Should Pastors Continue Education? 48% of all ministers say they are encouraged to continue their education using church time and/or funds. Another 8% are encouraged to further their education, as long as they use personal time and/or money. 40% are neither encouraged nor discouraged, while 2% report being actively discouraged. The smaller the church, the less likely the pastor is to be encouraged to further his education. Only 39% of ministers in small churches are encouraged to do so using church time and/or funds, vs. 55% in mid-size churches, and 64% in larger congregations. The attitudes of church leadership toward pastoral education vary by denomination. 73% of Presbyterian ministers are encouraged to further their education with church time or funds, so are 57% of Methodists and 51% of Lutherans. Pentecostals and Southern Baptists are the ones most likely to report ambivalence toward continued education by their church leadership. In general, evangelical pastors are encouraged less than their mainline Protestant counterparts. 39% of evangelical pastors are encouraged to continue their education using church time/money vs. 64% in mainline churches. (LifeWay Facts & Trends Mar/Apr/05)
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