by Dr. John Reid

You are probably saying that’s a strange name for a blog. I agree, but this number represents a growing concern in the body of Christ.

As many churches have closed their doors there remain a few upstarting churches, 5% represents a daunting number. Less than 5% of Black Christian leaders especially pastors, have attended or completed any formal theological training. While many may boast of various degrees from liberal arts institutions, these educational acolytes are in no way equivalent to acquiring training from a biblically based institution.

At the end of the day, we must consider who suffers most from this failure to develop to adequately serve the body of Christ. The congregates in today’s church are more informed and better educated today. Moreover, people attending services expect much more from the church than merely a spiritual prep talk. There are many instances where Pastors need to provide counsel and answer many of the questions posed by today’s culture.

It’s the twenty-first century and the Bible continues to be the number one bestseller. Ironically, biblical illiteracy is at an all-time high. As many churches and institutions continue to struggle with post-COVID issues. The concern is that there is less discipleship development, Bible study, and Sunday school in place to support the training of future Christian leaders.

In the African American community, there’s always been a real tension between faith and reason. Dr. Riggins Earl, in his work Dark Symbols, Obscure Signs: God, Self, and Community in the Slave Mind, writes, “black church leadership, since slavery, has been unable to hold reason and faith in critical tension with each other for holistic institutional development and progress.”

In the pre-civil rights era, many black pastors were denied access to some seminaries. No wonder so many black pastors refused to attend seminary for decades. Historically, African American culture has rejected the idea that you need to attend school to “hear from God.” Today, many large churches in the African American community are led by pastors who have little or no seminary training.  Whether it’s an access issue (not allowed to attend) or excess issue (too much head knowledge, not enough heart knowledge), seminary or theological training hasn’t always been at the top of black clergy’s list.

It has been jokingly stated that the black church is the only place where you can go from a GED to a Ph.D. literally overnight.  It never ceases to amaze me why theological education is not a priority in today’s culture.

If you go to the doctor or dentist the first thing, you see in the examination room are the credentials of the physician. If such emphasis is placed on who cares for our physical bodies, why shouldn’t today’s Pastors and Christian leaders show concern for those whom they are entrusted with care for the development of their eternal souls?