2020 Long-term Pulpit Vacancy Survey
This is a follow-up item resulting from the research done by the Life and Mission Agency in preparation for the original response to Overture No. 15, 2019. Our initial research (as of January 2020) showed that of 696 pastoral charges in total, 244 were officially vacant but only 30 were actively looking to call a minister. We then surveyed presbyteries to gather information about the underlying reasons for these vacancies (A&P 2021, p. 511–14). While the survey was conducted for the purpose of responding to the overture, the information gathered had implications beyond the scope of the response and merited further consideration.
Survey Process
The Life and Mission Agency reported the results of a pulpit vacancy survey to the 2015 General Assembly (A&P 2014, p. 398–99 (interim report); A&P 2015, p. 411–17, 46). We used a slightly modified and updated version of this earlier survey to create a questionnaire which was sent to all presbytery clerks for response. One part of the survey consisted of an Excel spreadsheet for each presbytery with a breakdown of the kinds of pastoral charges (e.g., single point, multi-point) and the ministry arrangements for each (e.g., full-time minister, part-time minister). The second part consisted of a section for narrative responses to questions. Of 45 presbyteries, 24 (53 percent) returned the Excel spreadsheet and 26 (58 percent) returned the narrative responses – a lower than expected response rate possibly influenced by the ongoing pandemic. We also received three responses from individuals. We greatly appreciate the thoughtful narrative responses from people deeply committed to and concerned about, the wellbeing of these congregations and the dedicated ministers and professional church workers who serve them.
Results
The information below summarizes the responses that were received from 24 presbyteries and represent 328 of 696 pastoral charges (47 percent). While the results represent the reality in slightly less than half of the church’s pastoral charges and may not reflect the circumstances across the denomination, the 2021 pulpit vacancy survey highlights a continuation of the trends noted in the 2015 pulpit vacancy survey.
Congregation Ministry Arrangements Number
Minister installed by call and induction
– full-time only 144
– part-time only 25
– two or more ministers 31
Minister from other denomination (Ecumenical Shared Ministry)
– full time only 0
– part-time only 0
– two or more ministers 0
Seeking to Call (or will start seeking soon)
– full-time (no change) 23
– part-time (no change) 0
– part-time (reduced from full-time) 5
Discerning ability to Call
– discerning viability of congregation and ability to call 9
No plans to seek to Call or Appointment
– interim moderator and pulpit supply 16
– stated supply appointment 15.5
– interim minister appointment 2
– non-PCC minister 7.5
– lay minister 11
– elders and lay leaders 31
– preaching point 8
Total 328
The survey confirmed that the major reasons behind the inability of many officially vacant congregations to call a minister are:
– Finances: 18 of 26 responses.
– Size/Attendance (related to finances): 11 of 26 response.
– Location (remote): 2 of 26 responses.
– Other: three of 26 responses:
– surrounding farmland being purchased by non-Presbyterians,
– satisfaction with current lay-led ministry,
– unemployment in area resulting in people moving away.
Some presbyteries indicated that distance was a factor for interim moderators who made lengthy drives to attend meetings or conduct pastoral visits. Respondents also remarked on the heavy workload for interim moderators who were not only responsible for their own congregations but also for the additional congregations they were charged with serving, often with no apparent end to their duties because these congregations had little or no prospect of calling a minister.
Presbyteries also commented on the heavy workload for retired ministers within their bounds who were increasingly called upon to serve as interim moderators or stated supply. The pandemic has only made these challenging conditions more difficult, with overworked interim moderators facing exhaustion and burnout. None of this comes as a surprise. It reaffirms the findings of the 2015 study on “The Nature and Impact of Long-term Pulpit Vacancies” (A&P 2015, p. 411–17), a significant study and analysis which we would again draw to the attention of the wider church.
One response took issue with using terms like “vacant congregations” to describe smaller congregations which are not actively searching for a minister because such language diminishes their value in suggesting that real congregational ministry is not happening where there is no called and inducted minister. Many congregations without called and inducted ministers are well served by other forms of ministry. The Life and Mission Agency will work with the Clerks of Assembly to find better terms to describe these non-searching congregations.
Pandemic Learnings
The 2020 survey offered a unique snapshot of the state of ministry and congregations because it was conducted during the pandemic. While it is true congregations, clergy and presbyteries have struggled, the pandemic has also resulted in unexpected opportunities as they have adapted to the use of videoconferencing and livestreaming technology for meetings and worship.
Before the pandemic, interim moderators typically drew from a limited group of supply preachers who were within driving distance of the congregations where the worship services would be held. Interim moderators discovered the pool of supply preachers could be drawn from a much wider geographical area where services are held online. Technology also enabled presbyteries to appoint interim moderators who were geographically distant from the pastoral charges they served. In some instances where presbyteries did not have enough ministers on their rolls to appoint interim moderators from within their bounds, assessor presbyters (ministers from other presbyteries granted permission to work within their bounds) served as interim moderators and conducted their work in the congregations remotely through Zoom videoconferencing. Some presbyteries considered adding a general presbyter, a presbytery-level regional staff person with responsibility for overseeing the life and work of multiple non-searching pastoral charges which would otherwise have been assigned individual interim moderators. General Presbyters could serve as interim moderators of several non-searching congregations and could even have additional responsibilities depending on the presbytery’s needs – for example, providing pastoral care to clergy within the presbytery’s bounds.
In the past presbyteries and congregations have explored a variety of models for ministry and different congregational configurations for worship and service:
– Multi-point charges, where two or more congregations share a single minister in a formal arrangement which links the congregations together as a single entity called a “pastoral charge”.
– Separate part-time calls, where a single minister serves two or more separate autonomous congregations.
– Cluster ministry, where two or more congregations share two or more ministry staff persons.
– Ecumenical Shared Ministry, where a congregation enters into a formal shared ministry agreement with another congregation from an ecumenical partner denomination (the Anglican Church of Canada, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the United Church of Canada).
– Preaching point (or “preaching station”, Book of Forms 200.9), a presbytery-sanctioned location, generally a church building with no established congregation or session of its own (but under the care of another session), where regular or occasional services are held.
– Tenant congregation, where a congregation without its own building rents worship space, frequently in another congregation’s church building.
– House church, where a congregation intentionally chooses not to have a church building and meets in homes for worship.
During the pandemic some congregations which were unable to hold online services joined remotely with other congregations which did have online worship. Perhaps this offers an additional model for how worship might be conducted in areas where congregations are geographically widespread: “satellite congregations” where a minister leads worship for one congregation in its church building, with the other congregations gathering in their own buildings or in other locations to worship together with them using video technology.
Recommendation LMA-019 (adopted as amended, p. 24)
That the above survey and report, along with the previous survey and report on “The Nature and Impact of Long-term Pulpit Vacancies” be commended to presbyteries, sessions and congregations for study and reflection.