Ministry Preparation & Support
In the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the process of preparing someone to become a minister of Word and Sacrament is collaborative — with a focus on spiritual discernment, covenantal relationships, and evaluating and cultivating gifts and skills for ministry.
Often, a person considering ministry first seeks the approval of the session of the church of which they are a member to begin a process of communal discernment. Sometimes, people sensing leadership gifts encourage someone from the congregation to consider the possibility of ministry. Typically, the session and individual consider together the person’s sense of call by God and gifts and abilities for ministry. 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.
Next comes the candidacy phase, during which the person continues graduate-level theological education, and the presbytery provides support, guidance, and evaluation. Those who want to become ministers must complete five standard ordination exams, including a Bible Content Exam, usually taken early in seminary, and four senior-year examinations.
With religious and secular life-changing, however, there is no single path to ministry. 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. With training, ruling elders may be commissioned to serve as pastoral leaders, often in smaller congregations. Many seminary graduates do not enter parish ministry but live out their faith in other ways. God’s call can be as varied as the people who answer it.
Resources for Preparation for Ministry Committees/Commission
Advisory Handbook on Preparing for Ministry in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
The Advisory Handbook guides those discerning a possible call to ordered ministry as teaching elders and those who work with them through the process of preparation for ministry. It explores the changing ministry landscape into which God will “send out laborers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:38), reviews the current constitutional requirements related to preparation for ordination as a teaching elder, outlines the responsibilities of the different partners in the process, and identifies resources on a variety of related topics.
The handbook regularly updated in response to suggestions from the presbyteries and actions by the church and its agencies. The latest revision is identifiable by the date “July 2023” and “Release 3.0” on the cover and copyright pages.
Featured Resources
Contact Us
Timothy Cargal
Associate Stated Clerk and Interim Director
Mid Council Ministries
timothy.cargal@pcusa.org
