Ben Graduating CC and Becoming a Pastor

[Nellie]

Hmm... dont they already have enough preachers in the family? why doesnt none of them get a real human job? why cant Ben work as a car mechanic or construction worker or smth like that?

[Mela99]

I doubt he'd even go to a seminary or anything. Just let Boob read him scripture and follow around other menfolk.

[IReallyAmHopewell]

Ben might be pursing more ministry studies thru ATI/IBLP. He may also be doing more studies online. Not all denominations, let alone independents, require an M.A. or M.Div. I'll give him a pass on this until we see what he does. Right now his job is simple: Reality show "actor"....

[PrairieGirl]

Hmm... dont they already have enough preachers in the family? why doesnt none of them get a real human job? why cant Ben work as a car mechanic or construction worker or smth like that?

I get what you are saying, but technically NONE of them are actually preachers. JB and Joshy like to spout their crap to anyone who will listen, but neither of them are preachers. Nor is Derrick. I would laugh so hard, however, if one of the daughters decided to become a preacher. Maybe that is why Jana is kept out of the spotlight....

I do agree that these morons just need to get jobs like the rest of us. What exactly is wrong with just working a plain old job like the rest of us?

[Phoenix]

Working a plain old job like the rest of us doesn't make one special, more Godly then the great unwashed masses or followed on social media. It also doesn't make for an exceptional testimony which apparently is a huge thing in such circles.

Not much to film on a man who gets up, goes to work on time, does his job and then heads home to spend time with his 2.5 children and non-famous wife.

[sunshine]

Maybe you don't need a bachleor's if you have a degree from Duggar U? His pregnant wife will probably open more doors for him than a degree from Harvard Seminary (not that he would ever go there, as it's way too liberal and hippy, I'm sure).

No you don't need a degree to become a pastor.

[Dandruff]

Better than a career cleaning Jim Bob's toilets, I suppose.

I hope Bin and Jessa secretly want away from the whole circus and Bin will prepare for a "real" job. Or maybe they'll be missionaries and Bin can be a pastor while they both get away. Can't really imagine Jessa roughing it in a third-world country though.

[doggie]

This is what gets me something that they say is the most important thing in your life eternal life and someone with no training and really little experience is going to be responsible for your eternal life?

[Nellie]

JB`s main goal is to keep strings attached as close as possible. He would rather have a yesman to marry his daughter - an uneducated teenager who will do his what JB says and work at his church and everything - rather than have Jessa be married to a decent guy with a steady income and be independant from daddy.

[Nellie]

Better than a career cleaning Jim Bob's toilets, I suppose.

I hope Bin and Jessa secretly want away from the whole circus and Bin will prepare for a "real" job. Or maybe they'll be missionaries and Bin can be a pastor while they both get away. Can't really imagine Jessa roughing it in a third-world country though.

I constantly see the same messages on this board - ppl being hopefull that one of the Duggar kids will act like a normal person and actually get out of the cult, have some kind of secret plan, get independant or maybe even rebel against his family. Ill tell you what. None of this will happen. In 15 yrs the Duggars will be the same weird religiously obsessed family keeping all the kids under control. I just hope that the show will get cancelled in a few sesons becaus of low ratings though.

[Imagine20]

So, these churches have uneducated people they pick out of the audience to be a pastor?

I grew up in a very fundie church, and every one of our pastors went to seminary. At the very least, a head of a church should be able to read the Bible in its original languages and fully understand the meaning and context of the entire thing, including the history of the time.

It's no wonder they have such crazy ideas.

[SassyPants]

JB`s main goal is to keep strings attached as close as possible. He would rather have a yesman to marry his daughter - an uneducated teenager who will do his what JB says and work at his church and everything - rather than have Jessa be married to a decent guy with a steady income and be independant from daddy.

Father of the year with his kids' best intentions at heart he is not.

