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Step 1
Join the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Candidates for membership must undergo baptism by water immersion following a period of study to learn fundamental beliefs and practices of the church.
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Step 2
Be a deacon or deaconess. As a lay person you can become involved in a particular ministry of the church such as visiting the sick or teaching a Sabbath School class.
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Step 3
Attend an Adventist college. There are a number of four-year colleges in the U.S. established by the Seventh Day Adventist Church. A person who wants to be a pastor would study religion as an undergraduate.
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Step 4
Become a church elder. An interest in evangelism is key in becoming a local church elder. Elders are ordained in a church ceremony.
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Step 5
Receive a master of divinity degree. Andrews University in Michigan is the primary theological institution for candidates who will become ordained ministers of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. This period of study lasts two or three years.
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Step 6
Be a pastoral intern. Upon graduation from seminary, a pastoral intern is hired by a local conference and given a ministerial license. Pastoral interns work under close supervision of a ordained pastor for a year or more, after which the intern may be given the responsibility of pastoring at a smaller church.
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Step 7
Become a pastor. Adventists believe that pastors are divinely called to ministry and they are ordained by the church for their ministry. The local conference of the Seventh Day Adventist Church selects and appoints a pastor to the ministry of a church. Following ordination, a minister may serve at any Seventh Day Adventist Church anywhere in the world
