MINISTERIAL VOCATION COMMITTEE

SUMMARY OF WORK

1. The MVC worked with Presbytery Care of Candidates and Ministerial Committee Chairs to understand common issues that these committees regularly face and to identify best practices to resolve these issues.

2. The MVC worked to be the shepherd of the shepherds by helping with the personal, emotional, financial, and spiritual needs of several EPC pastors and churches

3. The MVC interviewed individuals who were seeking to engage with the Candidates Educational Equivalency Program for ordination.

4. The MVC held a third annual “on-boarding” training session in January with Ministerial and Care of Candidate Chairs.

5. The MVC met with TE Bob Stauffer, National Director of Church Health, and TE Bill Rasch who provided updates regarding what is occurring in this area of the EPC’s ministry.

6. At our September 2024 meeting the MVC members were paired with Ministerial Committee Chair members in both face-to-face and Zoom break out rooms in which the MVC facilitated various discussions in their groups.

7. The MVC met with TE Annie Rose, Director of Ministerial Support and Development, to be updated regarding the work and fruit of her ministry and to approve edits regarding the Personal Information Form. She also expounded on the Gospel Priority ministry of Effective Biblical Leadership and emphasized the team’s dedication to supporting both teaching and ruling elders through webinars and other resources.

8. The MVC met with representatives of the Chaplains Work and Care Committee, TE Mark Ingles and RE Bruce Alexander, for the purpose of more effective collaboration.

9. The MVC reviewed possible editing suggestions for the Ministerial Vocation Committee Procedural Manual that reference the Candidating process.

10. The MVC reviewed the process utilized by graders of the Ordination Exams with a discussion about any potential changes and addressing any concerns that have been raised.

11. As a result of engagement with the Graders of the Ordination Exams new rubrics for grading and responses by the Graders were developed and approved.

12. The MVC met with the ministries: Faithful Presence, Route One and House of Gladness and approved each as a Recommend Resource for pastors in the EPC.

13. The MVC reviewed the process by which ministries are approved as a Resource for the EPC and will craft more effective means by which to evaluate and utilize the approved Resources.

14. The MVC voted unanimously to upgrade the quality of the leadership by approving TE Chris Curtis as its new Chair beginning at GA 2025.

15. The committee engaged in discussion regarding the Associate membership status of retired pastors within presbyteries and the challenges associated with it. The members agreed to investigate the historical reasons behind the voting restrictions and discuss this issue in depth at a future meeting.

16. The Committee unanimously approved the proposed revisions to the Bible, Theology, Polity, and Exegesis ordination exams answer keys and scoring rubrics.

17. The MVC received a presentation from Dr. Gregory Perry of Thirdmill Seminary Ministry.

18. The Executive Director of EPC Benefit Resources, Bart Francescone, provided an overview of the EPC retirement benefits.

19. The Director of Transitional Pastors, Bill Rasch, clarified the process of transitioning pastors within the denomination and emphasized the need for standardization.

20. TE Doug Resler and TE Julie Hawkins (Co-chairs for the Ad-Interim Committee for Ordination Standards) presented the preliminary ordination standards survey results taken at General Assembly and communicated their findings from the survey.

21. Assistant Stated Clerk Michael Davis provided an overview on Gospel Priorities.

22. The MVC entered into discussion about the following topics: Challenges faced by small, rural congregations without pastors. Roles and responsibilities of Commissioned Pastors and Transitional Pastors within the Presbytery. Importance of proper preparation for Teaching Elders and the potential for commissioning pastors, perhaps through a licensing process, to fill gaps in smaller churches.

23. Assistant Stated Clerk Michael Davis provided updates and discussion on the 2025 Next Gen Leadership Summit being held in St. Louis, MO, March 25-27, and partnership with CCO (Interdenominational campus ministry) and the EPC, and future connection opportunities.

24. The MVC received information about PIR’s Clergy Sabbatical Tool.

25. Discussion was held regarding Face-to-Face, which occurs each year at General Assembly as required by Acts of Assembly 83-02. The MVC voted to encourage Face-to-Face to be held earlier in the GA schedule when more churches are present at the meeting.

26. A discussion was held regarding performance reviews for those Ministerial Committee Chairs who are remunerated for their ministry to their presbytery. A Rivers and Lakes document will be reviewed and possibly used in the future.

27. The MVC recommended and approved that all CEEP interviews include either a representative from the Ministerial Committee or the Care of the Candidates Committee.

28. The recommendations from the Ad Interim Committee to MVC were reviewed as they relate to redundancies in the Procedural Manual.

29. The MVC approved a revised Physicians Medical Exam release form. (Approved 3/18/25)

30. The MVC recommends that all Candidates, to the best of their availability, attend their presbytery and the annual General Assembly meetings. (Approved 3/18/25)

31. The MVC approved a new Westminster Subscription Authorization form. (Approved 3/18/25)

32. The MVC approved editing the Request for Ordination Exams online form to eliminate the need for all documents listed after “Presbytery Certification”, including PIF upload, and make seminary information “optional” for CEEP Candidates. It was also approved to change the language from “Chairman” to “Chairperson.” In addition, if the box labeled “CEEP” is checked “Yes”, the requirement for the seminary information should become optional. (Approved 3/18/25)

33. The MVC edited Page 42 of the Procedure Manual, second paragraph to add “ordinarily” after the comma in the first sentence and eliminated the last sentence of the paragraph. The sentence to be eliminated is: “In order to release the exams, the Office of the General Assembly shall have a current Personal Information Form on file for the candidate and verify that all requirements have been met.” (Approved 3/18/25)

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RECOMMENDATIONS

The Ministerial Vocation Committee has no recommendations for the 45th General Assembly.

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WORK OF THE COMMITTEE

SCOPE OF WORK

The Ministerial Vocation Committee (MVC) continues its purpose to best support, encourage, and equip Teaching Elders to best be able to fulfill their call as Pastors, which will ultimately strengthen the ministry to which they are called.

The MVC engaged in dialogue with the Ad Interim Committee on Ordination Standards to review and evaluate how our ordination process can be most effective as it involves the Candidate, the local church Session, the Presbytery, and the Office of the General Assembly.

The MVC met with and approved six Candidates to participate in the Candidates Educational Equivalency Program (CEEP).

The third annual “on-boarding” Zoom meeting was held in January 2025 to engage with Ministerial Committee and Care of Candidates Chairs and introduce, or reinforcing, what the Procedural Manual for Ministerial and Candidates Committees contained.

The MVC assisted Candidates who had unique challenges (e.g., English as a second language, physical disability) to take the Ordination Exams with special exemptions for their distinctive needs.

The MVC approved a revised Physicians Medical Release Form.

The MVC updated and revised the Personal Information Form.

The MVC reviewed and approved the Westminster Subscription Form.

The MVC reviewed and approved the Candidate Responsibilities

SUPPORTING MATERIAL 

1. Physicians Medical Release Form

2. Personal Information Form

3. Westminster Subscription Form

4. Candiddate-Responsibilities-EPC

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RECOMMENDATIONS (DETAILED)

The Ministerial Vocation Committee has no recommendations for the 45th General Assembly.

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COMMITTEE MEMBERS

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MEETING DATES

September 10-12, 2024: Office of the General Assembly (Orlando, Florida)
November 13, 2024: Video Conference
January 21, 2025: Video Conference
February 19, 2025: Video Conference
March 3, 2025: Video Conference 
March 18-20, 2025: Office of the General Assembly (Orlando, Florida)

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