The Road to the Call #4

I am at the point now in my seminary career where the academic training of the seminary and candidacy process of the CRC denomination start to merge.

I have one semester left at Calvin Seminary and am in the process of fulfilling the obligations of my coursework.  At the same time, I have begun to fulfill the obligations set forth by the denomination for candidacy.  These requirements are several:

1.  Submission of two sermons including the full manuscript along with supporting exegetical research and commentary, and an outline. One text has been assigned to me by the candidacy committee (Genesis 32:22-32) and the other is a text of my choosing for the opposite testament.  For me, that will be John 17:20-26.  Neither of these can be sermons submitted for seminary coursework nor can they be reviewed by the faculty.  The assigned text must be preached in a congregational setting as part of an actual worship service.  This service is to be recorded and the video is to be submitted along with the paperwork.  This will get evaluated by a sub-committee of the candidacy committee and I will meet with that group on April 12 to discuss it.  Incidentally, I delivered my candidacy sermon on December 2 and it went very well. 

2.  The candidate must obtain a recommendation for candidacy from a church council that can best attest to their readiness for ministry.  I have requested this from Seymour CRC here in Grand Rapids where we’ve been attending for the last several years.

3.  The candidate is encouraged (not required) to submit a profile form to the Pastor-Church Relations Office.   This is a lengthy form that provides all types of information about the candidate including what types of positions they may be interested in, employment history,  statement of faith, what size church they are interested in, what their vision for ministry is, and many other things. Included in this is a reference form that is to be distributed to five people who evaluate the candidates ministry strengths by picking 12 from a list of about 45 characteristics.  Churches can request this information to help them in the vetting process of calling a pastor.

4.  The candidate must submit a statement of faith and a “Statement of Reason” for pursuing ministry.

5.  The candidate must submit a biographical sketch form that gathers basic demographic information.

6.  The candidate must sustain an oral comprehensive exam administered by the seminary in conjunction with the candidacy committee.  This is a 45-minute oral interview in which a panel of two professors and one pastor interview the candidate to determine sufficient competency in a variety of areas such as biblical knowledge, church history, theology, and pastoral care.  These interviews are scheduled for the second week of March.

This all takes place during the final year in addition to the regular coursework for the M.Div program.  Assuming the candidate successful completes all these requirements by their various due dates and satisfactorily completes the M.Div. program at Calvin Theological Seminary (defined by the Candidacy Committee as having at least a 2.85 GPA) the candidate will then be  ready to be declared eligible for a call by synod.  I’ll discuss the jump from candidacy committee to synod next time.

The Road to the Call #3

My blogging on this subject has been much more sporadic than I’d like this semester.  Such is the life of a Master of Divinity student in their final year of seminary who is also in the process of becoming a candidate for Minister of the Word in the CRCNA.

Nonetheless,  here is my (belated) third installment on the road to the call.  When I last left off I told you about some of the non-academic qualifications that are involved in becoming qualified as a candidate.  There are more and I will talk about those, but this entry will focus on the academics.

As I mentioned previously, all candidates for Minister of the Word (with a few exceptions) must spend at least some time at Calvin Theological Seminary.   The seminary itself works closely with the denomination but essentially sets is own requirements for the M.Div. Program. 

The requirements for entry into and graduation from the program are extensive by most standards.  As an undergraduate I have to have had taken certain courses in science, philosophy, history, public speaking, history to can unqualified acceptance into the program.  Once enrolled, the M.Div. program consists of 109 credit hours that includes both academic and field (internship) credits.  Ordinarily, in order to be considered for candidacy, a student must graduate from the program with a cumulative GPA not lower than 2.85. 

The seminary and the CRCNA require training in Biblical Greek and Hebrew, OT & NT Exegesis, Preaching, Systematic Theology, Apologetics, Worship, Biblical Knowledge, Pastoral Care & Leadership, Church History, and CRC History & Polity, among other things. 