[purposed2015]

I constantly see the same messages on this board - ppl being hopefull that one of the Duggar kids will act like a normal person and actually get out of the cult, have some kind of secret plan, get independant or maybe even rebel against his family. Ill tell you what. None of this will happen. In 15 yrs the Duggars will be the same weird religiously obsessed family keeping all the kids under control. I just hope that the show will get cancelled in a few sesons becaus of low ratings though.

I agree, I think it's a hopeless cause to think one of the kids might get out of the cult. I've thought one of the lost girls possibly, but if JB & M are like most people they will become even more conservative and entrenched as they get older and would make it harder for the lost girls to get out. Any criticism seems to make them even more determined to continue their way of life. Ignorance is bliss, for them....

[ILoveJellybeans]

Ben??? Really??? He really shouldn't do any job that involves public speaking.

[doggie]

it is not always important how good your speaking is but who you are screwing.

[grandmadugger]

The IFB church here in the past always had "real" pastors. The one that has taken the church full on fundie isn't trained. He just said "I'll be pastor" and that was it. They lost a lot of members because of that.

I grew up in a Methodist church where all the pastors had gone to seminary. The non denominational church that I attended was one of those, "start your own church" things. The pastor was in Methodist seminary and had some issues with what the church was thinking about teaching at the time. He finished, started his own church, and then went on to get his masters in divinity. He was a RN by trade before that. His death rocked my faith.

The lack of formal education is almost painful. I need smart, thought out sermons and the local church doesn't provide that. My husband says "I've heard better sermons in an AA meeting." My pastor certainly didn't have a way with words in normal conversation but he could preach a sermon. He said he became a different person full of confidence when he was preaching.

[Selah]

I live across the street from a nondenominational church that I used to attend (operative words being used to) and none of the pastors that are on staff have in any capacity 'formal' training. They all have college degrees yes, but seminary studies or anything in that type of official capacity? Nope. It's extremely common even in mainstream Christian branches, especially in self started churches. I personally feel like there should be a requirement for a pastor to have completed some type of religious study... any is better than none.

I agree, I'm a theology student at a prestigious (and secular) university. I can't tell you how much it frustrates me when I say elders/pastors in evangelical churches go to 'theology courses'. Often they are run by the denomination or network of churches, and don't require the rigorous academic work that a full theology degree would. There is also the difficulty of bias, it's not going to be very rigorous when they have an agenda or the nurturing of faith of their attendees to consider.

Sorry, I just get a little frustrated when some people I know go to these courses and think they study theology :angry-banghead:

ETA: of course there are lots of denominations that require a theological degree alongside their pastoral training, there are plenty of candidates where I am, and I think it's really, really important that they spend those years doing that. Even if you fall asleep in your books every now and then, it stops duggar-ites being created

[Rainytown]

Oh, please, Bin, become a "pastor" with no degree, no theological training, and no idea how to deal with a large group of people who all need more from you than you could ever provide. Considering you've already stuck your foot in it on multiple occasions on social media, it's a matter of time before you're a laughing stock on a national level. I also can't imagine Jessa Blessa as a pastor's wife; these two can't take care of themselves, let alone the hurting, broken people attracted to the cult they pledge allegiance to already.

There's a lot more to being a "pastor" than standing behind a pulpit on Sunday morning and spitting out your version of Calvinist BS.

I can't wait to see how Binessa is putting food on the table in five years.

[doggie]

Oh, please, Bin, become a "pastor" with no degree, no theological training, and no idea how to deal with a large group of people who all need more from you than you could ever provide. Considering you've already stuck your foot in it on multiple occasions on social media, it's a matter of time before you're a laughing stock on a national level. I also can't imagine Jessa Blessa as a pastor's wife; these two can't take care of themselves, let alone the hurting, broken people attracted to the cult they pledge allegiance to already.

There's a lot more to being a "pastor" than standing behind a pulpit on Sunday morning and spitting out your version of Calvinist BS.

I can't wait to see how Binessa is putting food on the table in five years.

well yes but breeding will get him far.

