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The call to vocational ministry later in life is both exciting and challenging. It is exciting to know God is preparing you for another path and, perhaps, another place. It’s challenging because of issues related to family, finances and training.
Here are a series of questions to ask as you approach ministry for the first time later in life.
1. Will you stay in your secular vocation for now?The answer to that question obviously has financial implications. But it also allows the minister to be a marketplace pastor, worship leader, executive pastor or any other position.
2. Is your family supportive of you moving in this direction?This question is one that is obviously important at any phase of life or decision-making. It has profound implications when you are older. The change is often dramatic and life-altering for the entire family, not just yourself.
3. How will I train for ministry? Can you work in your current church in an internship or as a volunteer staff person? Will you go to seminary online? Are you and your family willing to relocate?
4. Where do you see yourself in five years? Are you moving toward a full-time vocational position? Or are you called and content to be a marketplace minister?
5. Where will you find opportunities to preach? This question, of course, is specifically directed toward those who sense God’s call to pastoral and/or preaching ministries. Where can you begin to fill a pulpit? Will it be in those situations where the pastor is off sick or on vacation for a week or two? Or can you find an interim or part-time position at a smaller church in the area?
6. Do you have a mentor? This question is extremely important. You need someone to guide you in this new phase of life. You need someone to ask you questions. You need someone to hold you accountable. Is there a pastor you know who would be happy to walk alongside you?
Exciting time
It is an exciting time to be called into vocational ministry. It is an especially exciting time when it happens later in life. God has used older leaders and ministers for hundreds of years. He certainly can and will use you.
You have my prayers as you embark on this exciting journey.
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 | Thom S. Rainer is the founder and CEO of Church Answers, and online community and resource for church leaders. Prior to founding Church Answers, Rainer served as president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources. Before coming to LifeWay, he served at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for twelve years where he was the founding dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions and Evangelism. He is a 1977 graduate of the University of Alabama and earned his Master of Divinity and Ph.D. degrees from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Learn More » |
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