This year the License and Credentials Committee met in Houston, Texas. With two members of the committee living in Texas and the board meeting in Texas the following week, this arrangement worked well.
We talked to ten candidates, some of whom were looking for ministerial recognition and others who were seeking elevation.
The L&C Committee has a great responsibility in deciding who is ready, or not, for the level of ministry they are applying for. On one hand, some decisions are difficult. On the other hand, the committee enjoys hearing the enthusiasm and love of the Lord expressed by these applicants.
The fellowship of working with the guys on the committee is such a privilege and joy. These meetings take a lot of prayer and, in some ways, endurance. We trust God for wisdom, insight, and strength.
While we would love to give a ministerial document to every man who comes to us, to do so when a person is not qualified or ready would be harmful to all involved, including the candidate. A bad experience at the beginning of a ministerial tenure is not good for a person wanting to be in the ministry. It could discourage him to the point that he may never recover and may discontinue the ministry. Having someone too inexperienced in the pulpit or the parsonage can badly damage, or even destroy, a local church.
It is important for the ministry candidate to realize that a setback now, like not getting a ministerial document, can make for a wonderful, fruitful, and fulfilling ministry in the future — if he takes it the right way.
“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest”
(Matthew 9:37, 38, ESV).
— Steven Kyner
Chairman
