Ordination Age

The trend to ordain older persons continues despite the fact that the median age of students entering Episcopal seminaries has dropped dramatically in the past two years.

Between 1970 and 2003, the median age at ordination increased from 32 to 47; an encouraging sign is that the median age came down to 43 in 2004, but it was back up to 45 in 2005.

In many dioceses, ordination of older clergy predominates. Thirty-eight of 100 Episcopal dioceses did not ordain any clergy under the age of 35 during 2003 and 2004. During that same time period, 38 dioceses ordained more people over the age of 55 than under the age of 35.

While there has been a recent small increase in the number of ordinations, the number of newly ordained persons age 35 and younger who were ordained declined by 67 percent between 1970 and 2004.

The Church Pension Group reports that the "relative" clergy shortage experienced by many dioceses is likely to continue. By "relative" they mean shortages caused by a mismatch of priests seeking positions and the expectations of the churches employing them. The "relative shortage," they say, could become an absolute shortage if the pattern of declining ordinations and ordinations of older persons continues and the expected retirement crescendo of active clergy reaches its peak between now and 2012.

While Funding Future Leaders (FFL) does not focus on attracting young people to consider the calling of ordained church leadership, by addressing the issue of finances, it enables more people of all ages to respond realistically to God’s call to ordained ministry.

The Society for the Increase of the Ministry, which manages the Funding Future Leaders: A National Endowment for Episcopal Seminarians project, participates in the Pastoral Leadership Search Effort (PSLE), a program of the church designed to encourage young persons in high school and college to consider a vocation to the priesthood.