Are we more similar than different?

Having been in the field of teaching for the whole of my professional life, I am realizing that other fields are dealing with the same kind of issues as teachers and schools are.

It’s the never-ending question of how to sustain engagement and what truly produces growth.

Too often, youth ministries overlook this reality when they seek to attract students to their events. We’ve all seen ministries that use all kinds of means to get students in the door. Unfortunately, we’ve also seen these students walk out the door never to return.

That’s because the means you use to attract students are usually the same means you must use to keep them.

As I consider the different applications that pursuing a seminary degree could open, I want to read and know more about the current context (both good and bad) of ministry. Are churches experiencing the same number of cutbacks as schools are? Are ministers looking for bi-vocational options like many teachers who have been cut back to part time positions are?

Are our different fields and different contexts really more similar than we think they are?