What is Full-Time Ministry

This is a paper I wrote for school, I interviewed Elijah Ketchum, he is the Youth Pastor at my church, and he used his experience to share some informed ideas. I wrote this paper on Vocational Ministry, the more I learn about ministry the more I realize that ministry is often misunderstood. Vocational Ministry is simply serving God as your job. The primary thing I noticed when talking to him and when researching, is that this career is unlike almost all others. It requires a genuine love for Jesus, you have to be willing to pursue Him with your life. That leads me to my first observation, ministry is not just a vocation, it is a lifestyle, you have to be willing to do your job outside of your nine-to-five, you should be willing to go above and beyond your job description. Also, it requires you to care for people and to take care of them. I believe what Mr. Ketchum said throughout the interview will support these claims. My goal in writing this is just to help to shape people’s view of ministry in a more accurate way.

First, we talked a little bit about the training that is required for this career. When I asked him what kind of training this career requires, he said “It is most often bible college training, most churches would require someone to go through a staff internship prior to actually serving on a pastoral staff team, so I would say a college education along with an internship.” Next, I asked him what branch of this career he was in, and I asked him about the further training required for that branch, and this is what he said: “I’m in Youth Ministry, it requires training specific to dealing with minors, there are different types of event and activity planning that come along with it, probably the most specific thing is navigating the parent-teen relationship.” And then, I asked him a little bit of a different question, I asked him what advice he has for someone entering this career, he responded this way, “Yes, develop an extremely sincere, real, close, personal walk with Jesus Christ and he will lead you step by step.” So as you can see, going into ministry requires a commitment to Jesus and to a willingness to grow. When I say a “willingness to grow” I say that because I do believe that we can enable ourselves to grow more in our life, by putting ourselves in uncomfortable situations, we are enabling ourselves to grow faster than if we stay in our comfort zone.

Another thing that Mr. Ketchum said that I definitely agree with was said when I asked him: “Is there good job availability for those who choose this career?” He responded with: “I would say yes, there is always a need for more people to preach the gospel.” I have heard many people make similar statements, and I believe it is very true, “God calls enough people to reach each generation with the gospel,” (1) and there is always a need for willing servants who are willing to set aside their own goals and desires in favor of much more fulfilling goals and desires.

An important thing to evaluate when looking at any career is the positives and negatives of that career, so I asked him 3 questions that sought to pierce through preconceived notions that many of us have, and give me a finger on the pulse of this career and its benefits. Firstly I asked about the current problems faced by those in this career? and his response was interesting, he said “The continuing opposition from the culture in our nation, also covid.” I thought that was very interesting, the more I thought about it, the more I realized how true this was, going into this career, you have to be willing to take on a controversial label, a lot of people don’t like pastors, and spiritual leaders. After that, I asked him to list a particular advantage to this career as well as a particular disadvantage? he said, “The advantage is that you get to do the most meaningful thing that a person can do with their life, a disadvantage though is it’s a lot of times a thankless job, a job that’s misunderstood, [also] leadership can be lonely.” He said three things that I want to examine, 1. he said that it’s a thankless job, that is very true, people have no idea the amount of work (and the weight of the work) that people in full-time ministry do. 2. He said that it is a job that is misunderstood, I agree, a lot of people just think that youth pastors spend their week thinking of trendy service ideas and trying to come up with ways to keep teens attention, that is a very small part of his job, he is actually meeting with teens and helping them navigate their problems, he is also preparing sermons, as well as planning events that will be scrutinized by critical teenagers, and assisting his pastor in any way that he can. 3. He also said that leadership can be lonely, this is also true, doing the right thing even when other people are doing something else can be hard. I asked about the opportunity for advancement in this career, he had this to say “I think that that’s really a spiritual endeavor, advancement is not always a positional promotion but is just becoming deeper and better in your ability to minister to people.” This really helped to reinforce the idea that ministry can’t be evaluated like other careers, ministry is a calling, and if God is calling you, you should be willing to do what he is calling you to do, you shouldn’t have to weigh the positives and negatives, because “the only thing he asks of us is what is best for us.” (2)

Before we wrapped up the interview, I asked 2 more questions, I first asked about the natural abilities or interests that are needed for this career? he responded by saying “Specifically for pastoral ministry, a call from God, but as far as natural abilities and interests, I would say that while those things may help, God is going to equip anybody that he calls, obviously in pastoral ministry, you’re going to have public speaking, your going to have leadership, but your [also] going to have all kinds of administrative things, but depending on where you go, and what your church is, you can have volunteers, lay-leaders, staff members, so really, God equips each person for their call.”There is a lot here, but the overall theme is that God will equip us to serve him, I remember a quote, I’m not sure where it‘s from, Mr. Ketchum or Mr. Goodson may have even been the one who said this but the quote is “God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called” and I love that quote a lot. I loved his response to the last question I asked, I asked “Why did you choose this career as your profession?” and he said “Oh, that’s easy, because God called me to do it. So I said yes!” I would say that is the number one reason that I am going into ministry as well, God called me to do it and I know that I will get the most satisfaction and be the most fulfilled from doing what he has designed me for.

After examining myself and the natural skills that I have that will translate to this career, I recognized how much God had been working in me to prepare me for this career, I am comfortable with public speaking which is important for someone in this career, I am also outgoing and I’ve been told that I have a welcoming personality, and I also am a little bit of a perfectionist, which is important for making a building look as presentable as possible before a service or event. I think the biggest shortcoming that could affect my “success” in this career is my aggressive personality and my pride, those are both areas that I believe God will help me to grow in.

In conclusion, Vocational Ministry is a lifestyle, it requires genuine love for Jesus, it can’t always be viewed in the general way that we view careers, and God will equip you if you are doing his will. Ministry isn’t for everyone but I hope that this paper gave you a more accurate view of Ministry as a vocation.

Quotes and Citations —

1- This a quote that I’m pretty sure I read in a book called Life’s Greatest Moments by Jim White

2- This is a quote from the sermon that was preached from Bill Patterson during missions conference on September 23, 2020 (The night that I surrendered to go into Full-Time Ministry)