Holston Candidacy Process

Board of Ordained Ministry

Candidacy Guidelines and Related Forms Holston Annual Conference Office of Clergy Services

2019 Edition

Congratulations on your decision to seek to become a certified candidate for ministry in the United Methodist Church. I am especially glad that you have chosen to do this in relation to the Holston Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Please take some time to review this document. It contains links to various online forms I need for you to complete prior to your meeting with the District Committee on Ordained Ministry to which you will relate.

It also contains instructions about other documents that you will need to bring to your meeting with the DCOM. You should have been notified as to the date and location of that meeting in the email which had the link that brought you to this document.

If you have any questions, please contact me.

Rev. Terry Goodman Director of Clergy Services PO Box 850 Alcoa, TN 37701 (865) 690-4080 ClergyServices@holston.org

Do you like journeys and adventures? That may be one way to describe the Candidacy Process.

It’s not going to be as daring as this photo might suggest, but it is a journey...it can be an adventure. You see, we are asking you to begin a journey in which you try to discern God’s will and intention for your life. Anytime you seek to do that, you are on an adventure! So, take the time to read through this document and see what it is that God might be saying to you.

There is Paperwork that must be done.

The Good News, is that most of it is online...just type in your answers and the forms get sent to the appropriate person(s).

Being United Methodist, you can be assured that there is paperwork that needs to be completed. After all, they don’t call us “Methodist� for nothing. Most all the work, however, will be completed online or the forms you need to take to some meetings will be found online. Simply click on the buttons to be taken to the appropriate form or site.

On the pages that follow, there will be a series of buttons in the left hand margin. You will need to click on these buttons and then complete the online forms associated with each of the buttons. Once you complete a form, you will click submit and it will be sent to the person that needs to receive the data. You are strongly advised to print a copy of each of the forms that you complete and keep them in a file, should there be a question about whether or not they have been received.

Pre-Candidacy -The Inquiring Candidate

The Inquiring Candidate

At this stage, you are just beginning to explore what might be your call to ministry in the United Methodist Church. There is not a lot of paperwork to complete, it is more conversation. You might be talking with a clergyperson (perhaps your pastor) or you might even have scheduled a conversation with a District Superintendent. This is a time for you to ask questions.

At this stage in the process, you should be given a copy of the book: “The Christian as Minister and the Ministry Inquiry Process”. Most likely, you would get this book from a District Superintendent. Your task at this point is to read the book and have some serious discussions about its content and the application for your life. These typically occur with a District Superintendent, although they could occur with you or any other pastor that has gone through the process and is serving.

You should be asking yourself: 

Why do I think God is calling me to ministry?

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Have other people seen something in me that suggests to them that God might be calling me into ministry?

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If God is calling me, what form will that ministry take? Can I still serve in ministry as a lay person or do I need to become licensed and/or ordained?

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If you have a family, what are their thoughts on you being in ministry?

Clarifying these kind of questions can help you decide to move to the next step: Beginning Candidacy All of the above items need to be completed by December 1st. That is the deadline for applying for the Candidacy Summit that will be held, generally, on the second weekend in January.

Beginning Candidacy -The Exploring Candidate As you enter into this phase it is time for the annual conference to start collecting some data on you. In other words—it’s Paperwork Time! As you look at the sections below, you will note the kind of data that we need to collect. You will also notice in the blue bar next to the sections is a button.

Just click on that button and you are taken to an electronic form that you can complete. When you are done, simply hit the submit button and the form will be sent to an appropriate person.

BASIC DATA 

Name, address, contact information

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Verification of baptized participant or professing member for at least one year. You will need to have the date you joined a local United Methodist Church, the name of the church, and the pastor which received you into membership.

INFORMATION THAT NEEDS TO BE SUPPLIED TO THE DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT 

This is a letter that you will write to a District Superintendent requesting admission to the candidacy process and the assignment of a mentor to help guide you through the process. 

This letter will include a statement of your call. You will need to write down why you feel that God is calling you to ministry in the United Methodist Church.

THE UMCARES PROCESS 

Once this is received by the District Superintendent, you will be enrolled in UMCares which will be an online process that will guide you through various steps of the Candidacy Process.

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Repond to the email that you receive: (a) login to UMCARES (b) Choose “Mentors and Track” in the left-hand navigation (c) Open “Candidacy Track” (d) Candidacy Application Form is the first “Step” in the Candidacy “Track”

SAFE GATHERING CERTIFICATION 

A Safe Gathering certification. This is an online background, credit, and motor vehicle check. It also provides training in Safe Sanctuaries policies. You will need to complete this online process and print out the certificate that states you have successfully completed the course and bring it with you to the DCOM meeting.

