Seminarians Face Pulpit Shortage

Only about 50 to 65 percent of the approximately 8,000 new theology school graduates with masters of divinity degrees "are finding positions in congregational ministry," said Daniel Aleshire, executive director of the Association of Theological Schools [ATS] in the United States and Canada.

ATS is the accrediting organization of 254 institutions with graduate-degree programs in theology. Almost half of those institutions' 80,000 students are in master of divinity degree programs.

Lately, 4,000 to 5,000 a year have found pastoral jobs; others have taken their degrees into different occupations.

Within Conservative Judaism, "there are more pulpits than there are rabbis," said Rabbi Joshua Skoff, senior rabbi of Park Synagogue, Northeast Ohio's largest, serving 1,800 members.

Still, the data from Jewish Theological Seminary, a major school for Conservative Jews, suggest that jobs for new rabbis are as scarce as they are for Protestant graduates. Rabbi William Lebeau, dean of the school's New York campus, said 60 percent of recent graduates work at Conservative congregations across North America.

Orthodox and Reform rabbinical schools graduate more rabbis than congregations can absorb, too. Lebeau says most find other satisfying professional roles, including positions in Jewish community centers, faith-based nonprofit organizations, chaplaincies and teaching, "all serving the Jewish community."

As Islam grows in America, Islamic leaders here are strongly in demand -- with a caveat. "It depends on the requirements of the mosque," said Jalal Abu Shaweesh, president of the Islamic Center of Cleveland, which has been searching for a permanent imam for almost a year.

Naturally, big congregations such as the Cleveland mosque want spiritual leaders well-schooled in Islam and the Koran. "But the hardest thing is to find somebody who can speak English well and is comfortable with American culture" and can fill the many roles clergy have in society, Abu Shaweesh said.

Once Kaliszewski graduated from the seminary, he hoped the United Methodists would commission him for future ordination -- which pastors might receive after three years.

Bishop John L. Hopkins, leader of the Methodists' East Ohio Conference, said, "When we ordain a minister, we're guaranteeing a job, essentially for life."

The Methodists asked Kaliszewski to "work on a few issues" before ordination, Hopkins said. He's doing that while operating as what the Methodists call a full-time "licensed local pastor," a temporary position.

Kaliszewski hopes his efforts put him on track for earning a permanent place in the denomination.

Meanwhile, he serves his 200-member church, perhaps closer to realizing his calling than many in his field.