John,

In my particular denomination (one of the Anglican churches outside the Episcopal Church), we have Boards of Examining Chaplains that first interview a man who is considering becoming a clergyman. After hearing his testimony and reviewing his background, the Examining Chaplains then decide whether to approve him as a prospective candidate for ordination. If he is accepted for this, the Examining Chaplains then watch over his preparation as he studies theology, the Bible, homilectics, and liturgics. It is realized that not everyone can afford to go to seminary, so we actually have a reading program that a candidate can study while working, write a series of papers, and work alongside the clergy at his church at the same time.

If the candidate makes satisfactory progress on his readings and other developmental work, he may then be ordained.

I have actually heard of Presbyterians TALKING about doing something like this, but I do not know if they have ever actually done so. I knew one or two conservative PCA-types years ago who argued that the churches should be training men for the ministry rather than depending on seminaries, but again, I never heard if anything came of that.

Theo