Educators are working on identifying, retaining and supporting the next generation of gifted teachers. A recent study found teachers fell into three categories: disheartened, contented or idealistic. Do these categories describe ministers well? And what might that mean for young people considering a call to ministry?
When I told Mrs. Nance, my high school English teacher, that I wanted to become a high school English teacher, she said, “Oh, no. Don’t do that. You are too smart and creative. You will quickly rise to the top of the field, be frustrated and have nowhere else to go.” I took this as feminist mentoring. It was the 1970s, after all. Of course, now I know what I didn’t at age 18: she was talking about herself. This was her story. Her story has recently received some confirmation from researchers.
“Public Agenda” labels teachers as The Disheartened (40%), The Contented (37%) or The Idealists (23%). The Disheartened most frequently work in low income schools and have little administrative support. Two-thirds of The Contented teach in safe, respectful middle income or affluent schools and the majority hold graduate degrees. The Idealists? More than half are under age 32 and teach in elementary schools. They believe that good teachers can bring change. Over a third of them plan to leave the classroom later to become leaders in educational settings.
The 2001 National Clergy Survey suggests we might find The Contented in the ministry. Clergy who report the highest satisfaction with their work also report the highest satisfaction with their current congregations and their families. We also find The Disheartened: Half or more clergy report dissatisfaction with relationships with other clergy, opportunities for continuing education, support from denominational officials, current salary and benefits, spiritual life, and, lowest of all, one’s sense of overall effectiveness as a pastoral leader in one’s current congregation. The other 30% are The Idealists -- those who are not self-satisfied or down-hearted, whose passion for the mission fuels gritty hope for the work. Those starry-eyed fools.
Wasn’t Mrs. Nance really saying to me “Don’t be a starry-eyed fool”? Isn’t that what the disheartened say to the idealists? I may be going out on a limb here, but that kind of advice is not really helpful. What my teacher said may have been factually correct, but I was looking for the truth of my life. Sometimes people called to ministry, especially younger people, aren’t really evaluating a career option. They are looking for a way to spend their lives for the love of all that is holy. They are asking whether someone else might possibly see them in that life. They are not asking whether you wish you had chosen differently.
So tell your story in all its gory glory, but keep your commentary to yourself. God has a way of working these things out.
Melissa Wiginton is Vice President for Ministry Programs and Planning at the Fund for Theological Education.
