Being "Called to the Ministry"

The term, being "called to the ministry," or being "called to be a minister," has been around for a long time. I'm not sure I heard it when I was young and was growing up as part of a church. Even now, after all the years I spent in the ministry before retiring, I'm not sure I could adequately explain to someone else what it means to be called to the ministry or how it happens. I can only tell what happened to me.

Some Background. First, let me give some background about my life and personality. I was born into a family where my father had been raised as a Presbyterian and my mother had been raised as a Roman Catholic. Before my parents were married, Dad had signed papers agreeing to raise any children as Catholics. That agreement didn't last very long.

In my early years, my parents had pretty much stopped attending church with the occasional exception on the part of Mom, who did go to Mass when she could. She tried taking my brothers, sister, and me with her, but Dad objected and that soon ended. Eventually the landlord of the farm where Dad worked and where our family lived took us to his church, a church which was not Presbyterian or Catholic.

As I grew up, I had a vivid sense of God's existence and presence. I was also very shy and, even though I had an uncle who said I should be a minister, being a minister was probably the farthest thing from my mind.

I joined the church when I was 17 years old and maintained regular attendance wherever I happened to be living. After graduating from college, I got a job with the Federal Trade Commission in Kansas City, Missouri. The work was boring and I tried to think of something else I would like to do. I had had a couple of business law courses in college, and the thought of being a lawyer appealed to me--not a courtroom lawyer where I would have to speak, but a lawyer who spent most of his time researching legal issues for someone else to present in public.

The Call. One evening, I went to the public library and looked at a catalog from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. I was from Iowa and attending a college in Iowa appealed to me. Drake also had a law school. As I leafed through the catalog, I came to a section describing the courses offered in Drake's seminary. The seminary happened to be an extension of the same denomination I belonged to.

As I read through the seminary section, something "told" me that the ministry is where I belonged. There was no voice, no sudden signs around me, no crashing thunder, no visions-just a sense, an inner feeling, almost a certainty. My shyness had not left me even though I was now a college graduate, so I had a difficult time believing that this was a serious call.

To help confirm what I was sensing, I got in touch with the man who had been pastor of the church I attended during my high school years. We got together and he was encouraging. He warned me that being a minister was not an easy, 40 hour a week job. I had already suspected that. My big concern was in getting up in front of people every week and preaching. I prayed, "Lord, if this is of you, it will have to be your work."

I enrolled in seminary, graduated, and spent nearly 30 years in pastoral ministry and teaching in a Christian school. What I thought would be the most difficult part of the ministry for me-speaking in public-turned out to be one of the easier parts!

Was It Really God Calling? Was it God speaking to me? I can only say that in many ways what I felt to be a call of God has been confirmed time and time again. There have been many satisfying times and events that I can cherish as I look back on my time as a pastor and teacher. I still have close friendships with people in the church I left over 10 years ago in order to go into teaching. My wife and I still get invited to the weddings of students we had at the Christian school. I am retired now, but still fill a part-time ministry position at the church my wife and I attend. Ministry is still fulfilling.

Can you really know? From my experience, you can strongly suspect, but perhaps not really know--at least not at the front end. If Christianity is what the Bible says it is, there will be an element of faith involved in responding to a call to be a minister just as there is in most aspects of the Christian walk. Take that step of faith. If the call was not of God, you'll probably know it soon enough.

Let me also add one warning: If you're considering the ministry, ask yourself if there is anything else you would rather do. If there is, don't go into the ministry. Only go into the ministry if that is the only thing you feel that you should do and want to do.