Pastoral turnover and the call of preach

Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Mar 2001 by Harrison, Paul V

This special call, sometimes referred to as an internal or an extraordinary or a direct call, has a strong pedigree. Many certainly have embraced this understanding of calling. Francis Wayland (1796-1865), fourth president of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, detailed what Baptists in his day meant by this call:

We believe that there is such a thing as a call to the ministry; that is, that a man is moved to enter upon this work by the Holy Spirit. This call is manifested in two ways; first, in his own heart, and secondly, in the hearts of his brethren. So far as he himself is concerned, it appears in the form of a solemn conviction of duty resting upon him with such weight that he believes it impossible for him to please Christ in any other way than in preaching the gospel. He dares not enter upon any other pursuit until he has made every effort in his power to be admitted to this work.41

Such descriptions of the special call from several denominations could be compounded. Belief in a special call dates back at least to John Calvin, who, though generally revealing a belief in an ordinary call, did speak of "that special call, of which each minister is conscious before God, and which does not have the church as witness."42

Several points should be noted about such an understanding of calling. First, it is special in that non-ministers do not receive such a call to their varied professions. Most would think it strange to hear one say that God had called him to be a plumber. Likewise, advocates of a special call do not think of Sunday school teachers or even deacons as being called by God in the same sense as ministers are.

Second, the call is considered special in that it is not mediated through any human agency. God directly communicates his will to the called. In practice, most require that one have this call confirmed by others, a church, for example. Yet the call is understood to have come straight from God without mediation, and the call can be and often is announced before a church or anyone has counseled the person regarding ministry. After all, why is confirmation from flesh and blood needed when God has called?

Finally, this understanding of calling readily lends itself to abuse and mistakes. Such mistakes are easily made because the ultimate determination of calling is solely between the individual and God. An external call to a particular ministry may be and usually is required before ordination is performed, but this is taken to be nothing more than a recognition of what God has done already in calling the individual.

Abuse is also obviously possible. On a humorous note, Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) recounted such an occurrence. He told of the story of a coloured man in Alabama, who, one hot day in July, while he was at work in a cotton-field, suddenly stopped, and, looking toward the skies, said: "0 Lawd, de cotton am so grassy, de work am so hard, and the sun am so hot dat I b'lieve dis darky am called to preach!"43

Other abuses are not hard to find. George Blaurock, a sixteenth-century Anabaptist, once blocked the preacher from entering the pulpit, stating, "Not thou, but I, have been called to preach."44 Abuse can also take much subtler forms.