Choosing well

Six earn their keep: Who accredits you, exactly (then verify with the accreditor)? Does my denomination/ordaining body recognize this credential (then verify with them, in writing)? What is the true all-in cost, and what denominational aid exists? Who actually teaches, and what is their ministry experience? What do graduates do now — can I talk to two? And what happens if I relocate or my tradition changes — does this training travel?

Ordination or degrees for a flat fee with no formation; accreditation claims from bodies the program itself controls; pressure tactics and enrollment-today discounts; refusal to name faculty or connect you with graduates; and any program vague about whether real denominations accept its credentials. Ministry training has its diploma-mill shadow like every field — the verify-with-the-accreditor habit clears it.

A genuinely pastoral answer with no enrollment quota behind it: maybe. Low-cost, low-commitment formation (a church institute course, a single seminary class, conversations your denomination's vocation officers exist to have) tests calling better than a three-year enrollment does. Programs will still be there; discernment first is not delay, it is the first unit of the training.