Presbyterian General Assembly 2023: Why has Presbyterian Church in Ireland vacancies for 67 ministers?

However he said the gap was primarily due to a significant number of trainees entering the ministry in the 19080s and 1970s who are now retiring and leaving a disproportionate gap.

And with only 10 prospective students being nominated for the ministry at the General Assembly this week, the number of new recruits "does not match the number of ordained ministers retiring".

He said the church is considering how to use ordained ministers more strategically while being supported by other trained members of congregations.

And he added that turning out eight to ten new ministers each year is "amazingly good" compared to Church of Ireland, Catholic and Methodist denominations.

Former Principal of Union Theological College, Rev Stafford Carson, agreed the number of serving ministers had been reducing."The church normally needs 10-12 new ministers each year to fill vacancies due to retirements," he said.

"In some recent years the number of new ministers eligible for a call has sometimes been in single figures."

He added that a report to this year's General Assembly states that by 2027, the denomination will have 62 fewer ministers than vacant charges (A charge can be one or several congregations cared for by a single minister). This is approximately 20% of the charges of in the denomination.

"Traditionally Presbyterians have been committed to a learned or educated ministry and it may be that some young people recoil at the length of the period of training before ordination. But there is no occupation that has greater rewards."

He added: "The general mood of our society is one of apathy and opposition to the Christian gospel such that Christian ministers are not valued or held in respect as they once were."

Similar trends are evident in other denominations.

A Church of Ireland spokesperson said that at present, it has 444 parish units across the island of Ireland with 390 paid clergy, meaning that it has vacancies for ministers across 54 parishes.

As with the Presbyterian Church, they are being supported strategically by other trained members of the church.

Canon Ian Ellis, a former editor of The Church of Ireland Gazette, said: "I very much agree with Dr Stafford Carson that this is a culturally challenging time for recruiting to the ordained ministry.

"As one who was ordained just over 45 years ago, I can only say that my experience of ministry over those years has been a great privilege and has brought me much fulfilment.

"For anyone who is considering ordination, I would say that any sense of such a vocation should be followed up."

A spokesman for the Methodist Church in Ireland said that "some congregations" are being led by retired ministers or lay workers under the supervision of ordained Superintendent Ministers, but that it ordained five probationary ministers last week.

Meanwhile, the Catholic Diocese of Down and Connor said it currently has 86 parishes and 146 churches which are ministered to by around 84 priests - that is, 61 more churches than priests.

"Twenty years from now, it is forecast that there will only be approximately 24 priests available for the current 86 parishes," the spokesman added.