A Difference as Duke: Younger Students Hearing, Heeding God's Call
by Elisabeth Stagg

The future of ministry is passing into younger hands— at least at Duke.

The future of ministry: This year’s entering class was selected from the most competitive applicant pool in the school’s history. Nearly 4,000 inquiries resulted in 613 applications for fewer than 200 spaces.

Stefanie Pickett, 22, M.T.S. Home State: Alabama Denomination: Baptist Education: Samford University , 2004, A.B., English Honors/Activities: Co-captain & all-time leader in block assists, Div. I Volleyball Team; Creative Writing Award 2003; president, Sigma Tau Delta English honor Society; Fellowship of Christian Athletes; organized sports camp, Dominican Republic Mission Trip, 2002. “I looked at graduate religion programs all over the country. Duke stood out, at first, just for the quality of their faculty and programs. I liked the divinity school’s focus on being inclusive enough to consider and discuss many viewpoints, while still maintaining its orthodox Christian tradition. Between the excellence of the program and the personal care of the admissions department, I felt very connected to Duke from the beginning.”

Nationwide, virtually all denominations have seen a “graying” of the clergy as fewer students enter seminary directly from college. According to a national survey of clergy in 2001 by Pulpit & Pew, a research project based at Duke Divinity School, only 6 percent of pastors who entered ministry within the past decade were ordained at age 25 or younger. Nearly 80 percent were over 30 when they entered ministry.

Because older clergy have fewer years to serve, this trend threatens to worsen projected clergy shortages that are becoming a problem for congregations of all sizes and denominations.

Although students range in age from 21 to 68 and include many talented second-career men and women, Duke Divinity School’s student body has long been among the youngest in the nation. But both this fall and last, incoming students have been even younger, pushing the median age for all students from 26 to 25.

With a median student age of 22.5, these first-year students are a decade younger than most ministerial students at Association of Theological School (ATS)- accredited schools in the U.S. and Canada. The percentage of M.Div. candidates under 30 at ATS seminaries has remained stable at 28 percent since 1993.

Kent J. Dunnington, 27, M.Div. Home State: Kansas Denomination: Church of the Nazarene Education: Southern Nazarene University, 1999, B.S., philosophy; Texas A&M University, 2002, M.A., philosophy Honors/Activities: Magna cum laude ; 1998 exchange student, Oxford University; mission volunteer, summer 1997, Moscow, Russia; traveled through Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay; publications: Review of With the Grain of the Universe by Stanley Hauerwas, Direction 32, 241-43, 2003. “During graduate school at Texas A&M University, I re-committed my life to service in and for the church. This meant reconsidering what it would be for me as a Christian to study and teach philosophy. Stanley Hauerwas's Gifford Lectures were important to me in this respect essentially by counteracting the ‘false modesty’ and fear that contemporary theology and the church so often betray in the face of modern philosophical commitments.”

In addition to youth, the divinity school’s entering class brings an impressive combination of academic achievement, proven leadership in missions and other service, and commitment to local church ministry—all evidence of the school’s strategic plan to raise the bar for a new generation of pastors.

“We in theological education across the country have too often ‘settled,’” says Dean L. Gregory Jones. “Relatively passive patterns of recruitment weakened the prospect of attracting the most promising and gifted students, who have chosen other professional fields such as law, business or medicine, rather than ordained ministry.”

Identifying and equipping gifted young men and women to lead and sustain excellent congregational ministry— the centerpiece of the divinity school’s $10 million Lilly-funded Learned Clergy Initiative—is crucial, adds Jones.

“At Duke, we are committed to recruiting the most gifted people we can find,” Jones says. “We want to educate and form them in ways that nurture their passion for the Gospel and for pastoral leadership.”

Terence Edwin Hagans II, 22, M.Div. Home State: California Denomination: UMC Education: Stanford University , 2004, A.B., sociology Honors/Activities: InterVarsity Christian Fellowship; Deans Award for Academic Excellence; Gates Millennium Scholar; Chaplain, Stanford University Gospel Choir; Cadet, U.S. Army Reserve; public speaking instructor, Technical Communications Program, Stanford. Terence Hagans says at Duke he found a school squarely in the theological center, a school that welcomed a deep and rich dialogue from across all viewpoints: “I could clearly sense that from the student body and from the professors, and I appreciated that,” he says. “I want to engage with all my brothers and sisters in Christ on a number of levels, all on the basis of love and scholarship.”

