How can a person become officially a Christian Pastor?

Question

I like to know where to start and how long it takes, cost and so on.

Answer 1

There are several paths. Some formal, some not. First, it helps if you are a Christian. Second, in order to pastor, you need a church.

In the Bible, we have the first church beginning on the Day of Pentecost, starting off as a mega-church (commonly used today, a mega-church has 2,000 members, the Acts 2 church had 3,000). But later in the New Testament, we hear of address to "the church in your house" (as in Philemon). You could very well begin as a Bible study. Rick Warren, super mega-church pastor in Orange County, California (of Purpose-Driven Life fame), started with a Bible study in his house which then sponsored a more full church gathering that essentially began big and kept growing. Don't let that bother you any, over half of the churches in this country are under 100 in size of congregation. On the other hand, over half of American church goers attend churches with congregations numbering 400 or more. So, first, you could start one, but there are also the formal sides, which most churches are in.

Some churches are independent. They may belong to a denomination, but the local church owns the building, the local church manages its affairs, the denomination is a convenience that they associate with because they generally agree with them and need them for bigger better things. For instance, when children of the local church need to go to college and want a good, Christian college, then the denomination college gives some comfort that they will at least be exposed to good things. When people read, or hear in their prayers, about the need to tell others about the source of their faith elsewhere in the world. A church of 75 is not likely to have the resources of a denomination with several hundred churches all chipping in to send out missionaries. Independent churches select their own pastors. So when a pastor leaves, or becomes a rat and is asked to leave, or gets sick or dies (we all die) then the local church will want to select a pastor from somewhere, and the denomination helps there too. Baptists, most Pentecostals, Brethren, these are groups that usually have independent churches or a church governing system that assumes wide local control of the local church.

Then there are denomination-owned and controlled churches. In those cases, the denomination USUALLY, but not always, appoints a minister to pastor here or there. Episcopalians and Roman Catholics (not Eastern Orthodox, they are usually independent), Methodists, and some Presbyterians. Fit that catagory.

In the house church you need a church organization to form and recognize (ordain) a pastor before that pastor can approach the state for recognition to do things like marry couples or be accepted as clergy in jails and hospitals. In the independent church systems, they usually have a set of basic doctrine and practice courses. I did one which was 5-6 hours on a Saturday once a month for about six or seven months. I work with another group and we recently reworked our training program so that in weekend classes you can progress through the three common stages in part-time study over a year each. In the denominational bodies, they usually require a masters degree, and sometimes prefer (especially for the big churches) a doctorate, so you've got a four-year bachelor degree, a two or three year masters degree program (Master of Divinity degree, commonly called an M Div, usually takes 3 years to finish), and a doctor of theology or doctor of ministry degree commonly requires 2-4 years of practice after your M Div and then 2-3 years of direct study for the doctorate.

Commonly, there are three levels of ministry credentials. There is the lay-worker level some call exhorter or mission worker or some similar phrasing. This is the cell group, home Bible study group, fill in when a pastor is out of town kind of place. Then there is the licensing level (in Catholic groups, including Episcopalian, this is called a deacon, which is different than what the others use the term for, a lay leader with responsibilities). In some cases you can do the marrying and burying or serve communion, but in others you need to be the next level up. This is commonly a temporary level. In some groups, when you finish a bachelor's degree in the church's college you get this level of ministry credential. Then there is ordained. In the formal denominations, you often qualify for this when you earn the M Div., or master's degree.

As for costs, for a simple house church to ordain a pastor, the pastor will pay the state a fee to be registered as a minister. For the independent churches with low educational costs you might shell out a hundred or two, maybe, for books and fees and travel. The denomination will do the registering, but you will pay the denomination a hundred or so for membership in their ministers list. In the formal denominations, your costs are essentially the costs of 4-6 years of college. Some colleges are inexpensive and have good work/study programs, others are considerably more challenging. Harvard and Yale began, and still are, minister-training schools and you can guess it will cost big bucks to go there. On the other hand, formal denominations usually have some good minimum wage programs. Back in the 1980s the minimum wage for some was in the 25-35 thousand range. Now, in the case of Catholics, you usually take a vow of poverty and they only pay you essentially pocket change but you live in a very good church owned home and they provide the groceries and utilities, even a cook and cleaning maid quite often. As for the independents, that is an entirely different picture. If you publish books like Warren or Hagee (San Antonio mega church pastor on TV), your outside stuff will pay your way if you are successful (Warren recently paid back everything his church paid him, his books made him quite wealthy). Otherwise you may get a salary or a share of the money in the offering plates that isn't designated to something specific. This reminds me of a story in a little church I pastored for a while. We were up to a dozen or so (at the beginning there was only 2 or 3, maybe, so the denomination was thinking of closing it down) and I mentioned money in my teaching. One lady spoke up and said, "What is it with you preachers, always talking about money?" I mentioned that it was in the context of a gift to God, and from it we paid the bills that kept the electricity on for lights and cooling. I described how their church was kept going by the generousity of other churches, that they were not even giving enough to pay their own bills--then going over to the offering plate I counted it, "And there is a total of $1.37 in here, and I put the dollar in, so if you think I'm traveling 20 miles every Sunday morning for your money, guess again."

