Steps for calling a Commissioned Minister  2.24.04

The calling process is both a joyful experience and an opportunity for growth. Our prayer is that your congregation will grow as you, its members, go about the process of finding the man or woman our God has already selected to serve your congregation.

The following steps are not to be considered hard-and-fast rules. They are a suggested call procedure. Whatever procedure is used, go thoughtfully, go carefully, and always go in prayer.

The Holy Spirit guides and directs the process of calling workers in His kingdom. Each step of the process must include prayer that God’s will be done and that the procedures and decisions be guided by the Holy Spirit. Every Call Committee meeting should begin and end in prayer. Some Call Committees have a prayer before each major vote. Interviews should begin and end with prayer.

The initial phone call to the District Office should be followed up with a brief letter detailing the impending vacancy as soon as you become aware of it. A letter from the outgoing worker indicating he/she is accepting another call, resigning, or retiring should be placed in the worker’s personnel file kept by the congregation.

Some congregations have the calling procedure clearly outlined in their constitutions. These guidelines should be carefully followed. A congregation’s constitution is authoritative and cannot be ignored.

The selection of the Call Committee is critical. The Senior Pastor should be involved in the process but does not necessarily have to be a member of every Call Committee. Usually at least one elder (or Board of Lay Ministry member) is added. Representation from a board that works with the ministry position is included. A distinguished past board chairperson may be added. As much as is possible, the current board chairperson should be included, and if possible, the next chairperson, if he or she is known, should also be included. Generally, other congregational members are added to create a mix of gender, age and stage in life on this critical committee.

The Board of Christian Education forms the nucleus of the Call Committee for calling a teacher. If there is a fairly large population of school families who are not members of the congregation, it is worth considering adding a member of the school family to the committee.

The Call Committee should be approved by the Church Council, Board of Directors or equivalent body.

It is a high calling to be chosen to serve on the Call Committee. Seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance at every step. Invite the congregation to be part of this important process. Petitions in the general prayers each Sunday allow the congregation to be involved as a corporate body. Encourage individual members of both the congregation and school families to be praying about the entire process.

It is important to keep the congregation fully informed of the process. In some cases the Senior Pastor will be part of the Call Committee. If the Senior Pastor is not part of the committee, it is important for the Call Committee chairperson to keep him fully informed at each step of the process.

It is also very important to keep the entire faculty and staff fully informed at each step of the process. In some cases a member of the faculty will serve on the Call Committee. This role works best when the educator serves NOT as a representative of the entire faculty, but as an educator sharing his/her own views as an educator. It is impossible for one teacher to speak for the entire faculty. It is strongly suggested that the chair of the Call Committee make regularly scheduled reports to the faculty at each step of the process. Input from the entire faculty and staff to the Call Committee should be welcomed.

In establishing your timeline, be specific about dates and include sufficient meeting times. It is always easier to subtract dates from a timeline, should you find you do not need all of them.

The appropriate board should begin reviewing the qualifications and ministry (job) description as soon as an impending vacancy becomes known. If there is no previous list of qualifications for the position, one should be established. The ministry description should be reviewed and rewritten. The new ministry description should be approved by the Church Council, Board of Directors or equivalent body.

It is imperative to know what one is searching for before the actual search begins. The Call Committee should review the material and become very familiar with both the qualifications and the ministry description.

The congregation should publish the names of the Call Committee members, including contact information for the chairperson, a general timeline for the calling process, and the list of the criteria that has been established for the vacant office.

Nominations should be invited from congregation members, school families and other interested parties. The Call Committee should prepare a nomination form that includes criteria for the candidate and a nomination deadline. The form should ask for the candidate’s name, where he/she is currently serving, and contact information (address, phone, e-mail). The nominator should sign the form and list phone numbers where he/she can be reached. In addition, space should be provided where the relationship of the candidate and nominator can be spelled out. Reasons why the nominator thinks the candidate should be considered may also be asked for on the nomination form. The name of one other person who knows that candidate well, and contact information, may also be requested on the nomination form.

As names are received, they should immediately be passed on to the Northern Illinois District office so that the candidate’s biographical information and evaluations can be compiled.

(Step 6 can be done simultaneously with Step 5)

A list of potential candidates should be requested from the District Office. Please include the list of qualifications and the ministry description. It is also very helpful to include an approximate salary range, including the health care benefits, etc.

Once the list of candidates is received from the District Office, this list, along with the nominations from congregational contacts, should be printed and available for the congregation and school families to review (just the name and current location for each candidate). This is an excellent opportunity for the Call Committee to request the congregation’s continued prayers for each of these men and women and for the entire calling process. In addition, these names should be shared directly with the faculty and staff. Names can still be added to the list at any time.

The Call Committee should invite written/signed comments from members of the congregation and school communities regarding any relevant knowledge they may have about any of the candidates.

All Call Committee members should receive copies of any information on the candidates that is received from the District Office and other sources. Remember, candidate information is confidential and should be viewed only by the Call Committee.

