How to Prepare for Christian Ministry
Christian ministry is a challenging vocation that requires holistic preparation, flexibility and compassion. If you sense you have been called to Christian ministry, you probably already feel some of the weight of the task. With the proper education, volunteer experience, emotional health and mentoring, you'll be prepared to serve others in the Christian community.
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Instructions
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Focus on your own spiritual development. Christian ministry can be taxing on your spiritual life. You will see more deaths, wrestle with more tragedies, face more bitter people, and deal with more internal conflicts than the average Christian. Your faith must be strong and vibrant in the face of life's challenges. Figure out how and when to regularly practice spiritual disciplines, such as prayer, meditation, scripture reading and study, that mesh with your life and your way of connecting with God.
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Get a theological education. Whether you take Christian ministry courses at a brick and mortar institution or take online classes, make theological education a priority. Research schools in your tradition or denomination that are academically rigorous but oriented toward serving the church. Do not attend a university that has lost its connection with the local church. You need a school that will prepare you to think theologically but also to minister practically.
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Start ministering. You do not have to wait to finish your theological education. Instead, volunteer at the church you already attend. Ask to shadow other ministers or volunteers. As Aristotle said, those things we must learn to do, we learn by doing. Consider teaching a Sunday school class, leading a small group, joining a prison ministry, working at a mission, or creating a new outreach that fits your gifts and abilities as well as needs of the community.
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Develop your emotional health. Once you start ministry, longevity will depend on your emotional health and support. Ministry Today reported the results of a 2005 survey of pastors in the United Kingdom: Stress, depression, anger, family tension and loneliness were common factors among more than 60 percent of respondents. The emotional and spiritual pressure of Christian ministry will be powerful. Read books such as "The Emotionally Healthy Church" by Peter Scazzero or Edwin Friedman's works on church and family systems. Schedule a meeting with a licensed, well-trained counselor for guidance dealing with your emotional world. Once in ministry, meet with a counselor several times a year to discuss your emotional well-being. Find a mentor or two who have worked in Christian ministry for several years, as well as loyal, dependable friends who will support you.
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Explore your specific calling after the previous steps are in motion. Experiment and practice to discover what you are gifted at and what you should avoid. Ask God for specific guidance about your calling. Pay attention to what other Christians say they see as your gifts and skills. Also, get in touch with what you enjoy and what energizes you in ministry. It will be hard to sustain a ministry roles that drain you and are not fulfilling for the long haul. Re-evaluate your skills and calling every few years.
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Sharpen your skills and deepen experience in key pastoral areas. Preaching, pastoral care, leadership, and Christian education are key areas of church functions. Preaching is the ability to effectively present Christian truths to large groups. Pastoral care is the ability to attend to others, listen to their pains, gain understanding, offer empathy, and discern how to encourage and support others in pain and difficulty. Leadership is a must-have skill in pastoral ministry, denominational service or parachurch ministry. These pastoral areas will help you forming a ministry with depth, not just width.
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Tips & Warnings
Use your call to ministry as a means to press you forward on your own spiritual journey. You cannot take people where you are not willing to go yourself.
Thoroughly research Christian schools before paying them for your theological education.
Avoid schools which teach you what to think rather than how to think as a Christian. Also avoid schools that shipwreck faith rather than challenge it in order to mature it.
Keep track of personal ministry lessons in every ministry venture you pursue.
References
Resources
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Comments
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Some good things to do, though there is also how the apostles entered into ministry. They spent time with Jesus, learned from him, and they were equipped by him and given the Holy Spirit, and then were commissioned. Spending time with Jesus getting to know him and hearing his voice are also necessary ingredients. Otherwise we might not be any better off than Judas, who had a part in ministry, but didn't really know Jesus (but was a thief and ended up betraying Jesus, and losing his place in ministry). And having Jesus know us too. We don't want him to say "I never knew you, depart from me worker of lawlessness".
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pray