I hope this helps.

Answer 2

It depends on what denomination you are. If you are non denominational, then some churches will simply train you on their own. However, generally it is recommended to have a bachelors degree followed by some time in seminary, which I believe is usually 3 years. My brother in law is a non denominational Christian pastor, but he attended Rhema Bible Training Center in Tulsa, OK. It is a 2-3 yr. program. Generally people leaving Rhema start out in some type of "helps" ministry: youth, children, etc. He was a youth pastor for 5 years before becoming an associate pastor at a Rhema affliated church. It's a pretty broad area, there's no exact lines. It's kinda what you believe.

Answer 3

Depends on where you live. Here's the general way. You have to go through College, more than likely, a private Christian College/University (this means it will costs a whole lotta $) and you would have to major in Ministry. Most churches/denominations require or at least want to see a Master's Degree which means Seminary (even more $). Some churches will take a Bachelor's Degree. The best thing to do is check with your church. If you are in a denomination, they can tell you where to go and what to do.

Answer 4

Generally, you go to a christian college, such as Pensacola Christian College, Hyles-Anderson College, Bob Jones University etc.
You major in pastoral ministries. You graduate and get a diploma to hang in your office.

You become ordained, through an ordination ceremony.

Then you must find a church that wants you. Buy books to help you study for sermons, and make no money unless you scam people for the rest of your life.
Or if you work for a christian college's church, you might make decent money.

After you're ordained, you get a certificate

Answer 5

That depends on the denomination. Most require that you attend college, get a BA or MA and then apply for papers with their denomination which involves a personal interview, a test and other requirements.

However, the government does allow independent ministries who can also ordain clergy. The IRS frowns on people handing out paperwork to be a pastor to untrained persons. so I would not recomment this if you want credibility or integrity. Study.... prepare... and be accountable to someone.

Answer 6

Do a search for any Bible Colleges and Seminaries in your area (or far away, if you like to travel ^_^).
I'm not sure how long it takes (sorry U_U), and tuitions are always different, but I have found that Bible college can be a bit more expensive than regular universities, since they are generally private and not government funded.
But it is definitely worth it! I went to Briercrest Bible College in sunny Canada (^_^) and it changed my life.
Also, talk to the pastor of your church and see what advice he has to offer you!
Good luck! :)

Answer 7

it will depend on the church and denomination

you need to know God or its all a big waste of time, how can you lead others if you dont know God.

for greek orthodox you have to memoerize all 150 palms as part of it for example...some have special things

most of the time a pastor will get a degree and advanced degree, then go before a board to discuss his beliefs and go before a church to preach several sermons and the ocngressgation or elders or prebytery might vote and appoint him or not

sometimes it is not necessariy to have a special degree but you would have to demonstrate equivolence and that might be even harder

outside the US, the formal degree might be less important and the experience more

also character and faith is even more important than any degree
it would be good to try and get on some committe or group that serves people in Jesus name as develop skills a serving paster would have, you will also need teaching skills

Answer 8

Not sure if you have a denomination preference but my brother did something called Master's Commision with the Assebly of God church...it's geared more towards youth minister but he's licensed and it took him three years. Another option is to just google christian colleges and seminaries in your area...most have websites that can give you an idea of course work, cost, etc.

Answer 9

Be called by God and not your momma to preach the Gospel is a serious Task,and you have to be born again first things first John 3:5 and Acts 2:38

Answer 10

You must be called and ordained by the Holy Spirit and then you must be ordained by a duly ordained minister. To pastor a ministry you must be called by God to start a ministry that God hands you, or you must be called by God to pastor an existing ministry. God is in control of everything. The length of time is up to God, not men. God will speak to you on this if you are truly called.