Ministry of the future


Ministers are key persons in the church. Facing secularism, ministry becomes more and more challenging. The workload and stress-level are increasing. This is not only true for remote rural areas, but for the ministry in cities as well. Currently churches try to resolve the issue by starting processes to debate pastoral images among clergy in order to reduce complexity and give a clear orientation in this challenging time. A severe change of the church ministry can been seen in those discussion processes. Therefore we have to ask theologically and with the assistance of empirical research what the future ministry will look like. The question is, whether or not we can make out chances for a good and healthy change. Perhaps - in the near future - we will not ask for pastoral images anymore, but how the plurality and mix of the called and manyfold gifted people of God can look like. Academic theologians have then a different role to play - nevertheless a vital one.

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Michael Herbst

Benjamin Stahl