In addition, there are two required internships.  One 5-week cross-cultural internship during which the student spends at least 200 hours in a ministry context that is starkly different from what they were raised in or are familiar with.  For someone like me, who grew up in a rural setting that involved serving in an inner-city ministry to the poor and homeless in downtown Grand Rapids.  For someone else who grew up in the city it may mean serving in a rural setting.  Either way, the idea is that you get a sense of ministry being bigger than ‘what I’ve always been used to’.

The second internship is a 10-week congregational internship in which the student serves an established congregation in order to get a ‘feel for’ the day-to-day routine of being a pastor.  For some students, like myself, this may mean serving a long-established congregation while for others it may mean working with a church plant or some other type of ministry.  The internships can often be tailored to the ministry goals and plans of the student.  This is a 400 hour summer internship and is supervised by both the seminary and the leadership of the church in the which the student is interning.

We are also to get practical experience in preaching by preaching at least 6 times in as many different churches as possible.  During those times, we are to hand out evaluations to congregants who evaluate our preaching and delivery style.  These evaluations are then sent to the seminary and reviewed by a mentoring group leader and become a part of our file at the seminary.

Finally, along with the academic and internship requirements all  students must complete 100 hours of ‘service learning’.  Students are required to volunteer (a contradiction in terms?) with a ministry that shows justice and mercy to a marginalized population.  This could be mentoring a child, tutoring in an after school program, working with the elderly, or serving with a Christian environmental group.  I have been volunteering with Friendship Ministries (a ministry to people with cognitive impairments) here in Grand Rapids working with a young autistic man on Tuesday nights.

All of this (and more) makes up the three or four year program that is the Master of Divinity degree at Calvin Theological Seminary. Once all of those requirements are met (or in the process of being met) we begin the final steps toward receiving a call for ordination, which I will talk about next time.  Hopefully sooner than this time…

The Road to the Call #2

As mentioned last time, the initial call has two parts – the individual and the church.  Since that is the case, the church puts in place certain safeguards and requirements for its clergy.  These requirements vary greatly from one denomination to the next – some being very loose and others much more stringent.  The Christian Reformed Church, by most Protestant standards, leans more toward the stringent side of things.  That is, it has some fairly exacting requirements for its clergy. 

The reason for this is that the CRC has a high view of the preaching of the Word.  The denomination wants its congregations to be assured that the people who mount their pulpits Sunday after Sunday have a received adequate and proper instruction and have received the tools necessary to do proper, reformed, faithful, biblical exegesis.  In addition, they should have a good working knowledge of the creeds and confessions that the CRC is founded and be able to use and apply in service to the church.

To that end the CRC owns and maintains a seminary dedicated to the training of its clergy.  Although the denomination has made other avenues to becoming ordained in the CRC more feasible and practical over the past ten years or so, all future clergy are required to spend at least sometime at Calvin Theological Seminary and meet certain academic requirements in terms of coursework, original language acquisition, and sermon writing and construction.  But academics or only part of the equation and I’ll take more about all of that in greater detail in a later post.

The denomination also asks that their clergy be sufficient in a variety of other ways as well. The desire to have people in their pulpits that are ‘suitable for ministry’.   One of the first things I had to do upon enrolling in the M.Div. program at Calvin Seminary was submit to a psychological evaluation.  This consisted of several steps including a 3 hour exam where  I had to answer about 750 T/F questions about my behavior and have two appointments with a psychiatrist who would review my past and present, interview me and my wife, evaluate the results from my test and make a determination about my mental state. 

Based on the results of all of that the denomination could determine that additional counseling and/or other additional training could be required before being allowed to enter full-time ministry in the CRC.    In my case, I was given a clean bill of (mental) health and was deemed fit for ministry – at least on that score.  So the journey to the call continues…

The Road to a Call #1

One of my courses this semester is CRC Polity, which discusses the articles and intricacies of Christian Reformed Church Order.  Today we talked about Offices and Ordination and I was reminded again about how the call process begins.