The initial contact with each candidate is by phone. The Call Committee should determine who will contact each candidate. Usually several members of the Call Committee participate in placing these calls. The Call Committee should use a standard format when contacting all candidates.

The key questions that you need to ask are:

It is very important that the exact responses of the candidates be written down and brought back to the committee.

Remember, every contact with a candidate is important. The candidate is evaluating you, even as you are attempting to discern the Lord’s will and evaluate the candidate.

Eliminate outright any candidates that said "no" in 8A, and those in 8B that had significant

limiting factors as determined by the Call Committee. Proceed to Step 9.

Some committees like to send a short questionnaire (4-5 questions) to the candidate list at this point to assist with the next step. Another option is to send the questionnaire to the short list of 5 to 8 candidates, after Step 9. Because of the time that this requires (for both the Call Committee’s process and the candidates themselves), the Call Committee should review the pros and cons of sending any written questionnaires.

At this point, most congregations will have a good number of candidates. Step 9 is the critical step of reducing this number to 5 to 8 viable candidates. This is a crucial step of discernment for your congregation by the Call Committee. Prior to this meeting, the Call Committee members should have received and studied all information gathered thus far on the candidates (from the District Office, members, phone calls, questionnaires, etc.). As a committee, you should review the possible methods of reducing the candidates and select the method you think will be the most effective. Two methods are suggested below.

Method One: As one large group discuss each of the candidates, then rate them.

Method Two: Rate each candidate individually, then discuss them in committee.

Some Call Committees send out a short questionnaire to each of the 5 to 8 remaining candidates, if one was not used prior to Step 8.

The goal of this step is to review the short list of candidates and eventually narrow it down to several finalists who will be invited to your site for a personal interview. The review process should include both reflection on the candidate by others who know him/her and a telephone interview of the candidate by the entire Call Committee.

The most critical part of the review process is to contact references, co-workers, and evaluators. At least four people should be contacted for each candidate. One or two Call Committee members should make all of these contacts, usually by phone. Use the same review format for each candidate and write out the responses to share with the full committee.

As a group, the Call Committee should consider the candidate reviews and narrow the short list down to the top 4 or 5 candidates.

A phone interview should be conducted with each of these candidates. Most Call Committees use a conference phone (speaker phone) for the interview phone call.

It is important to contact the candidate and schedule the phone interview in advance. One week to 10 days minimum advance notice may be needed. If possible, interview all 4 or 5 candidates by phone on the same day. Allow enough time between interviews for discussion and a break to clear one’s mind.

The Call Committee should formulate a list of interview questions to be used with all candidates. The District Office is available to assist in creating the interview questions. Input from the ministry board, pastor, and other staff is encouraged. At the time of the interviews, each Call Committee member should have the list of questions with sufficient room between each question to jot down comments. It should be decided ahead of time who will ask which questions. Many Call Committees have two or three members reading the questions. Begin and end each of the interviews with prayer. Use the same format for each candidate.

At the conclusion of the phone interviews, the Call Committee should select 2 or 3 finalists to invite for personal interviews and set some possible dates for this to occur. Determine who will contact each finalist and set up the interview (interview details are in Step 11).

At this point, the date of the official call selection meeting could be planned and announced, requesting the congregation and school community to continue to keep the process in their prayers.

(2 or 3 finalists)

At this point, contact additional references for each remaining candidate. Use the biographical and evaluative material on each candidate to determine your list of contacts. Choose people from former ministry sites, senior pastors, administrators, etc. These should be people not initially listed as references by the candidate.

Invite the candidate to your church and school for a personal visit and interview. The invitation should also be extended to the candidate’s spouse, with expenses covered by the congregation. Some Call Committees like to invite candidates in on different weekends and some find it best to fly them in on the same weekend. Make the visit informative and welcoming. It is important to make sure conditions for the interviews are as similar as possible.

The District Office is available to assist in formulating the interview questions. The questions should be different from those used in the phone interview process.

At this point in the calling process, the final details of salary considerations should be completed. In some cases it may be apparent that a difference exists between what the candidate is currently making in comparison to the calling congregation’s compensation proposal. Cost of living and other factors must also be part of the total comparison.

One of the larger factors to consider is the health and benefit package. Under the provision of the Concordia Worker Benefit Plans your congregation is required to pay the entire premium for the Retirement Plan and Disability & Survivor Plan. The provisions of the Concordia Health Plan are different and require only that your congregation pay 50 percent of the premium for the worker. Most congregations, however, provide full Concordia Health Plan coverage for the worker and give consideration to also providing Concordia Health Plan coverage to a worker’s spouse and dependents. If your congregation does not pay for the worker’s spouse and dependents, the worker is making payments from his/her taxable income. On the other hand, if the congregation provides this health care coverage insurance as a supplemental benefit the amount is free of income tax for the worker. This can be a sizeable compensation difference between two ministry sites.

Information should be gathered for the call documents in advance of the call selection meeting to ensure that call documents can be sent out immediately after the meeting. Call documents may be ordered from Concordia Publishing House or the District Office. There is a small fee. (See details of what to include with call documents in Step 13.)

