A phenomenon that has become increasingly common in the churches of the Diocese of West Malaysia in recent years is that fewer and fewer young people are entering full-time ministry. For example, in 2010, there were no new students sponsored by the Diocese of West Malaysia enrolled in the Chinese Department of STM; in 2011, there was only one middle-aged person enrolled; and in 2012, there was only one middle-aged self-sponsored student. In other words, from 2010 to 2012, there was only one theological student sponsored by the Diocese of West Malaysia who enrolled in the Chinese Department of STM. Therefore, if we look at it from the perspective of the Chinese-speaking churches, the Diocese of West Malaysia had only one Chinese-speaking middle-aged person enrolled in STM during these three years. Why is there such a phenomenon? What are the reasons that discourage young people from attending? Isn’t this an extremely serious problem?
The situation is not confined to the period from 2010 to 2012. As a matter of fact, the situation has been more or less the same over the past decade. During the 10 years from 2015 to 2024, the average number of students coming to STM full-time for theology, including diocesan and church-sponsored students, is 1.6 people per year. Also during these 10 years, the average number of those who go to MBS full-time for theology is 0.3 people per year. In other words, during the last 10 years, we have only produced 2 Chinese-speaking pastors per year. Although this is the statistic for Chinese-speaking pastors, the situation is similar for pastors of other languages. The lack of human resources is something we must be concerned about.
The lack of human resources is not only at the level of full-time pastors but also among believers. Laity makes up 98% of the church, and if we don’t cultivate and use these resources properly, then how can the church grow. Therefore, from the perspective of church growth, discipleship plays a crucial role. Only through discipleship training can believers be trained to become more committed disciples who are willing to serve, evangelize, and imitate the character of Christ, and then the church will be able to send more people to be Christ’s witnesses in the world, fulfilling the Great Commission entrusted by God.