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Why SMI Began…

A man by the name of Richard Meyers was an engineer who sensed God’s call to ministry in mid life. Taking his family and savings of $12,000, he moved to Portland, Oregon to attend Western Seminary. Having experienced a professional apprenticeship in preparation for his career in engineering, Richard assumed ministry would offer him the same practical learning experiences with the same professional apprenticeship wages as the engineering industry. He quickly realized that many churches and ministries, while abundant with opportunities, were limited with funds to compensate him for ministry involvement. Forced to rely on his savings, his financial resources were quickly depleted.

While explaining his desire for practical ministry exposure and professional development along with his dilemma of financial need to pay his bills, Richard and a seminary professor explored options to find a solution. And in 1974, SMI was birthed to allow ministry directed students to be involved in ministry and receive compensation for that ministry to foster professional ministry apprenticeships. Student ministers, like missionaries, could raise support for their ministry involvement and take full advantage of their ministry apprenticeships. Because of SMI, these students would be free to focus on their educational training and professional ministry development without the burden of working an additional secular, unrelated job to pay the bills. SMI soon became a national organization serving ministry directed students across the U.S. involved in ministry related graduate programs at over 140 seminaries and graduate schools.