Church Order talks of both the internal and the external call to ministry for a future minister.  As an individual, I have a sense that God has called me to serve the church in full-time pastoral ministry.  It is something that I feel strongly about, am passionate about, am willing to learn about, and am gifted to do.  This is an internal call that I have that the Spirit of God has given me.  But that alone isn’t enough.

The Reformers have always talked about the external call as well.  That is, a confirmation of that internal call from others – namely, the church.  John Calvin talks about the importance of this external call saying that is the confirmation of the internal call. 

Thus it is the case in the CRC today.  When I first started sensing God’s call on me that did not come without confirmation of others.  Indeed, it was often the comments of others in the church, “Have you ever thought about the ministry?”; “Do you still have plans to go to seminary?” and the like were all part of that internal call for me. 

But even that isn’t enough, nor should it be.  In order to even be accepted into the Master of Divinity program at Calvin Theological Seminary they must receive a letter of recommendation from my church council.  It is not enough for me to want to go to seminary my church had to give its confirmation of that call as well.  Only then can I pursue a path to ordination.

This, I think, is reassuring.  I do not pursue this call as an individual, by myself.  I’m not some sort of spiritual entrepreneur that is driven to achieve some sort of goal, going his own way, doing his own thing and hoping other people catch my vision.  Instead, I am being called by the church to work with them to follow Christ’s vision and His call to become mature in Him.  It’s not my goal, it’s God’s.  It’s not my church, it's God’s.  My vision is not mine, it’s God’s.  So too, my call – it is mine, but it is not mine alone.  It’s the churches call as well.  But, even more than that, it’s God call coming to me from Him and from his church…partners in the bringing of the Gospel.  I am humbled by and grateful for that opportunity.

Back in the Groove

The summer internship is over and so is, in many ways, summer.  Since my last entry about six weeks ago my family is back and we’ve been to Minnesota and Iowa and back again.  We had a great few weeks back on our old stomping grounds visiting family and friends, seeing what has changed and what has stayed the same.  Children have grown, friends have taken new jobs and moved to new towns, businesses and families are growing and there’s still something wonderful about having dinner with Mom and Dad.

It’s been a good summer.  My internship went well and was very affirming.  I got the opportunity to preach in both of my ‘home congregations’ in Sioux Center and Worthington in front of many supportive family and friends and to the glory of God which was equal parts nerve-wracking and enjoyable. 

Alas, all good things must come to an end and summer is no different. Zachary and Bethany started school again today – going into 7th and 6th grade respectively.  This morning before getting in the car we gathered in the living room and said had a prayer together asking God’s blessing on them and their school in the year that lies ahead. 

I’m back at the seminary on a regular basis getting ready for another semester of coursework and beginning the process of candidacy for Minister of the Word in the CRCNA as this will be my third and final year in the Master or Divinity Program at Calvin Theological Seminary. 

Many people, even within my own denomination (myself included once upon a time), have no idea what the candidacy process is like for its pastors.  During the next several months on this blog, it is my intention to chronicle that process.  In so doing, I hope to give an inside look at the seriousness and rigor that the CRCNA places on its clergy.  While some decry the process as too strict and complicated it is also an affirmation of the weight that this denomination places on the proper training and vetting of its leadership. 

While it is, indeed, complicated, time-consuming, and (at times) maddening, I think you will come to find that it is anything but easy.  I hope that through my writing about and reflecting on the process you will gain a greater appreciation for the men and women who stand in pulpits across the CRC each Sunday and share a “word from the Lord.”  It is something that neither they nor the denomination they serve take lightly.

The Bachelor

I’m a bachelor this week.  Last week Wednesday, Jessica brought the kids to Canada to her parents and then came back to attend the GEMS Conference in Chicago with a group of ladies from our church.  She came back from that last night and today is driving to St. Catharines to spend the rest of the week at her parents house with the kids.  Thus, I’m on my own…

In my season of life – mid-30’s with three young children – one looks forward to peace and quiet.  It’s a welcome reprieve to not have to worry about baths and bedtime and breaking up fights and whose turn it is to have the iPad.   So it’s nice to not have to worry about all of that.  But it will also be nice to have them all back.  It’s strange how one soon misses what one often complains about. 

