The Cost of Ministry

There are many "costs" that have to be considered when entering into ministry as a full-time profession.  The one that I have been thinking about, however, is the actual monetary cost of entering into ministry.


I have been blessed to be able to attend Lincoln Christian College - yes, now University but it was College when I graduated!  My husband attended Lincoln as well as my sister, Sarah, and daughter, Brooklyn.  My son, Alex, has also talked about attending Lincoln when he graduates next year.  I would be thrilled for Alex to attend Lincoln as it is an AMAZING school and is an even more incredible educational institution than what people give it credit for.

A few months ago it was announced that Lincoln had to lay off several of it's faculty and staff because they have felt a financial crunch.  It has also been forced to raise tuition for students next year.  While LCU is an incredible university, the cost is quite high and now is going to be even higher. 

I understand that money is needed to run such a great institution so please don't think that I think any different.  Here is my concern:  the majority of those that attend LCU are going into full-time ministry.  Some will stay here in the United States while others will go into the mission field throughout the world.  These students are acquiring HUGE debt to obtain a quality education but the majority of those acquiring that debt will be entering jobs that pay very little. 

This all concerns be very much for several reasons:
1.  When someone has a great amount of educational debt, they find it hard to go exactly where God may be leading them.  Not that they don't want to, and not that they might not think it is an issue, but the truth is, if you have a great amount of debt it is always a factor when looking at a potential job.
2.  Those who feel called into ministry might not heed that call because they feel they cannot afford the education.  You might say that if they are called cost should not be a factor however when kids are deciding on a career and deciding on where to go to college, pay and cost of education is a factor.  This can make the decision even harder - especially if parents can't afford a private school so they discourage their child from going to a Christian university.  We could loose many great future ministers because they simply cannot afford the education.
3.  Ministry is a stressful career.  Having the stress of the job plus the stress of money issues because of the great amount of debt, we could loose those already in ministry because they simply cannot continue with the financial stress they are under plus the already stressful job.

I am not sure what the answer is.  Christian institutions have to pay bills and they have to pay for quality professors.  I do know that this issue needs to be addressed because, quite literally, the fate of the world is at risk.  We need full-time ministers and missionaries.  Financial issues should not have to be a reason for a person not going into the ministry.