I have had several discussions with people about this subject. For young aspiring pastors coming out of college, seminary is seen as the next logical step toward overseeing a church their own. Seminary is seen by many people as the training ground for pastors. Places like the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary or Trinity Evangelical Divinity School have endeavored to train men with academic rigor while partnering with the local church to give students a taste of real life ministry. Seminaries can give you a level of education that cannot be matched in most churches. At the same time, churches like Capital Hill Baptist and Mars Hill Church have put together internship programs that are built to equip men for ministry without necessarily going to seminary. The advantage is that your theological training is done in the midst of every day ministry.

So this leads us to a question of pastoral importance:

Is seminary necessary to become a pastor?

And for further thought…

Which is a better option: seminary or church internship?