This year’s entering class was selected from the most competitive applicant pool in the school’s history: a record number of nearly 4,000 inquiries resulted in 613 applications for fewer than 200 spaces in four degree programs. As a result, the divinity school’s acceptance rate over the past two years has dropped to 50 percent. Previous years had been consistent with or higher than the ATS average of 80 percent.

The increasing number of applications led Director of Admissions Donna Claycomb D’00 to recommend an end to rolling admissions. Applications for fall admission now will be compared and contrasted with offers of admission made following three deadlines – November 1, February 15 and April 1 – for the M.Div., M.C.M., and Th.M. degree programs. January admission, typically a small class of around 20 students, has been discontinued. The February 1 deadline for August admission to the master of theological studies degree (M.T.S.) remains.

The goal, says Claycomb, who works with an admissions committee of faculty and students, is to “mold an exceptional class of individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds, denominations, life experiences, geographical locations, theological perspectives and learning environments— all of whom are ready to be transformed.”

Susan E. Moore, 22, M.Div./M.S.W. Home State: Georgia Denomination: UMC Education: Reinhardt College , 2004, B.S., sociology Honors/Activities: Valedictorian, Lithia Springs, Ga., High School; Assistant Program Director, Camp Glisson, a UMC camp for the North GA Conference; Student Ministry Team; Student Government Association; College Mission to Warsaw, Poland; Presidential Scholar During college Susan Moore, whose father is a UM pastor and Candler alumnus, felt led to social work rather than ministry. But when Director of Admissions Donna Claycomb told her about Duke Divinity School’s dual masters degrees (M.Div./M.S.W.) with the UNC School of Social Work in Chapel Hill, she said, “That’s exactly what I’m looking for,” says Moore. “God opened doors for me and I was accepted for both programs. I’m excited about the unique combination of academic and spiritual preparation that these degrees offer.”

While the divinity school’s presence at the center of a top-ranked research university with one of the country’s best college basketball teams makes Claycomb the envy of other seminary recruiters, she takes nothing for granted. Claycomb is familiar with the statistics: Of more than 6,000 students who entered ATS member-schools in fall 2002, just 22.4 percent had considered theological education before college. Compared with law students, who typically decide on legal careers by age 20, people considering ministry are usually age 25 or older.

Once she became admissions director in 2001, Claycomb sensed that the divinity school needed to expand upon its well-known reputation for rigorous scholarship. “Everyone knew Duke was a great place for academics,” she says. “I wanted them to know that this was also an intentional community dedicated to transforming ministry through the formation of disciples for Christ.”

By the summer of 2002, she had developed new recruitment materials to tell that story. The colorful coordinated materials showed prospective students what to expect at Duke, from daily worship and weekly spiritual formation groups to classes and conversation with top-ranked faculty.

Rebecca “Becca” Hylander, 23, M.Div. Home State: North Carolina Denomination: Presbyterian Education: Princeton University , 2003, A.B., religion Honors/Activities: Summa cum laude , Phi Beta Kappa, National Merit Scholarship, Dorot Foundation Travel Scholarship to Israel, Lilly Foundation Grant for Independent Research, Pew Younger Scholars Seminar/Scholarship, varsity track, cross-country, fellow of Religious Life Council, Princeton University; year-long Presbyterian Mission, Ramses College for Girls, Cairo, Egypt “So many of the authors I was reading in my undergraduate religion classes were from Duke—Stanley Hauerwas, Richard Hays and Amy Laura Hall, just to name a few,” says Rebecca Hylander, one of two incoming students named Ministry Fellows by the Fund for Theological Education. “When I visited campus, I was immediately struck by the enthusiasm of all the students, professors, and administrators I met. I wanted to attend a seminary where students are encouraged to integrate the rigor of the mind with the depth of the heart.”

Claycomb expanded the recruiting schedule to add colleges and universities that had not been visited before while also tapping into schools with Lilly Endowment Inc.-funded Programs for the Theological Exploration of Vocation (www.ptev.org). Since the fall of 2000, this program, administered through the Fund for Theological Education, has awarded more than $176 million in grants to 88 colleges and universities across the nation. Each has designed a unique program to encourage student exploration of vocation and call to ministry.