CANDIDATE’S DISCLOSURE FORM

In Holston Annual Conference we take seriously events from your past of a criminal nature. As part of the process of candidacy, we, and the denomination, require you to submit a notarized statement detailing any convictions for felony or misdemeanor or written accusation of sexual misconduct or child abuse; OR a notarized statement certifying that you have neither been accused in writing nor convicted of a felony, misdemeanor, any incident of sexual misconduct or child abuse.

MEDICAL REPORT OF MINISTERIAL CANDIDATE You are required to submit a medical form as part of the application process. You will need to print this form and take it to your doctor so that he or she can complete it. You might want to go ahead and fill in the information online so that it will be on the form when you print it.

CHOOSE A MINISTERIAL ASSESSMENT SPECIALIST (MAS) You will need to log back into your UMCares account to complete this step.

Once you log in you will: 1. Choose “Mentors and Track” in the left-hand navigation bar 2. Open “Psychological Assessment Track” 3. “MAS Selection” is the first “Step” in the Psychological Assessment Track.

There is a fee associated with this step of the process. You will need to either mail in, or bring to the Candidacy Summit, a check for $200 to partially cover the cost of the psychological assessment. The mailed check should be sent to: Office of Clergy Services, POB 850, Alcoa, TN, 37701.

While in UMCares, you will also need to complete the following tracks: 1. Release of Psychological Assessment Information 2. You will be required to pay a $75 fee to the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry and decide on whether you will download or request a printed copy of the book: “Answering the Call: Candidacy Guidebook” 3. You will need to complete the Personal Data Inventory track.

4. You will need to begin the EM360 track (There will be links at UMCares to videos that will explain this process.

Please watch those videos and do as you are instructed.)

5. Upload EM 360 Feedback Report

The Candidacy Summit

If you have made it this far in the process, you have completed all of your online forms at UMCares. It is now time for you to register for the Candidacy Summit that is held in January of each year.

At the Candidacy Summit, you will have an opportunity to further explore, along with other candidates, your call to ministry. You will also be assigned to mentoring groups. You will be required to attend group settings during the next four months. You will also be given the opportunity to take some of the psychological tests that you have signed up for in the UMCares tracks.

This is a one day event. It is a full day of activity and your attendance is required.

The deadline for register to attend this event is the first Monday in December annually. Please click on the link in the lower left to complete your registration.

Registration = $50 for the Summit fee Hotel if you desire an overnight accommodations = $65 per night.

In 2020, the Summit will be held on Saturday January 11th from 10:00 am-5:00 pm at the Holston Conference Center in Alcoa, Tennessee.

Group Mentoring Sessions

At the Summit, each person will be assigned to a mentoring group. Over the next 4-5 months, the group will meet under the leadership of its assigned mentor, to discuss the book: Answering the Call-Candidacy Guidebook. This is a required part of the process and your attendance will be required. Groups will be formed based on geographical location. It will up to the mentor and group members to agree upon a time and place for the meeting.

Post Group Mentoring: Required Meetings

Following completion of the Group Mentoring phase, it is time to schedule two meetings prior to your meeting with the District Committee on Ordained Ministry (DCOM). The first meeting is with the Pastor Parish Relations Committee of your home church. These are the people that know you the best and they will have some questions for you and make a recommendation to the Charge Conference of your home church.

The Charge Conference will then make the formal recommendation to the DCOM that you become a certified candidate.

It is at this stage of the process that the sense of call moves from internal to external in nature. Now it is not about what you believe God is doing in your life, it is about what others are seeing God doing in your life. This is a time for affirmation. If you are called, then others will have sensed God’s presence and power guiding you. You might be surprised at the insights that these two groups will be able to share with you. Sure, it can be sort of nerve wracking to come before a group for this kind of evaluation, but it can also be freeing. You might learn more about how God has been using you to minister for the Kingdom. So approach these meetings with an open heart, mind, and spirit.

“Your destiny is to fulfill those things upon which you focus most intently. So choose to keep your focus on that which is truly magnificent, beautiful, uplifting and joyful. Your life is always moving toward something.�

Ralph Marston

The Meeting With the Pastor Parish Relations Committee At this stage in the journey, you need to meet with the Pastor Parish Relations Committee of your home church, or of an equivalent body (as designated by the District Committee on Ordained Ministry.) Prior to this meeting, you will need to:

WRITE A STATEMENT OF CALL This is a simple document. You don’t have to get fancy and quote a million scriptures or theologians. Simply write why it is that you feel God is calling you to ministry. If appropriate, you could even share some examples of how you see that call working out in your life.