Prior to the call selection meeting, contact the 2 or 3 finalist candidates to determine if they are still open to prayerfully considering a call from your congregation.

The Call Committee needs to decide in advance whether to list the entire slate of candidates or only the 2 or 3 finalists. Past history often dictates this decision.

It is important to assist the voting group in gaining some insights prior to voting. Call Committee members should be introduced to those assembled. In many cases, the Call Committee chairperson may give a brief overview of the process. Additional information is presented about the finalist candidates. Many committees have done a written page or half page highlighting biographical information about each finalist, his/her family, his/her positions of leadership, and other relevant information. Any questions from the congregation are answered as fully as possible. The Senior Pastor leads the voting assembly in prayer. The ballots are distributed and counted. When one candidate has a majority, unless otherwise stipulated by the constitution of the congregation, the balloting is complete. If a majority is not achieved on the first ballot, the candidate with the least number of votes is dropped and a second ballot taken. At the conclusion of the balloting, a resolution may be requested to make the selection unanimous.

Immediately following the call selection meeting, the called person should be notified by telephone. Send a letter to the calling body currently served by the called person. Also promptly inform candidates who were interviewed and not called.

Send out the call documents the next day if possible. Many congregations use overnight express. Include an invitation for the candidate and spouse to visit again at congregational expense. Provide real estate information, community information, school information, and any other information that might be helpful to the called person. Be sensitive to the job situation of the spouse¾ any information that can be provided in this area is often very helpful. Often times a letter from the Senior Pastor, Call Committee chairperson, and Board of Education chairperson accompany the call documents. Other congregational leaders and faculty and staff members may also choose to write letters to the called person.

It is very important that the members of the congregation keep the called worker and both congregations in their prayers during this time.

Moving expenses for a called worker: If your congregation has called a professional worker from another site, it is customary for the congregation to pay all necessary and reasonable moving expenses for the worker and family. The utilization of a commercial/professional moving firm indicates to the worker that, as a congregation, you are concerned about the worker’s welfare and the protection of his or her personal property.

Keep the District Office informed of calls offered, declined and accepted.

If the call is accepted, request authorization from the District President to install the called person. If the call is declined, restart the calling process at whatever step is appropriate.

Inform the District Office of the installation date and installing official. A commissioned minister must be installed by an ordained pastor on the LCMS roster.

Begin the orientation process for the new worker.

(This is a suggested timeline for a 3-month process; each call process will have its own timeline. The timeline for calling teachers tends, by necessity, to be the shortest. Establish your target timeline length and then establish specific meeting dates at the outset of the process to ensure that all Call Committee members can fully participate in the process.)

4. Call Committee reviews qualifications and ministry description

5. Request candidate nominations from congregation and school families

8. Contact all candidates and ask them questions from 8A and 8B

9. Reduce the number of candidates to short list (5 to 8)

10. Contact references and review candidates

11. Conduct phone interviews with 4 or 5 candidates

12. Personal interview with 2 or 3 finalists (1 or 2 weekends)

14. Send out call documents immediately, next morning after call!

Qualifications for a position at ________ Lutheran Church & School, ______,
Illinois

5. A valid state teaching certificate (if applicable for your ministry description)

7. Evidence of professional growth as a life-long learner

8. Willingness to participate as a "team player"

ADDITIONAL: Qualifications to add for an Administrator position

The ministry (job) description for each position should be as specific as possible to ensure the right candidate is considered for the position and, as the information is shared with the candidate, to give an accurate picture of what would be expected of him/her. Each time a position becomes vacant, the ministry description should be reviewed and updated, if not completely rewritten.

A ministry description can take many forms. The following is a suggested outline to use in writing a detailed ministry description before calling a worker to serve in your church and school.

Those who wish to suggest names of a candidate for the position of at Lutheran Church & School, , Illinois, are asked to complete this form and leave it in the church or school office for the Call Committee. The ministry description and qualifications for the position are available from the church and school offices. The deadline for suggesting names is .

Name:

Current Place of Service:

Address:

City/State/Zip:

Phone and E-mail:

My Signature Date

You may contact me at (phone number and e-mail):

Name of candidate:

Phone:

Member of Call Committee making contact: Date:

Good evening. I am ___________________ a member of the Call Committee for _______ Lutheran Church & School, __________, Illinois. We are putting together a call list for the position of _________________________.

Our church and school have a vibrant, exciting ministry. We have an average worship attendance of __________. We currently have _______ number of students in our school with ___________ faculty and staff members.

Would you be open to prayerfully considering a call to be _____________ at _______ Lutheran

Church & School, if the Holy Spirit would lead us to extend you a call?

Are there any factors in either your personal or ministry life that would limit you from fully and

openly considering a call to serve in our congregation?

Thank you!

Name of candidate _______________________________ Date __________________

Name of reviewer _______________________________ Phone __________________

relationship of reviewer to the candidate _______________________________

Name of Call Committee member contacting reviewer _____________________________

Thank you!