All that said, I got a good list of things to do that will keep my busy.  This past weekend I finally saw the “Lord of the Rings” Trilogy on DVD – something I’ve been meaning to do for a while but at nearly 3 hours each, it was tough to fit into the schedule.  I’ve also been doing some more bike riding and catching up on some reading.

In addition, this weekend I get to participate in Single Parent Family Camp (SPFC).  SPFC is a joint outreach ministry between Seymour CRC and Oakdale CRC.  We invite single parents (usually moms) and their kids to come to a local camp – Camp Tall Turf – and have a weekend of fun.  The parents travel up with their kids and we provide family games and camp-type activities.  We also, give the parents a nice dinner without their children.  SPFC starts on Friday evening and ends Sunday morning after worship and for some of these parents it’s the only ‘vacation’ they get all year.  It’s a pretty neat ministry and hopefully I’ll have some stories to share on this blog.

My internship continues to keep me busy as I’ve preached now 11 times over the past 6 Sundays.  So its been good for me to get into that rhythm of studying for and writing sermons and leading worship and doing pastoral care.  In fact, as I write this entry I’m listening to myself on CD from last Sunday morning…a painful but helpful and enlightening exercise!

So that’s the latest from here …nothing profound, but God is good and he is blessing us greatly this summer.  May he bless you as well.

Growing & Learning

Several of my classmates doing their congregational internships this summer are being asked to do them at churches that are vacant – that is, churches that do not currently have a regular pastor.  This can be a a great experience for both the student and the church.  The student gets a good sense of pastoring a church on a day-to-day basis is really like – preaching, administration, pastoral care, funerals, meetings, the whole enchilada.  It’s also great for the churches they get a ten-week respite from having to find pulpit supply (especially during those always challenging summer months), the elderly get a visit or two, the sick are prayed over.  It is, indeed, a good set-up.

However, I can’t help but think there might must be something missing in the scenario.  What happens when that student has a question about a certain aspect of ministry?  How can one really learn about being a pastor to people who are strangers to you when you arrive in June and you both know that in ten weeks you’ll be gone again.  It takes longer than that to learn names not to mention develop a relationship in which true pastoral care can take place. 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying this is a bad way to learn, nor is it a bad way to serve the needs of the church – after all, it is the denomination’s seminary – and it is there to serve the church.  But I just want to go on record as saying that I’m very pleased to be doing my internship at Seymour – a church that is neither vacant nor unfamiliar.

First, during these past several weeks, I have – on several occasions—gone into the office of one of the pastors here and asked (what I think) is a good question.  Perhaps it’s about a sermon I’m working on, perhaps it’s about a particular aspect of ministry, perhaps it’s about whether or not pastors take the 4th of July off =).  Regardless, I’m very thankful that I have the opportunity to knock on a door and ask some questions and get some great advice.  That is a chance that many of my fellow interns won’t get this summer.

Second, I’m very grateful for the opportunity to serve among people that I already know and who already know me.  It’s tough enough to preach the Word as a beginning preacher to people who know me(and for the most part, I think) like me.  I think I would find it even harder to preach to pews (or chairs) full of strangers who know you’re there for just a few more weeks.  Plus, since we are members here our relationships will continue, Lord willing, long after the time of my official internship comes to an end.

It seems to me that those classmates of mine serving this summer in vacant churches have a lot tougher task before them than I do, not because they’ve got more work to do but that their situation makes their work more challenging.  I’m growing in my internship in that I’m finding out what life as a pastor is like and I’m learning in my internship because I can ask questions of people who’ve ‘been there and done that.’

It’s been a great 4 weeks so far…and I’m looking forward to growing and learning even more during the remaining six weeks and beyond.

On another note…it’s hot here.  I hope you’re all staying cool!