INTERVIEW WITH THE COMMITTEE You will meet with the PPRC and they will question you in light of John Wesley’s historical questions. You might want to think about how you plan to answer the following questions: 1.) Do you know God as a pardoning God? Do you have the love of God abiding within you? Do you desire nothing but God? Are you holy in all manner of conversation?

2.) Do you have gifts, as well as evidence of God’s grace, for the work? Do you have a clear, sound understanding ; a right judgment in the things of God; a just conception of salvation by faith? Do you speak justly, readily, clearly?

3.) Do you have fruit? Have you been truly convinced of sin and converted to God, and are believers edified by your service?

If these things are evident in your life, that is a sign that you are called of God to serve. This should serve as sufficient proof that you have been moved by the Holy Spirit.

PRIOR TO THIS MEETING— you must complete FORM 01-Declaration of Candidacy for Licensed or Ordained Ministry and Approval of the Pastor-Parish Relations Committee or Equivalent Body. Take this to the meeting so that it can be completed by the PPRC.

The Meeting with the Charge Conference or Equivalent Body The Charge Conference is the governing body of the local church. It will receive the recommendation that comes from the PPRC and will then vote upon that recommendation. It is the decision from this body that will recommend you to the District Committee on Ordained Ministry.

There is only one qualification, other than the PPRC recommendation, that the Charge Conference must consider. Are you a graduate from a high school or have you received a certificate of equivalency?

The vote will by taken by written ballot and must have a 2/3’s majority before you will be recommended to the DCOM for consideration as a candidate.

PRIOR TO THIS MEETING—you need to make sure that the District Superintendent has a copy of FORM –02– Initial Approval of the Charge Conference for Certification as a Candidate.

PLEASE NOTE — You must continue to come back before the Charge Conference on a yearly basis to continue your candidacy.

You will do this until you are licensed or commissioned. At that meeting you will need to make sure the District Superintendent has FORM 03-Continued Approval of the Charge Conference for Candidacy and Continued Candidacy.

Meeting with the District Committee on Ordained Ministry for Certification as a Candidate

At this point you have come to the final stage of the Candidacy journey. You are about to reach the pinnacle of your climb. When you meet with the District Committee on Ordained Ministry, you will be meeting with the group that can certify you as a candidate. At this point, you have undergone the inquiry process, you have attended the Candidacy Summit, you have attended post summit mentoring groups, you have gained the recommendation of your SPPRC and your charge conference. These have been times for you to learn and about yourself, and hopefully grow in knowledge of self, of the process, and of God. The members of the District Committee on Ordained Ministry are on your side. They are rooting for you, but they have an important role to play. They do not simply work as a rubber stamp to all that has gone on before this moment. They play a critical role in helping to decide whether you exhibit a call, the gifts, graces, and fruit—that could lead to your becoming a minister in the United Methodist Church.

In preparation for this meeting, you will need to insure that the Registrar for the District Committee on Ordained Ministry has received, prior to the meeting, the following items: 

Verification that you are a baptized participant or professing member of a United Methodist Church for at least one year. (Written statement from pastor with date you joined is sufficient.)

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Form 01—Declaration of Candidacy for Licensed or Ordained Ministry and Approval of the PPRC

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A copy of the Statement of Call supplied to the PPRC

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Form 02—Initial Approval of the Charge Conference

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Safe Gatherings Certification

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Completed Psychological Assessment (will be sent to Registrar by the Director of Clergy Services)

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FORM 16—Notarized Disclosure

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FORM 103—Medical Summary Report of Ministerial Candidate

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FORM 102— Biographical Information

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FORM 05 —District Superintendent Fitness Report for Certified Candidates (submitted by DS)

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FORM 06 — Supervising Pastor Report (submitted by your home church pastor or chair of equivalent body)

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Transcripts for all education (high school or high school equivalency and higher)

In addition, prior to the meeting with the District Committee on Ordained Ministry (DCOM), you will need to do some theological reflection, answer the following questions—in writing and provide your answers to your DCOM. 1.) Describe the most formative experience of your Christian life?

2.) How is God calling you to licensed or ordained ministry and what role does the church have in your call?

3.) How do you understand the orders of elder, deacon, or licensed ministry? Where does your call fit into these orders?

4.) Describe your support system. How might your personal relationships affect your future ministry?

This publication is from the Office of Clergy Services of the Holston Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. Other annual conferences are free to use this document in ways that they deem appropriate. The document was created using Microsoft Publisher. If you would like to receive a publisher file of this document, to make your own modifications, please contact: Rev. Terry Goodman Director of Clergy Services (865) 690-4080 ClergyServices@holston.org