Jared Wilson on How the Church Can Prepare Future Pastors in Ways the Seminary Cannot

Interview with Jared C. Wilson

Why does pastoral mentoring matter, and what matters more than credentials? 

Pastoral mentoring matters, because pastoral character matters.  

According to the biblical qualifications for eldership, character and holiness matter more than intellectual ability or dynamic leadership skills or anything else. And the only way to ensure Christlike character is through personal discipleship and the investment of a local church in the training up those called to ministry.  

I wrote about it, because it’s been the emphasis of my own ministry—training the next generation of pastors—and I hadn’t come across another book that spoke to the rationale and process in this way.  

How does the local church form pastors differently than a seminary does? 

I have had the benefit of godly men who invested in me and mentored me.  

I am the product of discipleship much more than of my academic reading and training. Those things are good things. As a seminary professor, I’m happily obligated to say so!  

But the seminary doesn’t make pastors—the church does. I served in church ministry for over 20 years before I had a seminary degree, so I know the importance of how a church forms its pastors in a very personal way.  

Who should read a book on pastoral mentoring, and how will it help them? 

This book is for pastors and others in local churches who desire to develop and implement “in house” training and discipleship plans for training future pastors.  

Whether you’re a pastor who has one guy in a support staff role you want to develop or you’re a church wanting to create an elder pipeline or pastoral residency—or you’re somewhere in between in terms of your aspirations—Pastoral Mentoring will help you think through the whys and hows of pastoral mentoring.  

You argue that the church is uniquely positioned to form pastors in ways the seminary cannot. How can churches prepare men for pastoral ministry?  

The best preparation for pastoral ministry is the combination of these practices:  

• personal, life-on-life discipleship from seasoned pastors 

• equipping (which includes teaching and reading) that is as much practical and pastoral as it is theological and philosophical 

• opportunities to serve in the church (“reps”) in order to apply and develop what you’re learning.  

Tell us something about you that only your friends or family would know.  

I’m not really mad. My face just looks that way. 

Jared Wilson explores these themes more fully in his book Pastoral Mentoring: For the Care of Souls. In it, Wilson argues that the local church is uniquely equipped to train its shepherds, and he empowers pastors and church leaders to identify and mentor future ministers right where they are. 

Jared C. Wilson is assistant professor of pastoral ministry and author in residence at Midwestern Seminary and director of the Pastoral Training Center at Liberty Baptist Church, all in Kansas City, Missouri.