The impact of another program for youth, also funded by Lilly Endowment, has yet to be measured. The Duke Youth Academy for Christian Formation welcomes 50 high school students to campus each summer for a two-week residential experience based on the baptismal covenant.

Claycomb has served on the staff of the youth academy for two summers, recognizing that “some youth will experience a call to ministry through this transformative experience. It’s never too early to begin developing relationship with young people, whether they are in college or in high school.”

Marc Rickabaugh, 33, M.Div. Home State: Virginia Denomination: UMC Education: University of Virginia , 1993, B.S., commerce Resume: CPA and former assistant vice president of Gray Co LLC, a Richmond, Va., accounting firm. Currently a student pastor, Saxapahaw UMC, Saxapahaw, N.C., where he lives with his wife, Nancy, a teacher, and their three children. A lifelong Methodist, Marc Rickabaugh sang in the church choir and had served as a youth leader at Welborne UMC in Richmond, Va. But a March 2000 Walk to Emmaus was transformative: “It was as if someone had put a defibrillator on my heart and brought it back to life,” he says. After a lengthy process of discernment, he resigned from his job, sold his home, and moved to North Carolina to attend seminary at Duke. He is seeking to become an ordained elder. “I happened to visit campus the day of the first revivalist service in York Chapel. After learning about Duke’s strong basis in tradition, it was a blessing to participate in such a contemporary, Spirit-filled worship service. I was looking for a seminary environment that held fast to its Christian roots while embracing with open arms more contemporary styles of worship.”

She also asks faculty to keep recruitment in mind, particularly when visiting universities where they meet prospective students. And while the national Alumni Network for Student Recruitment (ANSR) team gathers annually in Durham to discuss strategies for attracting the most gifted students, Claycomb recognizes that all alumni are recruiters—whether in the pulpit, the classroom, or some other form of ministry.

Landing top recruits often comes down to the bottom line: financial aid. The Divinity Fellowships have helped. Awarded annually to 12 incoming students with outstanding promise for parish ministry, these three-year, full-tuition scholarships are funded for five years of entering classes (2000-05). Each Divinity Fellow also serves a summer internship at one of 15 Teaching Congregations across the nation selected for outstanding pastoral leadership and innovative congregational ministries.

“The impact of these fellowships on the future of ministry is virtually incalculable,” says Claycomb. Duke is currently working to identify resources that will help endow and so continue the fellowships, which end next year. Also among Duke’s draws are opportunities for interdisciplinary study. There are options in theology and medicine (including parish nursing), a joint M.T.S. and J.D. with Duke Law School, and the new dual M.Div./M.S.W. with the School of Social Work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Claycomb’s recruiting is grounded in her own experiences at Duke, and in her sense of the position as a ministry. “When (Associate Dean) Greg Duncan approached me about the job, he said, ‘Don’t come unless you can see this as a ministry,’” says Claycomb, who did not feel ready to leave her appointment at First United Methodist Church in Hendersonville, N.C.

Stan W. Fornea, 46, Th.M. Home State: Texas Denomination: Episcopal Education: Southeastern Louisiana University, 1979, B.A., history; New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, 1982, M.Div., homiletics; Vanderbilt University, 1983, D.Min., homiletics/worship Resume: Lt. Cmdr., U.S. Navy Chaplain most recently assigned to U.S.S. LaSalle, a command-and-control ship and flagship, U.S. 6th Fleet, deployed on the west coast of Italy. Served Baptist churches in Mississippi and Texas. He and his wife, Belinda, have two children. “I was drawn to Duke’s stellar reputation, its outstanding academics, and its high profile personalities. I’m interested in Professor Hauerwas’ pacifistic approach. Being in the military, I just found that extremely interesting – especially related to the ethics of military chaplaincy.”

“Now I realize what an amazing ministry this is,” she says. “I often say that the church has enough mediocre pastors leading enough mediocre congregations. We want people who are eager to be prepared for exceptional ministry that truly makes a difference. It’s a privilege to recruit students who are ready for such a critically important endeavor.”