From Seminarian to Minister
Information relating to the authorizations necessary to begin searching for a first call, a look at recent trends in finding calls, and some guidance on compensation items that are negotiated in PC(USA) pastoral calls.
Authorization
The Book of Order is clear that candidates “may not enter into negotiation for ... service as a minister of the Word and Sacrament without approval of the presbytery of care” (G-2.0607). Such approval can come in one of two forms, either permission to "negotiate for service" or "certification of readiness to be examined for ordination, pending a call." While the text of G-2.0607 utilizes both expressions, the Book of Order does not explicitly delineate the differences between them. For that distinction, which has very important implications, one has to look to binding guidance that has been given and reaffirmed by the General Assembly.
An “authoritative interpretation” issued by the 219th General Assembly (2010), and reaffirmed by action of the 220th General Assembly (2012), clarified that under specific conditions a presbytery could approve a candidate to “negotiate for service” even before it had “certified [that] candidate ready for examination for ordination, pending a call.” The full text of that authoritative interpretation, edited to reference the current paragraphs in the Book of Order and changes to the Church Leadership Connection system, is as follows:
Section [G-2.0607] allows a candidate to enter into negotiation for his or her ministerial service, even if the candidate has not had his or her final assessment from the presbytery’s committee on preparation for ministry, provided the candidate
- has completed two full years of theological education (or the equivalent thereof),
- has had an annual consultation within the last year,
- has satisfactorily completed all the standard ordination exams or received certification of readiness under [G-2.0610],
- has received the approval of the candidate’s committee on preparation for ministry.
If the committee on preparation for ministry has approved a particular candidate who meets all the aforementioned requirements to enter into negotiation for his or her ministerial service, that candidate may circulate a [Personal Discernment Profile] or other biographical information. (Minutes, 2010, Part 1, page 60)
Because the Assembly in 2012 reaffirmed the full text of its authoritative interpretation in applying it to the current language of G-2.0607, each of the provisions set forth in the bulleted list remains binding upon presbyteries in making decisions as to whether or not to approve a particular candidate to enter into “negotiation for his or her service as a minister of the Word and Sacrament” prior to “certification [of that candidate’s] readiness for examination for ordination, pending a call.”