The Episcopal Church needs the same commitment to education for priests as it has for sending missionaries to the world.

Financing seminary is a huge concern for seminarians. It’s always a question of where the money is going to come from. We’re committed to sending missionaries to the world. You have to be committed to raising up people for our churches in the United States too.

Education is important to rectors and associates. It is probably up to us as priests to change the mindset in the pews and then put pressure on the national church (to finance education for seminarians). The national church can help make it an issue.

My wife and I have our expenses down to $2,500 a month without insurance. (The McVeys have five children.) I had to cash in my 401Ks, my IRAs. Basically we have no savings. When I graduate, our assets are going to be what’s in the checking account and a 10-year-old van. That’s the story that everyone has… unless they are older. There are a lot of 50-year-old second career types that are better off financially.

I have a little bit of a leg up on some seminarians. I was a stockbroker before I came here, and my bishop insisted I keep my license. A lot of clients just weren’t comfortable with their broker being a priest, but I’ve supplemented my income a little bit.

It’s a challenge to change the mindset about supporting seminarians. After the national church initiative, seeking 1% of parish operating income for seminaries, was introduced, it took my church—my sending parish—four years to include it as a budget item. (The 1% initiative has yielded an average of only 0.3% of church budgets.) It’s got to be shocking for parishioners to find out that they’ve basically only given us $100 a semester while I’ve been in seminary.