by Kevin Bauder | Jun 8, 2018 | Education, In the Nick of Time, Pastoral Theology
What training do pastors need? It depends entirely upon the ministry that they intend to pursue. Becoming a social justice warrior takes one kind of training. Becoming an ecclesiastical impresario takes another. Learning to work a crowd for high-pressure evangelism...
by Kevin Bauder | Jun 1, 2018 | In the Nick of Time
As General Motors’ top line, Cadillac has become a metaphor for the best and most luxurious of something. A Cadillac is never a necessity: a Chevy could get you from one place to another. The people who purchase Cadillacs are after class, prestige, and comfort....
by Kevin Bauder | May 25, 2018 | In the Nick of Time
The Religious News Service recently published a story stating that future pastors are turning away from the traditional M.Div. and toward the shorter M.A. for their ministry preparation. That story labeled the M.Div. as the “Cadillac” degree for pastoral preparation....
by Kevin Bauder | May 18, 2018 | In the Nick of Time
The Association of Theological Schools, the primary agency that accredits seminaries, recently produced a study showing that the number of M.Div. students is falling, while the number of future pastors taking the shorter M.A. program is rising. The study was picked up...
by Kevin Bauder | May 11, 2018 | In the Nick of Time
Paul Greene was already into his mid-eighties before I met him. Our relationship remained distant and casual until I began to plant a church near Dallas, Texas. To my surprise Paul and his wife Mildred quickly identified with that small congregation, later becoming...
by Kevin Bauder | May 4, 2018 | In the Nick of Time
(NOTE: This essay first appeared in August of 2016 under a different title. It is reprinted here because of the contribution it makes to the topic.) Every once in a while, God sends a person into our lives whom He uses as a means of grace. A person like that is more...
