Zobel said:
Obviously your latter point is true. That's not really the question though. It's - does a person benefit from some sort of formal training before becoming a teacher? Or, put another way, is a person with no formal training qualified to do so?
I'd say it depends on what they are teaching. If you are teaching theology, then you need some education in that. Just like history, math, chemistry or anything else.
The problem I've noticed with the evangelical and non-denom churches I've been to is that they expect the pastor to be a super-Renaissance man. He has to be a charismatic public speaker and entertainer, a good leader, good with finances, a good salesperson for both the church and Christianity in general, a perfect theologian, a good counselor, a conflict resolver and arbiter, an administrator, and have a flawless personal and family life. People basically expect their clergy to be Jesus and get really upset when any of those ingredients are missing. It's too much to throw on one person. I've never been part of a "high church", so maybe they do a better job with the roles and expectations of clergy
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