Are you a Baptist? And do you feel God may be leading you into pastoral ministry? And you wonder what it takes to become a pastor–specifically a Baptist pastor? If so, you’ve come to the right place.
The road to becoming a Baptist pastor varies depending on your specific Baptist tradition. Yes, there are multiple Baptist traditions. There are Southern Baptists, American Baptists, Free Will Baptists, Landmark Baptists, Cooperative Baptists, Independent Baptists, and on and on and on. There are dozens of Baptist denominations in the US alone! Want (close to) the full list of Baptist denominations? Check out Wikipedia’s “List of Baptist Denominations.”
Baptists are notoriously independent-minded, even if they are aligned within a denomination. This comes, in large part, from the traditional Baptist understanding of the priesthood of the believer, their strong support for local church autonomy, and their belief in the freedom of conscience (or “soul competency”).
Baptists have an often well-deserved reputation for always battling and frequently separating.
Some generalizations can be made, however, for those Baptist churches (and denominations or traditions) who have a high view of Scripture and who generally hold to an evangelical perspective. In other words, we’re looking at Baptists who are at least moderately conservative in their approach to the Bible.
And to be clear (though this is no surprise to those who have read this blog regularly), I definitely identify with the theologically conservative evangelical Baptist tradition. I grew up Independent Baptist and now serve a Southern Baptist congregation.
With that in mind, if you wish to be a pastor in that tradition of Baptist churches, here is a basic roadmap for you to follow…
A Relationship with Jesus Christ
Make sure you’re saved! This is crucial and you should not proceed any further until you get this straight. The foundation of ministry is a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior? Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He came and died for your sins (see John 3:16)? Have you confessed Jesus as Lord and embraced His sacrifice and resurrection (see Romans 10:9-10) and have you called upon His name to save you (Romans 10:13)?
I’m not asking if you grew up in a Christian home or if you’ve been in church your whole life. I’m asking if you’ve made a specific, intentional, and personal decision to embrace Christ and give yourself to Him?
Scriptural Baptism
The name “Baptist” should be a strong clue that Baptists take baptism very seriously. Frankly, I believe all Christians should take baptism seriously since it is commanded by Christ (see Matthew 28:19-20). Nevertheless, keeping the focus on Baptists… there should be no doubt that baptism is fundamentally important. So…
Does your understanding of baptism line up with the traditional, orthodox view of baptism held by virtually all theologically conservative Baptists (and most evangelicals in general)? Put succinctly, that understanding of baptism is…
Baptism should be by immersion after conversion.
Have you been baptized accordingly?
And when you get baptized, get baptized through (and into) a local church. The Bible doesn’t say explicitly that one must be baptized in a church service in front of dozens or hundreds or thousands of people. But the local church is crucial to your growth as a believer in Christ. So, join a church and be a part of it. (More on this shortly).
Prayer & Spiritual Growth
Your ability to minister begins with the Holy Spirit ministering to, in, and through you. To be an effective pastor, you must be fully committed to your spiritual growth. That means a fervent commitment to prayer as well as the spiritual disciplines in general.
How is your prayer life? Do you “pray without ceasing” (I Thessalonians 5:17)? How do you pray? What does prayer mean to you? Do you hear from God? Do you listen to Him? Do you obey Him?
What is the quality of your relationship with God? Are you walking with Him? Would He describe you as a “disciple”?
The quality of your ministry will depend on the quality of your relationship with God and the level of your commitment to being a disciple.
Bible Study
During your journey to ordination and beyond, it is important to maintain a passion for scriptural study. The Bible is (at least it better be) your textbook. You need to know it — and know it well! And you need to be able to teach it!
I don’t mean you need to be able to “parrot” what other preachers and teachers say. You need to be able to dive into the word of God, study it, properly exegete it, and teach it. In the words of the Apostle Paul:
- Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (II Timothy 2:15, KJV)
- All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. (II Timothy 3:16-17, KJV)
- Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. (II Timothy 4:2, KJV)
Remember that Paul was a missionary, pastor, and apostle. And he wrote at least two letters to his young protege in ministry, Timothy, who was serving as the pastor of the church in Ephesus. The pastoral epistles (I and II Timothy and Titus) should be books you camp out in. Why? They are instructions for pastors–written by one of the greatest pastors in human history under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit!
I should pause here and say that, in my mind as well as in the view of almost all theologically conservative Baptist churches, you need to have a high view of Scripture. You need to see the Bible as the written word of God! Your attitude needs to be: If the Bible teaches it, that settles it!
Don’t even think about becoming a pastor unless you are (first) a devoted, consistent, and growing student of God’s word. And never stop reading it, studying it, and learning from it.
Church Participation & Service
Paul is clear that God isn’t in the habit of putting novices into positions of church leadership (I Timothy 5:22). This doesn’t mean God can’t use young people or that He doesn’t call young people. On the contrary, we know Timothy was young (I Timothy 4:12), but…
Timothy was trained and mentored. (More on that in a moment). Timothy was young, but he was not inexperienced. If you want to be a pastor, you need experience.
In my twenties (before I knew for sure God was calling me into ministry), I preached at nursing homes and even helped teach Sunday school at our church sometimes. In fact, throughout my teens, twenties, and thirties, I volunteered to serve in a number of various capacities in church. When God confirmed His call on my life to be a pastor (which happened in my mid-thirties), I was new to pastoral ministry but not to the ministry itself!
So…
Join a Bible-believing church. If you’re going to be a Baptist pastor, that should be a Bible-believing Baptist church. And get involved. Don’t be a spectator. Don’t simply be a pew warmer. And certainly don’t just be an opinion-giver. Churches have plenty of those.
Become an active, serving member of the church!
