ABILENE, Texas (ABP) — Sometimes a Christian may report receiving a crystal-clear call from God to join the ministry. But more often than not, he or she may feel like there's some static on the line.
That's the conclusion of guidance directors who work with ministry students at some Baptist schools.
“A majority don't know exactly what to make of this, whether it's a call to vocational ministry or simply to be a good servant of the Lord in whatever they do,” said Omer Hancock, director of in-service guidance and church ministry professor at Hardin-Simmons University's Logsdon School of Theology.
As soon as a student at a Baptist school expresses a sense of calling to ministry, the in-service guidance office typically initiates contact and begins an ongoing dialogue with the student.
“At the very least, we want them to know our office exists and that we're not just for religion majors. We're here for any student who has an interest in ministry as a vocation,” said Jeter Basden, director of ministry guidance and religion professor at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.
Every step along the way — from applying for scholarship assistance to helping students gain hands-on field experience — is designed to help students clarify their calling.
For instance, Basden noted, Baptist ministerial students can apply for scholarships offered by Baptist state conventions. As a part of the application process, students must secure certification from their home church and a letter of recommendation from their pastor.
“This, in itself, is an affirmation of the call for the student,” he said.
Students who indicate a call to vocational ministry are often required to take several courses that provide an overview of the functions of ministry. For some, the experience solidifies their sense of calling to vocational ministry. Others decide God may have something else planned for them.
“A lot of students come here as Christian young people who want to serve the Lord but maybe not in vocational ministry,” Hancock said. “We try to be positive with the student. We let them know, ‘If it's what God wants you to do, it's OK.'”
Some students' call to ministry is confirmed when they are undergraduates, but “they do not have becoming the pastor of a church in their sights,” said David Garland, dean of Baylor's Truett Theological Seminary. “I think that the seminary, however, is now the setting where this calling is being heard and affirmed.”
If it's not, Garland added, Baptist churches could face a serious pastor shortage in the years ahead.
When he was a student, Garland recalls, professors would tap promising students on the shoulder, pull them aside and ask if they had considered graduate school.
“I would never do that today, given the over-population of PhDs and the shortage of jobs,” he said. Instead, he and other faculty encourage students who are not already considering the pastorate to recognize that God might be calling them to that place of service.
Truett also seeks to bring students into contact with ministers who find fulfillment and joy in serving as pastor of a local church, Garland added.
“In George Truett's day, the church singled him out and said, ‘You are going to be a pastor whether you think you are or not.' Today, that does not happen. I do not think that it happens in undergraduate programs. It now tends to happen in the seminary,” he said.
Some students who did not plan to become pastors when they entered seminary — and even some who expressed their intention to follow God's call anywhere except into the pastorate — change their minds while at Truett, Garland noted.
“But that is the way it is with God's call,” he said. “You usually don't see what's coming.”
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— This story is part of a series on “hearing the call” for vocational ministry.
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