As teenagers back in the 1990s, we had a lot of crazy phrases we uttered on a regular basis. Like, why was it such a big deal to be “all that AND a bag of chips?” And why was being “da bomb” such a good thing? And how did Jesus become a “homeboy?” Who knows?! Thankfully, much of our slang was left in the 20th century, but I still hear a few 90s jewels used by folks my age and even younger. Phrases such as home skillet, my bad, yadda-yadda and bling have somehow survived the test of time.
There is one phrase that I heard almost every week at church in the 90s that I wish we could bring back. During the invitation time in our little country church just off Highway 78 between Jasper and Sumiton, our pastor would open it by inviting people to come down to pray. He would offer to pray with people for salvation or for church membership.
We still hear those challenges in most churches today. But the one that I don’t hear as much was the last thing he called for: “Come down if you feel that God is calling you into ministry.” He said it every week. And for such a small church, several of us entered the ministry!
When was the last time you heard an invitation to surrender to ministry in a church service? When was the last time you invited your students to consider a ministry calling? Can I challenge you with something this summer? Will you find a time to ask your students whether God is calling them to surrender their lives to ministry? Summertime youth and college ministry is the prime time to bring ministry calling to the forefront. Research has shown that most ministry leaders wrestled with and accepted the call to ministry before age 30.1 Many of us felt the passion and peace of God as we served on a short-term mission trip, helped with VBS or attended a summer camp or retreat. When students set aside distractions to serve and hear from the Lord, they are likely to discover God’s direction for their lives, making summertime a great time to challenge them to consider a call to ministry. Let me point out the obvious: We need ministry leaders. If your church has had to fill a staff position during the past couple of years, you probably know that the “well is dry.”
I hear it almost weekly, “We just can’t get resumes!” Currently, we have 483 churches in Alabama looking for a senior pastor (that’s about 16% of our churches), and that doesn’t include those seeking other staff positions. We need ministry leaders. Not to mention that the ones we have are aging. The average age of pastors is 52, and only 16% are under 40. Barna calls this trend the “greying of clergy.”2
But we have a golden opportunity with Gen Z! If all the spiritually open, return-to-church, open-to-objective-truth trends continue to bear fruit, then this generation is ripe for a ministry calling.3
Throughout history, when God moves among young people, there is a surge in the number who surrender to ministry. One example was the Haystack Revival of 1806, sparked by five college-age students who gathered to pray for Asian countries. Not only did the Spirit move in revival, but hundreds of young people surrendered to ministry as a result. We could see a similar move today. How many of your students will experience a fresh move of the Spirit this season, possibly resulting in a call to ministry?
Pray that God moves among your students this summer and stirs hearts toward serving in ministry. Pray for ministry leaders to emerge from your group.
As Jesus was traveling and teaching, Matthew recorded that when Jesus “saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest’” (Matt. 9:36-38, ESV). Pray for students to accept the call to ministry. Pray about how to challenge your people in the call to ministry. This generation is hungry for Truth, and we need digital natives to speak the Gospel to other digital natives.
So, this summer, will you call out the called? Would you commit to adding this challenge to your Wednesday night teaching time or summer trip wrap-up? Would you help normalize that one phrase from the 90s and ask your students, “Do you feel God calling you into ministry?”
If you find that some of your students are called to ministry, you don’t have to tackle their preparation on your own. Let us help. We won’t tell you to “talk to the hand” (Sorry, I had to throw one more 90s reference in the mix).
In addition to the Called Conference for high school and college students (1st Saturday of August: calledconference.org), we offer numerous online resources, including videos, books, training and service opportunities (see list below). Together, we can equip the next generation to embrace their calling and make a lasting Kingdom impact.
alabamamen.org/called-recordings
- Mike Leake, “How Pastors Can Encourage Others to Consider Vocational Ministry,” Lifeway Research, July 22, 2024, https://research.lifeway.com/2024/07/22/how-pastors-can-encourage-others-to-consider-vocational-ministry/. “The State of Pastors, Volume 1,” Barna Resources, https://shop.barna.com/products/the-state-of-pastors-vol-1. ↩︎
- “The Pastoral Succession Crisis Is Only Getting More Complicated,” Barna Group, 2023. https://www.barna.com/research/pastoral-succession/. “The State of Pastors, Volume 2,” Barna Resources, https://shop.barna.com/products/the-state-of-pastors-vol-2. ↩︎
- “New Barna Data: Young Adults Lead a Resurgence in Church Attendance,” Barna Group, 2024.
https://www.barna.com/research/young-adults-lead-resurgence-in-church-attendance/. “The Open Generation,” Barna Group, 2022. https://www.barna.com/the-open-generation/. Baptist Press “State of the Bible: Americans Less Engaged, but Gen Z Bucking Trend,” 2024. https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/state-of-the-bible-americans-less-engaged-but-gen-z-bucking-trend/. ↩︎