What Is Required of You, O Minister?

The prophet Micah says, “To love mercy, to do justice and to walk humbly with our God.”

The CRCNA says, “All that and a residency at Calvin Theological Seminary/2-years of distance learning training.”

As ministers, we recognize – and are hopefully excited by – the fact that new members in our congregations rarely come through “traditional transfers” anymore.  In fact, someone who transfers papers of membership from one CRC to another are becoming the exception rather than the rule.  And, although it requires us to dig deep into our polity to remember how to handle membership transfers from other denominations, it is generally a joyful thing that so many from so many varied backgrounds are finding their home now in the CRCNA.

So what then, of ministers from other denominations who discern a call and a fit to ministry in the CRCNA? Classis Heartland, through Overture 14, is again asking us to dig deep into our polity to consider how we handle the transfer of ministerial credentials from other denominations.

Here’s the question, then:  What are the non-negotiables of training for ministry in the Christian Reformed Church of North America?

- Systematics?
- Polity?
- Biblical/Hermeneutical Training?
- CRC History?