths you can learn from.

Find a church quickly. Don’t spend months and months in the search. Consider three or four, then decide, join, and settle in. I’d suggest that you join a church by mid-term of your first semester.

Volunteer. Go straight to your pastor and find out where and how you can serve, and get right to it.

Support your pastor. You’ll probably find things about your pastor’s leadership you disagree with. As a general rule, you should support him, unless his theology is clearly heretical, in which case you should leave. Don’t murmur against him or join an insurrection. It won’t be long before you’re the flawed leader who needs support.

Plan to stay. Church hopping, by leaders and members, is epidemic. It’s a sign of immaturity. Staying in one place will teach you lessons that hopping around can’t: loving people, managing conflict, navigating church politics, and leading change. Join a church and stay there.