A Cure

Did you know there's a cure to the clergy shortage?

There are actually four things that research shows make pastors in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Make pastors!  What good news! They might not be surprising to you if you have been listening to Pastor Sarah for very long. And if you're here, you know the importance of campus ministry and other ministries to young people! 

• Summer Camp

• Sunday School 

• The ELCA Youth Gathering 

• Campus Ministry 

Jacob Sorenson wrote an article for The Connect Journal about exactly this subject. About campus ministry, he writes: 

"No surprise here. We know that campus ministry is vital, and we also know that it is chronically underfunded. Less than half of the roster (43%) attended an ELCA college or university. The others attended a mixture of public and private schools not affiliated with the ELCA. At most of these schools, there was a LuMin (or Lutheran Campus Ministry) presence. These ministries, while usually small in numbers, have proven consistently impactful on the participants. Rated in terms of importance on both faith formation and call to ministry, campus ministry was behind only Sunday school, serving on camp staff and the year-long Lutheran service organizations (LVC and YAGM). Like with the Gathering, those who participated in campus ministry (whether with LuMin or at an ELCA school) were rostered at a much younger age, on average, in comparison to those who did not participate or participated less frequently."

You can read the entire article at the link here and learn more about the importance of these ministries. Thank you so much for your continued support for Jacksonville Campus Ministry and campus ministries across the country. You are making pastors!