Start volunteering. Start serving. Be an active, involved participant in your local church. And then, as you grow in Christ, develop relationships, and earn trust… talk with your pastor about getting some experience leading Bible studies or teaching Bible lessons.
Mentorship
You need one or more mentors in your life. These should be Bible-believing, Jesus-following, wise saints of God who can help hold you accountable in your walk with Christ, your growth in Christ, and your service to Christ.
Look for one or more mentors who can advise and support you in your family, your spiritual growth, your theological training, and your development as a pastor-to-be.
Examples of mentorship are throughout the Bible. Paul was a mentor to Timothy and Titus. Barnabas, in the beginning, was something of a mentor to Paul. Peter, Paul, and Barnabas were all mentors to Mark. Jesus was a mentor to His core twelve disciples. Moses was a mentor to Joshua. And on and on.
Formal Training and Education
Depending on your present situation, you should seek out formal training and education. And there are many options for doing so. Most Baptist churches in the United States will expect (and insist upon) some formal education before trusting you with their pulpit. There are exceptions to this, but the vast majority expect their pastors to be formally educated and trained.
This expectation may seem arbitrary, but there are good reasons for it. A church has no way of knowing all your mentors and former pastors. But they can fairly quickly check out or “vet” seminaries. And they know that, if you were given a degree by an accredited seminary, there’s a pretty good chance you earned it -and thus know your stuff.
If it’s not an accredited seminary or if you had a more non-traditional or self-guided educational journey, that requires a lot of explanation–and not all churches are able to understand that or “vet” that. And many churches have been burned.
Talk with your pastor about seminary options. Some seminaries offer scholarships, affordable tuition rates, online programs, hybrid approaches, and more. Some seminaries also offer part-time options for pastors who work full-time.
When choosing a program, make sure it aligns with your desired path in ministry and satisfies your church’s or denomination’s requirements for ordination. It is also important to find a program that will help you build a strong foundation for biblical knowledge.
Ordination & Licensure
This is where it can get confusing. Remember what I said about Baptists being autonomous and independent? Yeah, well, that is very much the case with ordination.
There are multiple Baptist denominations and thousands of Baptist churches. There are just under 50,000 Southern Baptist churches in the US alone. Baptist churches all have their own standards, protocols, and requirements for ordination.
To oversimplify things a bit, the surest ingredients for ordination as a Baptist pastor (at least in theologically conservative evangelical Baptist churches) are the following:
- a written testimony of your salvation, baptism, and call to ministry
- a positive reputation (in other words: a strong testimony)
- active membership in a local Baptist church
- a pastoral recommendation
- a seminary degree
- some ministry experience (doesn’t have to be pastoral experience)
If you have the above ingredients in place, most Baptist churches will put you on a path to ordination. That “path” will vary from church to church. But, in most cases, if you have the above in place, you’ll be on your way to ordination.
Most Baptist churches (again, I’m referring to those in the conservative, evangelical tradition) will have some form of “examination” process as part of that path to ordination. This will likely involve several meetings with your pastor, possibly the deacons, and likely other pastors in your denomination. The culmination of this will be you facing a panel of pastors who will ask you questions about your background, testimony, theology, and ministry philosophy.
The process I went through was cordial and supportive, but I’ve heard some horror stories from others. It’s important that you have a solid pastor guiding you through.
Since Baptists are focused on the local church more so than any denomination (and this is true even with the Southern Baptist Convention, which is the largest Baptist denomination), your ordination will almost certainly be voted on and carried out by your local church. That is certainly the case with the church I serve as pastor, though we do reach out to our denomination for support in the process.
Once your local Baptist church ordains you, then most other Baptist churches “of like faith and practice” (meaning similar beliefs) will recognize your ordination. Most non-denominational evangelical churches will probably also accept your ordination, though they will likely (and appropriately) ask you some questions to make sure your beliefs line up with theirs. However…
Don’t count on other denominations recognizing your ordination, except perhaps as a courtesy. If you are ordained in a Baptist church and decide to later become a Methodist, Anglican, Episcopalian, Eastern Orthodox, or Catholic, you will almost certainly have to start all over with the ordination process.
When it comes to officiating weddings, you will need to be recognized by the state in which the wedding is performed. Some states have very loose requirements. Others require you to get a wedding license in that state. For example, the church I serve is in Maryland. As long as I am “endorsed” by a church ord denomination that is recognized in Maryland, I am eligible to officiate weddings (and sign marriage licenses) in Maryland. But in Virginia, I have to register with the Clerk of the Circuit Court for whichever county the wedding takes place in. You’ll need to research this for yourself.
I don’t believe there are any legal requirements in any state for officiating a funeral SO LONG AS you aren’t handling the body itself. Each state has legal standards and regulations when it comes to burial, cremation, etc. The funeral industry is definitely regulated. But as long as you’re not getting involved in that aspect of things, no license is necessary to officiate a funeral as a pastor. After all, anyone can speak at a funeral. It’s really at the discretion of the family.
A Lifelong Journey
Once you’re ordained, the journey has really only begun. Being an effective, diligent pastor will require that you remain faithful to God’s call and stay in keeping with the pastoral qualifications laid out in I Timothy and Titus. You also need to be continually in prayer, in Bible study, and in active church involvement.
Being a pastor can be immensely rewarding, but it can also be incredibly taxing (emotionally, mentally, and spiritually). And it can be painful.
But if God has called you to pastoral ministry… say “yes” to the call. He will equip you, empower you, and guide you. And there’s nothing like experiencing God’s work through you.
May God bless you as you prayerfully contemplate His will for your life.
Check out my short story, The Campfire, written especially for pastors and church leaders.
