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As church membership rebounds, clergy declines.

Publication: The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR)
Publication Date: 31-AUG-03 		Format: Online - approximately 1422 words
Delivery: Immediate Online Access
Full Article Title: As church membership rebounds, clergy declines.(Religion)(Northwest Christian College and others see a trend of youth forgoing ministry)

Article Excerpt
Byline: Greg Bolt The Register-Guard

Steve Osborne heard the call following his freshman year in high school, but he was halfway through college before he heeded it.

"I wasn't ready for it at that point in time, but later it seemed that God was calling me to the ministry and I couldn't ignore it anymore," said the newly installed youth pastor at Norkenzie Christian Church. "I just decided I wanted to do what God wanted me to do. And not only that, I knew that I would enjoy it."

Now 29 and starting his first full-time, permanent job in the ministry, Osborne is just what many churches need: A younger minister who can reach out and help today's youth feel comfortable with their faith. But with fewer young people feeling the call to ministry, people such as Osborne are sometimes hard to find. The shortage can be even more acute when a congregation seeks a senior pastor to lead its church.

Observers cite competing interests, the high cost of advanced religious education, low salaries in the field and clergy members' growing reluctance to recruit young people as major causes of the shortage.

At Northwest Christian College, the area's largest faith-based college, the number of students who are majoring in ministry or biblical...

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