Thank you for serving on your District’s Committee on Ministry!
The work you’ve agreed to do is holy work.
On behalf of your District, the Board of Ordained Ministry, the Texas Annual Conference, and the United Methodist Church, you will be interviewing God’s people… …people God has definitely called for ministry.
You’ll be helping discern if they are called to one of the many forms of lay ministry, to serve the church as
- lay volunteers
- lay church staff members
- lay church staff members with specialized certifications
- certified lay speakers
- certified lay ministers
or if they are called, gifted, fit, and ready to be set apart to lead God’s people, to serve the church as
- ordained deacons
- ordained elders
- licensed local pastors
You’ll be guiding people through “candidacy” (a period of discernment during which people help people discern God’s callings) and guiding licensed local pastors throughout their ministry.
Your first step: pray for and with your District Committee on Ministry (dCOM) for God’s presence among you as you work, and for God’s wisdom and guidance and you make important and sometimes difficult decisions.
Our hope and prayer: that this resource manual will help you in this holy work.