Dear Editor,
I was glad to see Roger Weil’s article on the call to full-time ministry, in August’s en. I wonder if I could underline what Roger says about the involvement of the local church in the process.
There is, in my experience, a serious danger that the call to ministry is viewed primarily as a matter for the individual concerned. This tends to lead to damaging introspection and confusion. It is vital that the pastor and elders are fully involved from the start in the process of discerning whether a man is called to ministry. Like much else in church life, the process throughout needs to be corporate rather than individualistic.
More generally, church leaders should have as a priority the identification and active encouragement of men in their congregation whom the Lord may be calling into ministry. It has been noticeable at London Seminary over the years that there are certain churches which send men for training far more frequently than others. These are often quite small churches, but they are marked by pastors who take the initiative to encourage men to consider whether they are called and who help them think through the issues that arise (and no doubt hope and pray earnestly for such men to be provided).
