Certified Candidates/Student/Local Pastors

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Answering the Call
(a brief guide to pastoral ministry in the United Methodist Church)

What Is A Certified Candidate?
As you begin to discern your call to ministry, you may decide that pastoral ministry in the United Methodist Church is right for you. Anyone seeking to become a local pastor, deacon or elder in the United Methodist Church must go through a process called Candidacy. There is paperwork to fill out, tests to take, and meetings to attend on your journery. Once this is completed, you will meet with the District Committee on Ordained Ministry (dCOM) in the area you intend to keep your Candidacy. This may be in your home conference, or the conference you will be living in while in seminary. A Certified Candidate has been approved by a dCOM.

How Do I Become A Certified Candidiate?

There are many steps toward Candidacy. Here is a brief outline of those steps.

1. Contact your pastor. He/she should be able to provide you with the initial resources you'll need and inform you of the requirements. Read the Steps Toward Certification booklet. This booklet is available at the Kentucky Conference Office or can be downloaded at www.gbhem.org. Also read The Christian As Minister. Your church will need to hold a Charge Conference to recommend you for Candidacy (and fill out the form found here). Also, start thinking about what District would be best for you to be a Candidate in.

2. Write a letter of intent to the District Superintendent of the District in which you intend to seek Certified Candidacy. This letter should include information concerning your background and your current reality, your ministry goals, and a description of your call. We also need basic information about you: your contact information, what church you are a member of and what church you attend, and how you are serving in ministry, Keep in mind when you write this letter that even if you have met the DS, the information in your letter will be presented to the entire dCOM in order for them can learn about you, so please be specific. Please make sure to indicate whether you intend to pursue elder or deacon's orders.

3. In response to your letter of intent, you will receive these forms to complete: a background check, a notarized statement concerning sexual misconduct, and Biographical Form 102.

4. Once you complete the first round of paperwork (letter of intent, background check, notarized statement, and Biographical Form 102) the dCOM will schedule your Introductory Interview. Please keep in mind that the dCOM usually meets quarterly, so you may need to be flexible. You can see the committee at any time during this process, so even if you have to wait a month or more, keep working on your paperwork. After your Introductory Interview, the DS will assign you a mentor who will stay with you through your Candidancy process. There is a form mentors can fill out available by clicking here and once sent in, the Genreal Board of Higher Education and Ministry will send all the items required for mentoring. Mentors MUST register candidiates online, ther is no longer an option for manual processing. You will need to take a test called Inventory of Religious Interests and Activitites (IRIA). Your mentor will administer this test; you MUST take it online at https://public.gbhem.org/candidacy/ (your mentor MUST log in, you cannot take this test without an assigned, approved mentor). After you take the test, complete the process as directed. The Division Of Ordained Ministry will send you The Candidacy Guidebook. THE LEXINGTON DISTRICT COMMITTEE ON ORDAINED MINISTRY DOES NOT PROVIDE MENTORS TO CANDIDATES FROM OTHER CONFERENCES.

5. You and your mentor should work through the Candidancy Guidebook.

6. Work on your Candidacy file. You are responsible for making sure all the following requirements are fufilled. You will need to complete:

a background check
a psychological assessment by a Conference approved psychologist
a physical
a notarized statement verifing no history of sexual misconduct
biographical information

(all the forms and information for these items are available by clicking the Forms tab or at http://kyumc.org/bom/BOM.html or at the District Office).

You will also need to submit:

your seminary transcripts (annually)
your responses to the statements in the Book of Discipline 2004 paragraph 311.3b/c
notification of the approval of your Charge Conference (form is in the Candidacy Guidebook or available on the Forms tab)
your mentor will need to submit a report.

All of this should be submitted to the District Office where you are seeking Candidacy.

7. Finally, once you have finished the Guidebook and your file is complete, you will appear before the dCOM for the purpose of determining certification. Certfication will make you a Certified Candidate and you will be ready to begin your work toward ordination.

Jessica Wells is the Lexington dCOM registrar, and also a notary public. She will be glad to answer your questions and help you through the process. Please feel free to contact her Monday through Friday at 859-299-6260 or jwells@lexumc.com.

What is a Local Pastor?

1. DEFINITION OF LOCAL PASTOR
All persons not ordained as elders who are appointed to preach and conduct divine worship and perform the duties of a pastor shall have a license for pastoral ministry. Local pastors who have completed the following may be recommended to the executive session of the annual conference for licensing for pastoral ministry by the Bishop when they receive an appointment:
·        The conditions for candidacy certification (¶306)
·        Examined and recommended by the District Committee on Ordained Ministry
·        License to Preach School (held in May).
·        Been approved by the Board of Ordained Ministry
·        Provided the BOM with a satisfactory certificate of good health.
·        Provided the BOM with the required financial and criminal checks and reports.

