The four Es of ministry

The Very Rev Dr Martin Fair outlines the path to the ministries of the Church of Scotland.

THE Towards Ministry team has developed a set of 4 Es which spell out what’s involved for those who decide to respond to what they sense might be a call from God to one of the ministries of the Church of Scotland.*

The starting point is Enquire. If Thursday is the unofficial start of the weekend then enquire is the unofficial start of the process towards ministry! Everything is informal at this stage; no forms to fill in, no interviews, no references required. Here you will have opportunity to chat with a team member who, through long experience, will understand something of what you might be experiencing.

Alongside such one-to-one conversations, we offer two group opportunities. At various points throughout the year, we host Celebrating Calling events. At these, we rejoice that God is still calling people to ministry and we hear from a range of people who have responded to that call in recent times. Beyond that, there is some biblical insight into the principle of calling, descriptions of the nature of our various ministries, an outline of the journey through preparation and training and, of course, plenty of opportunity for questions.

Alongside the Celebrating events we run Conversations in Calling – online sessions where we dig more deeply into the whole business, giving participants opportunity for sharing, if desired, in the company of others who are in the same place.

Those who choose to can then progress to Explore. This is the start of the process, officially-speaking. It begins with a simple Discernment Conversation with one of our experienced team members. You’ll find them welcoming and friendly. Nothing to be worried about!

Through such a conversation, you’ll learn of some important practical steps that need to be taken, for example engaging with the safeguarding process. Beyond that, all being well, you’ll be offered a Discernment Placement. These are for six months and involve you being placed with a trained, experienced mentor. You’ll have opportunity to reflect more deeply still on what it is that you’re experiencing. Perhaps in sessions with your mentor, you’ll begin to find language to describe how your sense of calling is moving you.

The Discernment Placement concludes with a Local Review and with that, the step into Evaluate. Some of that will be self-evaluation. You might come through Discernment with a stronger sense of what you had first felt. Alternatively, you might have concluded that your calling is to stay where you are, doing what you’ve been doing in your local setting.

But so too the national Church has a role in evaluating your sense of call and thus your suitability for the various ministries of the Church. That starts at the Local Review and following it, there are four possible outcomes: 1 yes 2 stay a little longer in the placement 3 not yet 4 no.

Should that go well, you are free to proceed to National Assessment – a residential experience which concludes with a straightforward yes or no outcome (and if no, the opportunity to come back after a year.)

If for you, the outcome is a yes, you are ready to Enter training for ministry. Might we then add a fifth E; Excitement!

Through these 4Es, the Towards Ministry Team is confident it has a sympathetic, encouraging yet robust pathway through which you and the Church might discern the nature of what God might be calling you too.

Read more here: https://churchofscotland.org. uk/serve/vocations

Reader, Deacon, Ordained Local Minister, Full Time Minister of Word and Sacrament