August 2026 COMma: COMs Supporting Culture of “Call”

A minister in your COM’s Conference has expressed concern about how few Members in Discernment there are in your region. They reach out to you wondering why that may be and how staff, COM members, ministers, and churches across your judicatory could help encourage more gifted people to enter ministry.

People who enter ministry do so for a variety of reasons, including their own personal discernment regarding God’s call on their lives. Many environmental factors also play a role in nurturing and shaping a call to ordained ministry. A Committee on Ministry may work alongside Conference/Association staff and churches to help cultivate a vibrant ecosystem of discernment for potential ministry candidates. This could include:

• Educating congregations about their role in encouraging ministry discernment. Forming Local Church Discernment Committees which support potential MIDs through the process is one important way churches support vocational exploration, and local churches can also be actively attentive to how faith formation, youth ministry, worship leadership, service trips, and other activities cause members’ gifts and wisdom to shine and possibly indicate a call to ministry. A Local Church can create a “culture of call” that encourages discernment and exploration of ministerial vocation;
• Partnering with Conference staff and volunteer leaders to consider how existing and new judicatory programming nurture discernment in participants. This includes summer camp, retreats, youth events, adult faith formation, and hosting visits from Regional Theological Education programs and seminaries;
• Regularly reviewing the COM’s own policies and requirements for the Member in Discernment process to ensure that it is as supportive and fair for candidates as possible. This includes inquiring whether current standards and practices are robust, not overly burdensome, and encouraging, as well as conducting a regular audit of how the application and communication of those standards and practices have affected current and former MIDs;
• Working with ministers to encourage new and existing ways that they may participate in the cultivating of ministry candidates from among their church membership. This could include the education of congregations mentioned above, but could also include personal mentoring, participation in and advocacy for wider church events, and serving on a Committee on Ministry.

There are many ways for a COM to help cultivate an infrastructure of discernment within your Conference or Association. Some are already available, and others may have yet to emerge. Fostering a “culture of call” to ordained ministry can be foundational to a Committee on Ministry’s work.

Questions for Reflection

1. How would you as a COM member respond to the minister in the case study above? Who could you work with on the concern that they have raised?
2. What existing programs do your COM, Conference, or Association have that may play a role in nurturing individuals’ call to ministry? What could you work together to develop for the future?