Our Stories
Understanding What it Means to "Call" a Pastor
By Mark Lanum | posted 06/18/2009
"The LORD does not look at the things man looks at... the LORD looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7)
NOTE: this article is a reprint from the Pastor Search Team’s Blog from November 2008. It is particularly relevant as we come together this Sunday to discern God’s will regarding our Lead Pastor candidate, Doug Humphreys.
Mark Novak, Superintendent of the North Pacific Conference, provided us with a short blurb about what the word "call" means when it comes to hiring a new pastor. Suffice it to say, calling a pastor, is not exactly the same as hiring an employee or voting for a presidential candidate. We share this with you so that all of us can be on the same page in terms of our understanding of "call."
Understanding Call
The calling of a pastor is a very delicate and prayerful process for the local church. It is an intertwining of desires on the part of the local church and the pastor seeking call. When the local church and the pastor seeking call find significant common ground there is a bond formed that sets the course for years of healthy ministry together.
The essence of the pastoral call is most clearly expressed in the words from the Covenant Book of Worship used on the Sunday of the installation of the new pastor by the Conference Superintendent. In that service of installation the congregation hears these words among others in the charge to the congregation; "In all things show him/her your love, esteem him/her highly for his/her calling as your pastor, and accept him/her as your spiritual leader". The congregation then responds to this question; "Will you receive (name) to be your pastor, recognizing his/her place in spiritual leadership and receiving the word of God through him/her?" I do not know of many places where we publicly declare someone’s authority in our lives with promises of support and affirmation.
If we were to simply hire someone we would not pledge to give them authority in our lives, after all we are paying their salary! Are we paying them to manage the church the way we want or are we truly willing to let them lead us, perhaps in ways new and even foreign to us? This idea of hire versus call finds language in John 10:11-13 when Jesus distinguishes the Good Shepherd from the hired shepherd. When trouble arrives in the form of a wolf the hired shepherd runs, after all they are not his sheep! But the Good Shepherd stays to protect the sheep for they are his and they have relationship with him! Willimon in his book, Pastor, says: "... ministry is not a profession. It is a vocation. One could not pay pastors for what is routinely expected of them. One must be called in order to do it." He goes on to say that ministers are owned, commandeered for God. This is interesting language to describe one’s call to ministry; it recognizes that one’s call to ministry is far beyond one personal choice.
So while the process of calling a new pastor may at times feel somewhat "managerial" and "human" as we candidly discuss individuals and their giftedness for ministry; it is done within a spiritual mindset. We will use all the resources that God has given us to "discern" God’s leading. That is the bottom line; pastoral call by the local church is a process of Holy Discernment by the local church and the candidates. It is not simply a process of who looks best on paper, but who brings to the local church the vision and spiritual vitality that can lead them into an even brighter future. The question must be asked by members of the local church; "Am I willing to allow this person to have influence in my spiritual formation?" As you seek a new pastor for your church please remember that you are not hiring a manager or spiritual activities coordinator but a person called by God to ministry and discerned by the local church to offer spiritual leadership. So I invite you to pray for Holy Discernment as you seek to "call" a new pastor.
You remain in my prayers – sincerely, Mark Novak, Superintendent of the NPC
You can contact the Pastoral Search Team via email here.
