ELCA Call Process - and "Firing" of Pastors

[KagomeShuko]

I was trying to explain the ELCA call process to somebody (just a general conversation to compare with Methodists).

I think I got it right, in general. I've been through it a few times, but still . . .

An ELCA congregation puts out a notice that they need a new pastor.

People apply with resumes, whatever documents are wanted to the church council.

The council goes through the resumes to see which candidates that they like. The candidates interview with the council.

When the council likes a candidate, the candidate comes in for an interview or does a phone interview.

If the council members like what the candidate has said, the council then invites them to preach on a Sunday.

After the candidate preaches, it is time for the congregation members to meet the candidate.

After that, the congregation members vote on if the candidate should be called as the pastor to the church or not. If the majority vote is to call the candidate as the pastor, the candidate can accept or reject the call. If the majority vote is not to call the candidate, the candidate is told that they were not selected and the process starts again.

This is what I remember . . .

I really don't know about the higher offices like Bishops of the Synods and the overall Bishop, though . . .

Oh, and the "firing," of pastors - if the congregation has a problem, that is brought to the council and a congregational meeting is called where a vote is taken, right?

I know that a pastor can decide to leave as that has happened when I was active in the local ELCA church.

 

[Radicchio]

You have described the basic process.

First the church council contacts the Bishop's office and generally works with the
assistant to the Bishop in selecting an Interim Pastor.

Next step is forming a Transition Team, which has two goals 1) discover a new and deepened sense of identity and purpose of the congregation; 2) establish a relationship with the ministerial who will walk with the congregation towards the renewed sense of purpose.

Following the completion of the Ministry Site Profile by the Transition Team the next step is to form a Call Committee. The Bishop's Office will provide a list of possible candidates for the Call Committee to review and possibly interview.

The whole process will take several months (six months to a year). We are currently going through the process and are now just forming our Transition Team. We have an Interim Pastor who started in December 2019 and we expect that the Interim will be with us for about nine months before a new pastor is called and confirmed.

Through the entire process you are working closely with and guided by the Bishop's office.

 

[SkyWriting]

I was trying to explain the ELCA call process to somebody (just a general conversation to compare with Methodists).

I think I got it right, in general. I've been through it a few times, but still . . .

An ELCA congregation puts out a notice that they need a new pastor.

People apply with resumes, whatever documents are wanted to the church council.

The council goes through the resumes to see which candidates that they like. The candidates interview with the council.

When the council likes a candidate, the candidate comes in for an interview or does a phone interview.

If the council members like what the candidate has said, the council then invites them to preach on a Sunday.

After the candidate preaches, it is time for the congregation members to meet the candidate.

After that, the congregation members vote on if the candidate should be called as the pastor to the church or not. If the majority vote is to call the candidate as the pastor, the candidate can accept or reject the call. If the majority vote is not to call the candidate, the candidate is told that they were not selected and the process starts again.

This is what I remember . . .

I really don't know about the higher offices like Bishops of the Synods and the overall Bishop, though . . .

Oh, and the "firing," of pastors - if the congregation has a problem, that is brought to the council and a congregational meeting is called where a vote is taken, right?

I know that a pastor can decide to leave as that has happened when I was active in the local ELCA church.

So is God involved?

 

[tampasteve]

So is God involved?

Of course. God is all along the process. The council, Bishop, and everyone involved from the parishioners up are all praying for the right person.

 

[tampasteve]

Another way can be from the Diaconate > Vicar > Pastor, sometimes with assistant Pastor as an interim step.

 

[KagomeShuko]

So is God involved?

Of course God is involved, but that aspect wasn't something that needed to be mentioned to be understood by the two parties in the discussion. That was always implied.

 

[grasping the after wind]

The ELCA does not actually have a universal policy only a few guidelines. Each individual regional Synod has a lot of latitude in deciding how to go about the process. The synod my Congregation is in for instance, allows a call committee to only consider one candidate at a time. That candidate is provided to the call committee by the synod and the call committee is not allowed to inquire about any other candidate or request any specific candidate. Nor are they able to be allowed to consider another candidate prior to either accepting or rejecting that candidate or being accepted or rejected by that candidate. Once the call committee settles on a candidate he/she must be approved by the Congregation Council and then by The Congregation in a vote. Depending upon the Congregation this may take years as considering only one candidate at a time is not the most efficient way to proceed. I particularly do not like this way of doing things because I think it can be somewhat hard on the ego to be aware that not only was one rejected but one was rejected not because another was a better fit but simply because one was deemed worth rejecting.

As to whether God is involved or not, prayer is a constant part of the process so unless one is going to assume that those prayers are insincere I would say that He is.

I have never experienced or been aware of any Pastor being fired so I have no information on that process.

 

[SkyWriting]

Of course God is involved, but that aspect wasn't something that needed to be mentioned to be understood by the two parties in the discussion. That was always implied.

So officially, no.

 

[tampasteve]

So officially, no.

If you mean "officially no" as in God is not involved that is a ridiculous statement to make.

It was implied, and anyone even slightly familiar with the process of being called to be a minister and called to a church would know that prayer and discernment are integral to the whole process.

God is working and moving in the ELCA church, if you do not agree with this basic principal then please refrain from posting in our ELCA forum.

 

[KagomeShuko]

So officially, no.

@tampasteve 's response to you is completely correct.

If you have to know why I didn't have to mention it, I was taking with an associate pastor of a Methodist church. We were in a pastor's office. We didn't need to MENTION God to know that God is ALWAYS part of the process and always part of our lives.

 

[Arcangl86]

And one way the ELCA is different then some denominations is that all rostered leaders, so associate pastors and deacons, have to be called, not just the lead pastor. And as for termination, it's actually brought to the bishop who decides how the conflict should be resolved, including recommendation on terminating a call or not. Both the congregation and the pastor have to agree. If either party doesn't agree, then the congregation votes. It takes 2/3 to terminate a call if the bishop did not recommend termination, and a straight majority if he did.

 

[KagomeShuko]

And one way the ELCA is different then some denominations is that all rostered leaders, so associate pastors and deacons, have to be called, not just the lead pastor. And as for termination, it's actually brought to the bishop who decides how the conflict should be resolved, including recommendation on terminating a call or not. Both the congregation and the pastor have to agree. If either party doesn't agree, then the congregation votes. It takes 2/3 to terminate a call if the bishop did not recommend termination, and a straight majority if he did.

I knew of the 2/3 voting rule . . .

The ELCA congregation I was a part of for years never actually fired a pastor, but one did leave because I knew they were getting to the point of saying that she shouldn't be there. She also wanted to be closer to her family . . . but it was the congregation being horrible at first . . . only a few of us supported her . . .