Selecting New Ministers
Called by God
The process of becoming a minister starts when a man believes he is called by God to be a minister. For some men that conviction is something they welcome. For others it is something they fight against for a long time before they take any action on it. Yet not everyone who is convinced he is called to be a minister becomes one. That personal conviction has to be tested by the wider Church.
The Kirk Session
The next step in the Free Church of Scotland involves the Kirk Session, the body which can most properly assess the man's spiritual standing and general suitability. The potential minister makes his application for recognition as a candidate for the ministry through the Kirk Session who give a detailed report on their assessment of his spiritual suitability and an indication, to the best of their understanding, of his call to the ministry and his academic abilities.
The Presbytery
From the Kirk Session the application is then forwarded to the Presbytery, the body who, if the application is successful, will supervise the candidate throughout his training and eventually license him as a Preacher of the Gospel. The Presbytery are ideally placed to assess his call to the ministry, but they will also take note of his spirituality and make a preliminary assessment of his academic abilities.
The Training of the Ministry Committee
An application which has thus far been successful will be forwarded to the General Assembly's Training of the Ministry Committee (TOM) whose responsibility it is, taking cognizance of the findings of the Kirk Session and Presbytery with regard to the applicant's conversion and call to the ministry, to interview the applicant and consider in detail his academic suitability. If they assess him as suitable they will grant him recognition as a candidate for the ministry, prescribe him a course of studies at University and the Free Church College and supervise his studies. At the end of his studies they will, if he has satisfied the Committee's independent examiners, grant him a completion certificate which entitles him to apply for licensing by the Presbytery which sent him forward.
Licensing
Licensing by a Presbytery takes place if the Presbytery, having considered any representations from other Presbyteries and Synods of the Church, are satisfied by their own independent trials of the candidate's knowledge and suitability; the candidate then becomes a "Preacher of the Gospel", or "Probationer", entitled to preach but not to administer the sacraments of baptism or the Lord's Supper.
Ordination
Ordination is to a particular charge, and normally takes place when a Presbytery sustain the call from a congregation to the Probationer. In this way the individual's call from God finds its external confirmation in a call from a congregation of God's people.
Disappointment
Against this background it is a matter of grave concern that two students have recently resigned at a late stage in their studies and another well qualified applicant, highly recommended by his Presbytery, has been rejected by TOM.
Any comments or questions please E-Mail me or Rev William Macleod the editor.
[Back to Reformed Christian Pages][Back to Free Church Foundations]
[Back to Pre- General Assembly Issue]