[saguarosally]

Could he be doing something like pulpit supply where he fills in for a pastor that's not there? I know of men who have done that while going to college, before completing a bachelor's degree.

[SassyPants]

Can you imagine Jessa's disposition in the following situations:

1) Having a gazillion needy, little kids

2) Being the pastor's wife of a needy church community

LOL

[Rainytown]

Can you imagine Jessa's disposition in the following situations:

1) Having a gazillion needy, little kids

2) Being the pastor's wife of a needy church community

LOL

A couple of anecdotes from The Church Years. I attended a non-demoninational church (a fancy name for an Assembly of God church attempting to pass as mainstream) for many years.

Our senior pastor's wife ended up in psychiatric inpatient care. I'm sure part of it was the fact he was an unyielding ass who reminded her of "her duties" at every opportunity, but mostly, she couldn't take the demands of a 2500 member church. He left the church to work at the local Assembly of God's district office; I don't know what happened after that.

The youth pastor left the ministry and got a job after his shy, introverted wife was treated for depression at the same time.

These women live in a fishbowl. If Jessa Blessa thinks reality show fame is a bitch, wait until her husband can't afford the "security" she now enjoys at TV studios, magazine shoots and book signings. And Bin's going to be confronted with a lot more gray than the black and white he seems to view everything in life through.

[Sundaymorning]

A couple of anecdotes from The Church Years. I attended a non-demoninational church (a fancy name for an Assembly of God church attempting to pass as mainstream) for many years.

Our senior pastor's wife ended up in psychiatric inpatient care. I'm sure part of it was the fact he was an unyielding ass who reminded her of "her duties" at every opportunity, but mostly, she couldn't take the demands of a 2500 member church. He left the church to work at the local Assembly of God's district office; I don't know what happened after that.

The youth pastor left the ministry and got a job after his shy, introverted wife was treated for depression at the same time.

These women live in a fishbowl. If Jessa Blessa thinks reality show fame is a bitch, wait until her husband can't afford the "security" she now enjoys at TV studios, magazine shoots and book signings. And Bin's going to be confronted with a lot more gray than the black and white he seems to view everything in life through.

I have a friend who is the daughter of a Catholic deacon, who served in a rural area. Growing up, she hated every minute of it, as her whole family was always under observation from some old-fashioned church members with too much free time.

I imagine that in fundie/fundie-lite churches, things might be even worse.

And no, I really can't imagine Jessa as a pastor's wife.

[ncb]

Thing is, I am convinced that Ben and Jessa think that the reality show money will keep rolling in. They never grew up watching mainstream TV and have no idea about the life-cycle of even very popular shows. JB will float them all and house them all but even if they have some money, they won't always have the fame and adoration that clearly feeds them.

[nastyhobbitses]

Ben going on about becoming a pastor -- hear me out on this -- reminds me in a weird way of when I would always talk about becoming the president/a princess/both when I was a little girl. I thought that both positions were just telling people what to do and looking pretty. One of the best lessons I got was when my mom (both a US history and British royal family buff) sat me down and told me about everything a president has to do in his (or her) job, and everything that a princess must do in her capacity as either heir to the throne or public representative of the royal family, using Elizabeths I and II, Victoria, and Diana as examples. I learned that even the most glamorous of jobs require an immense amount of responsibility and knowledge to do well. Ben seems to be stuck in that "I wanna be a princess" phase, and doesn't seem to understand all the responsibility and knowledge that being a competent pastor would require. Furthermore, few people can pull off the fire-and-brimstone approach he seems to go with on social media, though I could see him doing well as a more gentle, relatable "cool" pastor (more Pope Francis than Father Coughlin) if he put in the theological work -- that seems more in line with his personality. I don't think he's a bad guy (well, OK, he's pretty intolerant of Catholics and I shudder to think of his opinions on women's rights and homosexuality), but if he expects to find a comfortable, secure, or easy lifestyle as a preacher with his credentials, he's sorely mistaken.