A local pastor is approved annually by the District Committee on Ordained Ministry and licensed by the Bishop to perform all the duties of a pastor at his/her charge, including the sacraments of baptism and Holy Communion as well as the service of marriage, burial, confirmation, and membership reception, while appointed to a particular charge.

Granting of the license for pastoral ministry is made when an appointment to a pastoral charge is made.

2. AUTHORITY AND DUTIES OF THE LOCAL PASTOR
A. The local pastor may not be assigned beyond the local church.
B. The local pastor is licensed by the Annual Conference to serve only to the charge to which they are assigned and does not extend beyond it.
C. The charge is defined, by the church, as people in or related to the community being served.
D. The license must be renewed annually by the district Committee on Ordained Ministry and the conference Board of Ordained Ministry.
E. The local pastor may perform weddings after receiving a Local Pastor's
License, but only after he/she has been appointed to a local church.
F. The Local Pastor License is valid only to the charge to which the pastor is assigned. If the local pastor is moved between sessions of the Annual Conference, the license shall be re-certified by the bishop. The local pastor (including student local pastor) relates to the district Committee on Ordained Ministry in the district where he/she is appointed.
G. The local pastor is supervised by the District Superintendent and a Clergy
Mentor assigned by the district Committee on Ordained Ministry in consultation with the District superintendent, who will oversee the local pastor's work in Course of Study and in the performance of duties as a local pastor. Local Pastors who wish to go the route of becoming an ordained elder in the Church need to receive a college degree and then enroll in a program of Theological Education in one of our approved seminaries. These persons are under the direction of the Conference Board of Ordained Ministry who will guide them through the time and requirements necessary for ordination. Local Pastors who do not pursue ordination must enroll in the five-year Course of Study. (¶344) The Course of Study in The United Methodist Church is provided and administered by the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry. The Course of Study is a basic theological education program of the Division of Ordained Ministry, Section of Elders and Local pastors. It is provided for those who are licensed as local pastors who are unable to attend an approved seminary. Participants in the program should have completed candidacy for ordained ministry and the Kentucky Conference licensing school. The Course of Study is offered at regional Course of Study schools held each summer on the campuses of United Methodist theological seminaries. Extension courses for part-time local pastors are held throughout the year at certain locations. These extension centers usually offer courses in a two or three weekend format which allows bi-vocational local pastors to participate without taking a lot of time away from their work. The Course of Study includes a five-year curriculum with four courses per year. Seven Course of Study schools best serve the needs of local pastors in the Kentucky Conference, but persons may attend any COS they choose.
·        Appalachian Local Pastors School, Barbourville, Kentucky. ALPS also offers extension courses in Eastern and Western Kentucky on some weekends.
·        Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
·        Duke Divinity School, Durham, North Carolina.
·        Methodist Theological School of Ohio, Delaware, Ohio
·        St. Paul School of Theology, Kansas City, Missouri
·        Indiana Area Extension Course of Study School, Indianapolis, Indiana
·        Tennessee/Holston Course of Study, Madisonville and Pulaski, Tennessee.
·
For more information on becoming a minister in the United Methodist Church contact
your district superintendent, or your District Committee on Ordained Ministry chair or registrar.

Student/Local Pastor Appointments... How do I get one?

Appointments are made each year at Annual Conference in June, and pastors begin serving their churches later that month. In the Lexington District, the interview process begins in the early spring. If you are interested in a student or local pastor appointment in the Lexington District, please read the following information about the process.

Your first step is to send a resume, cover letter, picture, and references to the District Office. The best time to send this is between December and March. Send these to:

The Lexington District c/o Jessica Wells
921 Beasley Street, Suite 150
Lexington, KY 40509
You can also email it to jwells@lexumc.com

Once you have sent your resume, you will receive a letter letting you know we received it. Next, the District Superientendent will review your resume and evaluate the education, experience, gifts, and talents presented. Should the District Superientendent feel that the elements presented in your resume fit with a church that has an appointment need, you will be contacted for an interview in the spring of the upcoming Conference year in which you applied. You may be contacted if the rare circumstance that calls for an appointment change in the middle of the Conference year should arise. We appreciate your patience and understanding as appoinement making is an involved and time consuming process.

If you have any questions, please contact Jessica Wells. She will gladly answer your questions, provide you with resources, and help you in the process.