For a coupe of years now I have been working towards becoming ordained in the Church of the Brethren. I began the process of pre-licensing and licensing at the same time I began my studies at seminary almost 3 years ago. Now I have entered into the pre-ordination process with the intent of becoming ordained as soon as I graduate and receive a call to a ministry position. As of last night I have been tentatively approved for ordination, pending the completion of my studies and receiving a call. Read on for more about the path I’ve traveled to get to this point and what my next steps will be.
Having grown up near Roanoke, Virginia and gone to college at Virginia Tech in nearby Blacksburg, I began my “official” trip towards ministry with the Virlina district of the Church of the Brethren (CoB), which encompasses much of southwestern Virginia and about 2/3 of North Carolina. In the CoB there are two levels of credentialing for those seeking to enter into ministry as a vocation. The first of these is licensing, a period which is intended to be a time of discernment, learning, and growing for the ministering person. In my district this licensing period is preceded by a one year pre-licensing period. I began with pre-licensing in the fall of 2005 just before I moved to Richmond, IN for seminary. After spending a year in pre-licensing I was interviewed and approved for licensing the following year.
During my time as a licensed minister I worked in two ministry positions, one with a congregation and one at a neighboring seminary. These helped to give me valuable experience and to grow as a minister. Now, as I prepare to graduate and look towards entering into the vocational ministry I am in the process of becoming ordained. Ordination is intended to provide oversight and accountability for those who are “professional” ministers in the Church of the Brethren. In order to become ordained a person must complete an approved course of ministerial education, such as a Masters of Divinity degree or other training program. You must also be approved by the district, complete the licensing process, and receive a call to ministry.
Thus far I’ve completed the licensing process, I’ve been cleared for graduation from seminary, and as of Friday April 4th I’ve been approved by the district. Now all that stands between me and being fully ordained minister is completing my last four weeks of seminary classes and receiving a call. I’ve completed my profile and begun circulating it, so only time will tell what will come of all my work. Keep me in your prayers these next few weeks as my next steps continue to unfold.
I have always found the mixed messages about call troubling. Is it a call from God or an election by the congregation? Is it a call from God or job application to a given congregation?
This annoys me as much as others get annoyed with Earlham claiming Quaker process but then relying on consensus rather than sense of the meeting or SMB claiming to be a meeting but only having the administration rather than a quarterly meeting to whom they can appeal.