Discerning Your Call to Ministry ─ How to Know for Sure and What to Do About It

Are you sure you want to be a church leader?

In his pastoral epistles, the apostle Paul lists some high standards for church leaders: character above reproach, teaching ability, management skills, self-control—the list goes on, and the grading curve is steep. It makes us ask, “Do I really want to be a church leader?”

Discerning Your Call to Ministry will help you answer that question. A tool for seminary students, pastors-in-training, and even current pastors, it serves to confirm or prompt deep thought about the calling to ministry through 10 probing questions, including:

• Do you desire the ministry?
• Does your church affirm your calling?
• Do you love the people of God?
• Are you willing to surrender?

Pastoral dropout rates are high, and seminary admission rates are declining—signs that many of us don’t quite know what we’re signing ourselves up for. Author Jason Allen, a former pastor and the president of North America’s fastest growing seminary, gives readers a better picture of the calling. Presenting a series of diagnostic questions informed by Scripture and church history, he helps those seeking ordination or ministry positions make confident decisions about their service to God, one way or the other.