A nameless acquaintance told me he got his minister’s license, and it surprised me.  I was surprised for a couple of reasons—he didn’t seem the “type” to be interested in the ministry, and the process was super easy.  As far as ministers are concerned, I have a mental image of Jesus.  In all honesty, not many preachers resemble my idea of Jesus (physically), but rational thought tells me that ministers come in all shapes and sizes.  They have different personalities and characteristics that lend themselves to minister to all types of people in any congregation.

As far as the ease with which the license can be acquired, it shocked me because I thought most preachers went to school to learn the Bible and everything that goes along with it and its interpretation.  I pictured divinity, theology, seminary and Hebrew as classes that would be required.  Not true.

I can’t help but wonder how many churches got started by ministers with no formal training.  How many preachers are self taught?  Is that a bad thing?  I also wonder if an easily obtained license offends preachers who spent years going to school to understand the Bible.

I am now an ordained minister.  I can perform marriage ceremonies and funerals.  One benefit of having my license is that now I really want to spend more time studying the Bible.  I want to learn more about Hebrew, the Torah and how it relates to modern belief systems as well as other religions and how they compare to Christianity.  Can that really be a bad thing?