The problem is not new. For fifty years church leaders have spoken about a “crisis in the ministry” and “ferment in the ministry.” Back in 1954, H. R. Niebuhr wrote about the church and ministry and called pastorate the “perplexed profession.” Niebuhr correctly suggested that the crisis in ministry is primarily a crisis of identity. The communities in which we work no longer value our product or our role the way society once honored the church and its ministry. We are providing a service to a world that no longer wants it.