It has been my joy and privilege for the past 11 years to lead a small team of people at Ministry Training & Development, helping young men and women discern if ordained ministry is where God is leading them, and then guiding their development for that ministry. During this time, I have interacted with about 250 aspiring ministers (what a joy!).

Sometimes I have been asked, what are they like? What do you notice? As I conclude my time in this role, I would like to answer those questions and give you some encouragement. 

Of course, every person is made unique and has their own background and pathway to faith and ministry but there are some themes I have noticed over the years. I can summarise them in this way: clear, sacrificial, earnest, partnered and challenged.

All our young assistant ministers have come through a pathway of intense, full-time theological formation. They have experienced deep relational learning over three to four years at college. They come with a clear grasp of the urgent need to share and live under the gospel message of Jesus – they are not confused about their role! 

We should thank God for our two colleges, Moore and Youthworks, and those who have invested in them and brought this gospel clarity. 

Our assistant ministers have made significant sacrifices. Over the years I have had conversations with people who are interested in pursuing ordination, and they ask what they would need to do?. I explain serving in their local church, gaining ministry experience, testing their gifts and seeking the affirmation of their minister and congregation before going to college. 

Then we discuss college, normally four years of residential learning. They say, “What, four years?!” Yes. “Residential?” Yes. “I’d need to move my family into Newtown?” Yes. “How much will it cost?” Plenty. The government will help (but you will have a big debt). “How will I keep paying my mortgage?” Not easily. 

That young minister you listen to and watch has made significant sacrifices in being equipped to serve you and your congregation. They and their spouse, if they have one, have thrown themselves into serving the Lord (and you). Thank God for them.

The importance of being earnest

One of the best parts of my role has been leading the post-ordination training. For three years after college, our deacons come in one day a month for “in-service” training, building on and applying their college study. The joy for me is seeing their willingness to learn, to understand God, people and themselves better. 

Ministry is complex, they know that and are earnest in their desire to do it well for God’s glory and your benefit. I remember once we had a new assistant minister at the church I was leading, and on his first Sunday he walked in wearing his robes with a yellow learner plate hanging from his neck! Very funny… but true. Despite all our attempts to train them well, remember that when they make a mistake, they are learning.

For men seeking to be ordained as a presbyter (senior minister) I usually visit them each on a Sunday. I watch them at church, listen to them preach and then join them for lunch and a conversation about how they are going, what they are learning and what their hopes and expectations are for the future. 

These conversations have been another highlight of my role. Hearing how they are grappling with all the responsibilities of their job with a deep desire to do it well. 

I have also been so impressed with the wives of our assistant ministers. Everybody knows him and all he does, but what about the wives? They, too, have made lots of sacrifices. They take the lion's share of family responsibilities as he is out so often and they, too, step up and lead in different ministries in their own right.

Thank God for your assistant minister's wife; love and support her in all she does.

Finally, it’s a very challenging world in which to do ministry and our assistant ministers feel it. When I was ordained in the 1980s people didn’t really understand what we were on about as ministers, but they respected us as people who were seeking to do good. Nowadays they still don’t understand what we are on about  but they are often thinking we are doing harm!  

Our church and society have moved further apart on matters like gender, marriage, abortion and voluntary assisted dying. Our society seems more fractured, more divided, less harmonious than it once did. Into this society walk our assistant ministers, seeking to serve and bring God’s message for the next 40 years. 

So, I thank God for the privilege of serving these young men and women and urge you in the words of the apostle Paul:

Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13

The Rev Gary O’Brien is the director of Ministry Training & Development.