The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Church looks at training over-55s for ministry
Move comes as Kirk seeks to tackle crisis in clergy numbers
The Church of Scotland is to start training people over 55 to be ministers for the first time to shore up dwindling numbers of preachers.
The Kirk is considering overhauling the current rules that prevent someone taking up becoming ordained unless all aspects of the process will be complete by the time they reach 55.
It could radically change the way the church tackles its clergy crisis and help parishes tap into the “wealth of experience out there” among over-55s.
A review into the recruitment process by the Kirk will be presented at next year’s annual gathering in Edinburgh with changes not expected to come into force until after 2020.
The move comes after the issue was raised at last year’s Assembly and a motion calling for a review into the age restriction was accepted without argument by the commissioners.
The popular issue could also be raised among the Assembly’s 730 commissioners during this year’s gathering next month, although not yet scheduled.
The move is part of the push to fill about 200 vacancies – there are about 800 ministers currently in parishes – and maintain the key tenet of providing national ministry, or territorial ministry, to every corner of Scotland.
The length of time it takes to study as a minister varies depending on an individual’s qualifications.
Training to be a minister begins with a three to nine-month “discernment process” with a mentor connected to a parish before assessment to be accepted as a candidate for ministry.
An aspiring preacher then covers either a four-year Bachelor’s or threeyear Master’s degree in divinity before a 15-month probation period in a parish.
Currently if someone wants to be a candidate for full-time ministry of word and sacrament or the diaconate, they have to be able to “complete all their training, including a final probation placement by the end of the year in which they turn 55”.
About 500 ministers are due to reach retirement age by 2025, while only 32 new ministers progressed through training last year, and Church of Scotland membership has dropped to 360,000.
A Church of Scotland spokesman said: “The Ministries Council is in the process of conducting a full review of its training plans for candidates for ministry and will be reporting on this in 2019.
“The following year a complete recruitment strategy, based on the outcome of this review, will be presented to the 2020 General Assembly.
“At present there are no plans to extend the age at which someone can be ordained as a minister of word and sacrament to those who are over 55.”
The Ministries Council is in the process of conducting a full review of its training plans ... CHURCH OF SCOTLAND SPOKESMAN