The call to ministry is a high calling

The experience of baptising a young believer in the River Jordan shaped her life and ministry, says Michelle Nunn, principal of Regents Theological College

Some years ago, I was in Israel travelling with a friend. We had gone back to revisit the River Jordan baptismal site and as I was sitting in prayer a young Canadian man came up to me and started sharing his story.

He had visited Israel and come to the River Jordan seeking water baptism, only to find that no ministers were on site or readily available to baptise. So, having heard his story, I shared that I was a minister and after further discussion he asked if I would baptise him, which I did. As I travelled on, I knew the Holy Spirit had spoken into my life that day. These events were a reminder that whilst I held offices of a credentialled senior pastor of an Elim church and was employed as a Free Church hospital chaplain, first and foremost I was a pastor, and was to serve God wherever I found myself.

This experience has shaped my life and ministry. We don’t turn our calling or pastoral gifting on or off – wherever we are we are called to be good shepherds to God’s created ones. The Holy Spirit guides and deploys us. What a privilege!

Called to minister

As I reflect on life in ministry, I have found myself often ministering beyond the walls of Elim churches. I can recall ministering to a woman in tears on a speed awareness course, deeply hurt by the instructor’s inability to recognise her because she had aged since her last DVLA photo. Ouch! And to those grieving their familial losses at the racetrack as they did their best to keep going and participate in remote control car racing. And at a road traffic accident where the husband had suffered a fatal heart attack and crashed the car into a wall with his wife alongside him.

The call to ministry, to serve Jesus in his church, is a high calling. Whilst to others it can look like a job, in fact it is a vocation, a divine call into a way of service to Jesus. It involves many sacrifices, with the foregoing of other opportunities and comforts to see the plans and purposes of God realised in our churches, and also beyond.

Those who are called to minister to God’s people will find there are always opportunities to serve. As God’s ambassadors who have submitted their lives to Jesus, they can trust that he will work out his plans in their lives (Psalm 138:8). The call is not to lead in isolation but to co-labour with the Holy Spirit and others to reach the lost, equip the saints and build up Jesus’ church.

Most of us in ministry today heard the Holy Spirit speak to us through words and events, and received prophecy and encouragement about our call from others.

In my own life, Rev. David Woodfield, then senior pastor at Nantwich Elim (former Regional Leader and member of the NLT) encouraged me to go to the School of Ministry and then trained me. I also recall the ministry of Rev. Alison Atkinson, then associate pastor at Nantwich Elim, supporting myself and many others in our spiritual and ministry formation whilst providing a healthy role model of church leadership.

Looking out for others

One of the roles we have in leadership is to recognise the call of God in others’ lives. This role is significant because people hearing God about such significant directional changes often need affirmation and encouragement. It is saddening to think that we have people in our churches who are sensing the call of God but are waiting for the encouragement of others.

I’ve served on the Ministerial Selection Board for ten years, and I have heard so many explain how their first call was a decade or more before they did anything about it. Some have waited 30 years before applying for the lack of someone else calling out or affirming their gifting.

In a season where we are identifying our gifting using the APEST teachings and assessments (based on Ephesians 4:11) and focusing on ‘Equipping the Saints’ at ELS 2025, we should all be excited that we are celebrating our gift mixes and releasing one another to exercise those gifts in our homes, communities and churches.

My prayer is that whatever our roles in church life, we would all be ready to hear the Holy Spirit and encourage each other. I pray we would have the prophetic imagination and discernment to recognise God’s call in our own and others’ lives, and particularly the least likely. And in so doing that we would pray, support and resource one another to ensure the workers are ready for the harvest ahead (Matt 9:38) and available to the Holy Spirit.

If you know someone considering Bible college or Elim Ministry, please encourage them to contact Regents Theological College, and one of our team will arrange to discuss their call to college and ministry.

This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.