Theology of Call

I have spent a lot of time talking to Pastor Nominating Committees lately. Two churches have started searches recently. If you have ever served on a PNC, you know it is a multistep process. Sometimes it is a long process, increasingly so, as more pastors retire and fewer ministers step in to replace them. I have done the presentation enough at this point in my career that I have the training down to a manageable two-hours of information. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) introduced a new version of the Church Leadership Connection program that helps match pastors and churches a few years ago. The technical conversation around that program takes half of the training time. The rest of the presentation is dedicated to theology of the search process. If you have not been on a PNC lately, you may not know or may take for granted how deeply spiritual the process is. It is not a human resource decision, but truly a call by God. 

Pastor Nominating Committee: To serve on a PNC is to answer a call of God, as well. You are called to discern the will of God for a congregation. You are the hands, feet, and mind of God as you connect with ministers that are searching for the place they will serve God next. This is deep and holy work. It is marked by prayer and fed by bible study. As the PNC encounters the call stories of the bible, they see how their church’s call to ministry may mesh with particular pastoral candidates. 

Prayerful Discernment: It is common for individuals with human resources skills or business acumen to be nominated for PNCs. The logic goes that they know how to read resumes and navigate the hiring process. There is some wisdom in the use of those gifts. The work that the PNC does is, however, fundamentally different. The PNC is prayerfully discerning not just the qualifications of the minister, but their fit and sense of call for this moment in the life of this church. Where does their understanding of their spiritual gifts and ministry intersect with the ministry needs and sense of mission of the church? A highly qualified and gifted minister may not be the person called by God to this position at this time. Only prayerful discernment will discover who and what God is doing in that moment. 

God’s Timing: The adage goes that “God’s timing is not always our timing.” This is especially true in the search process. I have worked with congregations where one of the first pastors they talk to ended up clearly being the one they should call. In other cases, it is one of the final ministers to come into the PNC’s purview. More often than not, the minister a church calls is not searching for a new church when the PNC begins their work. God is at work. God may have planted a seed that it is time to look elsewhere. God may be working in the heart of the pastor on an exit plan, but rarely does the PNC’s search perfectly align with a minister’s exploration of options.

Discernment of Call: We do not discern this call to ministry in a particular church alone. The Pastor Nominating Committee prayerfully discerns. The minister prayerfully discerns. The presbytery and Committee on Ministry prayerfully discern. We work alongside and with one another. Each adds prayers, but also experience and wisdom to the process. All are necessary to assure that the right person - God’s right person - is called.

The One: One of my foundational affirmations of the call process is that God is calling somebody to be your next pastor. I do not believe that God allows churches to be leaderless. God is already calling and equipping somebody to serve as your next pastor. I know it. I have seen it. I have seen the Holy Spirit infused throughout the entire process too much to doubt it at this point. What I would add in this season in the life of the PCUSA is that your next pastor may be an elder. There are more Commissioned Pastors leading churches than at any time previously in our denomination. Beyond that, there are (non-commissioned) elders that are joyfully and wonderfully leading congregations, especially in small and rural settings. 

How have you seen God active in the call process? Have you ever felt the Holy Spirit working to call you? How did you respond? How will you?

Blessings,

Rev. Tim Blodgett