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Candidacy Manual

Forms and applications for candidates, candidacy committees and others

Download the Candidacy Manual PDF Format

Candidacy in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is the churchwide process of preparation and formation leading to approval for the public ministries of this church: commissioned associate in ministry, consecrated deaconess or diaconal minister, or ordained pastor. Candidacy invites an active partnership of candidate, congregation, synod, seminary, and the Vocation and Education unit.

It is by Christ’s gift that all baptized persons are called to ministry. Every baptized believer is given gifts and abilities for ministry. Every baptized believer is called to ministry in daily life. Some are given gifts and abilities that equip them to provide leadership in one of the four rostered ministries of this church. People become aware of their call and their gifts in a variety of ways: some in a dramatic moment of inspiration, some in the normal course of their disciplined church life, some at the urging of leaders in the church, some through years of struggle and doubt.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is committed to the intentional identification and recruitment of those persons who are so gifted by God that they are able to provide leadership in the life of this church. Through a process of reflection and discernment, individuals are encouraged to consider whether they are called by God through the church to serve in one of the rostered ministries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

The Candidacy Process of the ELCA is guided by the following principles:

    1. The process is grounded in a climate of hospitality and nurture.
    2. All partners are accountable to one another for the integrity of the process.
    3. The church determines who is appropriate for rostered leadership.
    4. Those who provide leadership in candidacy are equipped and trained.
    5. Evaluation of candidates is fair and thorough.

In the Lutheran tradition a person’s call from God to public ministry is understood as both internal and external:

    1. Through an internal, personal sense of call that God is leading a person to public Christian ministry;
    2. Through other members of this church who encourage a person to enter public Christian ministry;
    3. Through public confirmation that a person has the character, commitment, preparation, and ability to serve in a specific public ministry roster; and
    4. Through the receipt and acceptance of a letter of call to serve in a particular ministry setting.

ISBN 6-0002-0376-4