Found this editorial the other day when looking for a reference to a paper in The Christian Century. It’s about a survey of what sort of pastors churches desire and what’s actually available.

Churches seeking a new pastor tend to want a man under 40, preferably married to a nonworking woman who volunteers on church committees. It’s a caricature, but only slightly so, says sociologist Adair Lummis, who is describing not congregations from the 1950s, but those today. This preference exists “even in those denominations which have ordained women to full ministerial status for 50 years or more,” according to her little-publicized nationwide study.

It’s an interesting, if somewhat depressing read. You can find the article at: Young, male and married: What search committees want.