Being "Called to the Ministry"

The term, being "called to the ministry," or being "called to be a minister," has been around for a long time. I'm not sure I heard it when I was young and was growing up as part of a church. Even now, after all the years I spent in the ministry before retiring, I'm not sure I could adequately explain to someone else what it means to be called to the ministry or how it happens. I can only tell what happened to me.

Some Background. First, let me give some background about my life and personality. I was born into a family where my father had been raised as a Presbyterian and my mother had been raised as a Roman Catholic. Before my parents were married, Dad had signed papers agreeing to raise any children as Catholics. That agreement didn't last very long.

In my early years, my parents had pretty much stopped attending church with the occasional exception on the part of Mom, who did go to Mass when she could. She tried taking my brothers, sister, and me with her, but Dad objected and that soon ended. Eventually the landlord of the farm where Dad worked and where our family lived took us to his church, a church which was not Presbyterian or Catholic.

As I grew up, I had a vivid sense of God's existence and presence. I was also very shy and, even though I had an uncle who said I should be a minister, being a minister was probably the farthest thing from my mind.

I joined the church when I was 17 years old and maintained regular attendance wherever I happened to be living. After graduating from college, I got a job with the Federal Trade Commission in Kansas City, Missouri. The work was boring and I tried to think of something else I would like to do. I had had a couple of business law courses in college, and the thought of being a lawyer appealed to me--not a courtroom lawyer where I would have to speak, but a lawyer who spent most of his time researching legal issues for someone else to present in public.