By Linda Lawson

GLORIETA, N.M. (BP)–If present trends continue, bivocational Southern Baptist pastors
will outnumber full-time pastors within 10 years. Or, to use a biblical term, tentmaking
is strongest in areas such as major cities outside the Bible Belt where Southern Baptists
are weakest, said Carl Barrington, national missionary for tentmaking ministries for the
Southern Baptist North American Mission Board.

Barrington led a conference, "Ministry in the 21st Century," during the Aug.
8-13 Student Conference at Glorieta (N.M.), a LifeWay Conference Center. He noted that 2.6
persons are graduating from seminaries today for every one existing full-time ministry
position. "The greatest challenge we face in the 21st century is the connecting of
every person to their God-called ministry."

Only since 1948 has full-time ministry been the dominant Southern Baptist model,
Barrington said. In 1972, only 32 percent of Southern Baptist pastors were tentmakers, but
in 1999 it has risen to 39 percent and is still climbing. By 2008, he predicted more than
half of pastors serving Southern Baptist churches will be supporting themselves and their
families through a marketplace vocation.

Barrington called on campus and church student leaders to challenge today’s collegians
to prepare themselves both for a vocation in the marketplace and for ministry in the major
cities of the United States.

"We need to be graduating people who consider themselves to be lifetime tentmaker
ministers," he said.

Barrington emphasized that the traditional 20th-century model of starting a church by
buying land, building a building and calling a full-time pastor will continue. However, he
said additional ministry paradigms must be added, in part due to a disparity in where
trained leaders are located.

He noted that 80 percent of trained Southern Baptist leaders live south of the
Mason-Dixon line and east of New Mexico. He cited a small Atlanta church that received 130
resumes to fill its pastorate while churches in Nebraska, Pennsylvania and other places
outside the Bible Belt may go leaderless for one or more years.

In addition to tentmaker pastors and church staff members, Barrington said "we’ve
got to have new ways of taking the church to the people. It is no longer true that just
doing ministry well enough at the local church will eventually reach people.

"We must get more of us involved in ministry where we work, where we play and get
to know people in many different ways," he said.

As examples, Barrington cited an Atlanta tentmaker who leads a Tuesday night Bible
study for taxi drivers. The study is held at the end of a subway line where drivers
congregate to pick up passengers. A professional fisherman ministers to persons
participating in fishing tournaments. A medical doctor leads a Thursday night Bible study
for his colleagues.

"If we can find people who love to play golf, we can help them see they can lead
Bible studies on golf courses on Sunday afternoon," he said.

Barrington called on student ministers to consider sponsoring innovative ministry
conferences to acquaint students, especially freshmen and sophomores, with the ministry
opportunities available to persons willing to consider tentmaking.

Emphasizing that no one can predict the future, he listed nine factors that, if present
trends continue, likely will characterize Southern Baptist ministry in the 21st century:

— The perceived differences between ordained and lay ministers will decrease as
additional ministry models are adopted.

— A decrease in financial support of churches because Christians under 50 have had
less exposure to the concepts of biblical stewardship and sacrificial giving. "We
will have to become creative at doing more with less financially," he said, unless
increasing emphasis is given to the importance of stewardship.

— An increase in spiritual and biblical ignorance among Americans. An estimated 40
percent of Americans have no "Christian memory," exposure to biblical or
Christian principles.

— A decrease in denominational loyalty, unless there is increased focus on Southern
Baptist distinctives.

— An increase in the number of Christians accepting God’s call to ministry at all ages
of life.

— An increase in the numbers of younger, college- and seminary-educated tentmakers.

— Increasing awareness among Southern Baptists of ministry needs that can be met by
tentmakers.

— Increasing involvement of Southern Baptists in volunteer, short-term and tentmaking
missions.