Research results being released for the first time in the March/April edition of Facts & Trends magazine show most Protestant clergy are involved with continuing their education through classes and/or seminars, but that a majority feel their budget for additional education is insufficient. In addition, slightly under half say they are encouraged by their church's leaders to continue their education using church time and/or funds.

The study, conducted by Ellison Research (Phoenix, Ariz.) among a representative sample of 860 Protestant church ministers nationwide, asked pastors about their participation in classes, conferences and seminars, as well as their church's budget for such activities.

Only 9 percent of all senior pastors had not attended any classes, conferences or seminars in the last two years. The most common types attended were:

* Leadership/management skills – 54 percent

* Church growth – 52 percent

* Prayer/spiritual growth/renewal – 49 percent

* Evangelism/outreach training – 45 percent

* Personal skills training – 28 percent

* Discipleship/small group development – 26 percent

* Worship planning and ideas – 24 percent

* Marriage and family ministry – 19 percent

* Financial management/fundraising – 16 percent

* Youth ministry – 11 percent

* Church marketing/promotion – 9 percent

* Children's ministry – 8 percent

* Multicultural ministry – 6 percent

* Single adult ministry – 1

* Any other type – 14 percent

There are not many differences according to the size of the church the pastor is leading, but one significant difference is that continued education on the topics of church growth and leadership or management skills is less common among pastors in small churches than among those leading churches with 100 or more in regular attendance.

There are also relatively few differences by the pastor's age or the church's region of the country. Fifteen percent of pastors age 60 or older had not gone through any additional education in the last two years, compared to 8 percent of those under 60. Younger ministers are more likely than older ones to have focused on leadership or management skills as well as marriage and family ministry. Youth ministry and personal skills training are both particularly popular in the Northeast, while evangelism and outreach training is particularly popular in the South.

There are some significant differences according to denomination. The average minister has received continuing education on 3.6 different topics during the last two years; for Methodists, this is 4.5 different topics. Southern Baptists, also, are more likely than average to be trained on a variety of topics, with an average of 4.0 over the last two years.

Some topics are particularly popular in certain denominational groups. Church growth training, for example, is something undertaken by 70 percent of Methodist ministers and 60 percent of Southern Baptists, but just 44 percent of Presbyterians and 28 percent of Lutherans. Another example is that 62 percent of Southern Baptists have undergone education on evangelism or outreach, compared to just 33 percent of Pentecostal/charismatic pastors.

Even though most ministers have gone through seminars or classes, 36 percent say their church does not budget any money for this, and the average church that does budget for this reserves just $1,504 per year for continuing education for their senior pastor.

Half of the smallest churches have no money at all in their budget for training for the senior pastor (compared to 24 percent of churches with 100 -- 199 people attending, and 16 percent of larger churches). Pentecostal and Baptist churches (other than Southern Baptist) are the least likely to budget for the pastor's training, while Presbyterian and Lutheran churches are the most likely to do so. Overall, 82 percent of mainline churches have money in the budget for the pastor's continued education, compared to just 62 percent of evangelical churches.

Among churches with more than one paid staff member, 74 percent budget funds for continuing education for staff other than the senior pastor (an average of $1,419 per church among those that do, although sometimes that amount is split among multiple staff members).

Only a minority of churches (32 percent) have any money budgeted for continuing education for key lay leaders, and the average for all lay leaders combined is under $1,200 annually.

One additional issue is that many pastors aren't being encouraged to further their education by leaders in the church (deacons, elders, board of directors, etc.). Forty percent say they are neither encouraged nor discouraged to continue their education, while 2 percent report being actively discouraged from doing so.

The attitudes of church leadership toward pastoral education vary significantly by denomination. Most Presbyterian ministers are encouraged to further their education with church time or funds (73 percent), as are a majority of Methodists (57 percent) and half of Lutherans (51 percent). Pentecostals and Southern Baptists are the ones most likely to report ambivalence toward continued education by their church leadership. In general, there is far less encouragement to attend conferences and seminars in evangelical churches than in mainline Protestant churches; 39 percent of pastors in evangelical churches are encouraged to further their education using church time/money, compared to 64 percent in mainline churches.

Ron Sellers, president of Ellison Research, found it particularly noteworthy that not even half of all senior pastors are encouraged to further their education using church time or funds.

"The ironic thing is that many laity still have the view that it's the pastor's job to do everything in the church, from growing the congregation to planning worship to being a youth leader, yet many don't wish to equip their pastor to be better at doing any of those things," Sellers noted. "Most people in business will tell you that the more skilled a CEO is, the better off that CEO's company is. Pastors are essentially the CEOs of local churches. Why would you not want your CEO to be better trained and equipped?"

Sellers also suggested that the findings seem to support one common perception about mainline and evangelical pastors, but explode another one. "There's a perception that evangelicals sometimes do not value formal education as much as mainline Protestants. Certainly this study shows mainline churches budgeting more money for training, putting more emphasis on this, and sending ministers to training on a greater variety of topics. There's also a perception that certain topics are of greater interest to evangelicals --particularly small groups, church growth, church marketing, creative worship, and evangelism. But in all of these areas, mainline ministers were just as likely, and sometimes more likely, to attend classes or conferences as were evangelical ministers."