Across the country, but especially in small towns and rural communities, congregations are wrestling with an increasingly urgent question: Where will our next pastor come from?
For decades, the answer has been relatively simple. Churches relied on a steady pipeline of seminary graduates ready to take calls, and synod and denominational offices to help match candidates with congregations. But over the years, that pipeline has slowed to a trickle.
Fewer students are enrolling in traditional seminaries, the cost of education continues to climb, and pastors are more reluctant to accept calls in small, remote communities.
“Some of the congregations around me have been vacant for years. The numbers just aren’t there anymore,” said Pastor Ryan Gage of Zion Lutheran Church in Eureka, South Dakota.
Years ago, Zion Lutheran was “the big town church,” says Ryan. “Even in the 1970s, it probably had 1,200-1,300 members, but the climate and people in rural America have changed.”
Today, he says Zion has fewer than 400 members on the books, with an average attendance somewhere between 80 to 90 people on a Sunday. Even that, he admits, is a good size for a rural church, but in his 14 years of service, he’s seen the numbers steadily declining.
In the face of this and similar realities, many churches are realizing that the ball is in their court now. Whether it’s a rural location that can’t attract a pastor, or simply a congregation struggling to match with the right candidate from their denomination’s leadership, churches are increasingly deciding it’s up to them to find their next pastor.
At Luther House of Study, we’re doing everything we can to support congregations as they navigate this shift.
An alternative model
Luther House of Study is helping congregations identify and equip new pastors from within their own pews. Through flexible, mentor-based education, LHOS offers a path to ordination that is accessible and affordable.
Lucas Kinser had already been serving in a pastoral role at his church, but with no undergraduate degree and limited time and financial resources, he doubted he could ever pursue seminary.
That’s when his church stepped in to invest in him and, ultimately, in the future of the congregation. Ordained in June 2024, Lucas now serves as co-lead pastor at Faith Community Lutheran.
“It cost less than $15,000 to get my MDiv. You’d pay double that just to hire a search firm to find a pastor. This was a much better investment—for me and for the church,” he said.
For someone like Lucas, the unique design of the LHOS model was key.
“I kept thinking, I’m not going to be able to do that academically,” he said. But when his lead pastor encouraged him to explore LHOS, he found a program designed for success.
LHOS provides students with a faculty mentor, a professional mentor (an ordained pastor), and a personal mentor. This three-pronged approach creates accountability and encouragement as students move through coursework at their own pace.
“The idea of a mentor team was crucial. I needed people to kick me in the butt and tell me to keep going. That support made all the difference,” he said.
The encouraging environment, affordable price tag, and openness to students of varied academic backgrounds makes a LHOS education a no-brainer for non-traditional seminarians like Lucas.
Students receive an education that covers the full spectrum of history, theology and the Bible, with the academic and theological rigor expected of a traditional MDiv program in an accessible flipped classroom model.
Called to preach
Many congregations are in situations where they have no choice but to ask lay people to lead. While those efforts are honorable and sometimes necessary, the role of a pastor is more than administrative.
At LHOS, we help those lay people get the education they need to answer their neighbors’ calls in full.
Pastor Ryan, who now co-teaches the preaching course at LHOS, sees firsthand how this model is preparing students for the heart of the work—preaching the Gospel.
“Faith comes by hearing,” he says. “So, preaching is paramount.”
The course, which he helped develop with LHOS’ director of pastoral formation, Pastor Lars Olson, centers on one fundamental question: What is a sermon?
Students grapple with this question through the weekly practice of writing and delivering sermons.
“We want them to be able to say, in their own words, what a sermon is and then preach one that lines up with that confession,” said Ryan.
It’s not just about rhetorical polish. “Of course, delivery matters,” he adds. “But what really matters is whether Christ is being proclaimed for the forgiveness of sins. Not just moral instruction. Not a pep talk. The gospel.”
In this way, LHOS is doing more than just filling pulpits and handing out credentials. It’s ensuring that future pastors have what it takes to preach, teach, and administer the sacraments in faith.
“I don’t know what the future holds for my congregation or any, for that matter. Jesus talks a lot about faith and not a lot about sight. We rarely see the harvest because it’s not ours to worry about, so I’m comforted that even as, in my sin, I worry about tomorrow, Christ has this well in hand. He has given us this vocation to teach new preachers so they can go out and sow the seeds of the word out in the world,” said Ryan.
A return to grassroots efforts
There’s something fitting about rural churches raising up their own pastors. In a way, it’s a return to earlier patterns of church life, when pastors often came from the same small towns they served.
“Historically, a lot of pastors came from rural environments,” Ryan said. “They knew the language, the life. That’s less common now, and it makes a difference.”
“I’d say it keeps me up at night, but I hold firmly to Christ’s promise that His word will not return to him empty. The parable of the sower is one of my favorites. The word is cast out. Sometimes it takes root, sometimes it doesn’t, but the responsibility for making it grow is not me—the Holy Spirit does all of this.”
Today, he sees the Spirit at work in congregations that begin to ask the question: Is someone here being called?
“By the grace of God, I won’t be the last pastor here,” Ryan said. “Part of my job is to pave the way for the next one. And often, that next pastor is already under our noses.”
It’s not a silver bullet, but it is a faithful response to a changing reality. And as congregations continue to ask hard questions about the future, Luther House of Study offers a hopeful one in return: What if your next pastor is already in your congregation?
Are you or someone within your congregation ready to pursue a seminary degree?
Explore our resources
Whether your congregation is currently understaffed, lacking a pastor entirely, or simply in need of additional support, LHOS offers a vast library of educational and liturgical resources.
These include interactive courses, topical videos, a comprehensive, two-year confirmation curriculum, a weekly podcast, liturgical planning guides, discussion questions, and more.
Use these resources to support and enhance your ministry, completely free of charge.
