Preparation for Ministry

A person considering ministry often seeks the approval of the session of the church of which they are a member to begin a process of communal discernment. With support from the session, the person next seeks approval from the presbytery to become an inquirer — a first step in the formal preparation for ministry.

During the subsequent candidacy phase — when the person continues graduate-level theological education and the presbytery provides support, guidance, and evaluation —  candidates complete five standard ordination exams (including a Bible Content Exam) usually taken early in seminary, and four senior-year examinations.

Some candidates grow up in Presbyterian churches; some get to know the PC(USA) by attending a seminary nearby or online; some are immigrants with theological training in other countries or people who enter ministry as a second career. Many seminary graduates do not enter parish ministry but live out their faith in other ways.