Questions to Ask an Ordination Candidate
For members of an ordination council, a presbytery committee or a church's elders who have to examine a candidate for ordination to ministry. The 55 questions follow the order most examinations take: conversion and call, doctrine, the church, character and home life, pastoral practice, and a few to close on. Each note says what a sound or a worrying answer sounds like; traditions differ on who ordains and what they require, so hold every answer against your own confession and ask your denomination how its process works.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Conversion and call
How did you become a Christian?
Why ask it
Most examinations begin with the testimony, and everything the candidate says about doctrine later should be able to explain it. A sound one has sin, repentance and trust in Christ in the candidate's own words. If you hear a church upbringing and a date but no gospel, ask what they were saved from.
What makes you confident today that you belong to Christ?
Why ask it
Assurance that rests on a prayer said at nine years old is thinner than assurance that rests on what Christ has done and on a life that has kept changing. A candidate who admits a season of doubt and can say what steadied them will be of more use to doubting members than one who claims never to have wavered.
When did you first sense a call to ministry, and what did you do about it?
Why ask it
What they did about it separates a wish from a call. Listen for steps taken: telling a pastor, teaching a class, serving where nobody was watching. Where the call was announced and then left untested for years, ask what happened in between.
Who has confirmed that call, and what did they see in you?
Why ask it
Ask for names: a pastor, the elders, people who sat under the candidate's teaching. An inward call that no church has recognized is a reason to wait, and the answer should agree with whatever recommendation the sending church gave you.
Why are you seeking ordination, and why now?
Why ask it
The answer you hope for is that a church asked, because the work is already being done. Go slower when the reason is mostly a title, a job requirement or the right to conduct weddings. What ordination permits differs by denomination and by place, so find out how it works where you are.
What do you understand ordination to be, and what does it not give you?
Why ask it
Traditions differ on who sets a minister apart and what that confers, so hold the answer against your own polity. Be concerned by a candidate who describes a rank, or a power your church does not teach, and equally by one who thinks it is only paperwork.
What ministry have you already done, and who could tell us what came of it?
Why ask it
You are examining a track record. Teaching, visiting, evangelism and unglamorous service all count, and the second half gives you people to phone. A candidate whose gifts are described only by themselves has not been tested yet.
Doctrine
What do you mean when you call the Bible the word of God?
Why ask it
Have them explain inspiration and authority in plain sentences first, then ask about inerrancy or infallibility if your confession uses those words. A candidate who cannot point to a passage for the doctrine, such as 2 Timothy 3:16 or 2 Peter 1:21, has probably borrowed it from someone else.
How do you tell which Old Testament commands still bind a Christian?
Why ask it
This tests method on a hard case. Traditions give different answers, and what you are checking is that the candidate has a principle and can apply it to the Sabbath or the food laws without contradicting themselves. Picking by instinct is the worrying sign.
Can you state the doctrine of the Trinity and say where one popular illustration of it goes wrong?
Why ask it
One God in three persons, each fully God, should come out without stumbling. Water, ice and steam pictures one person appearing in three forms, and a candidate who can say why that fails understands the doctrine and has not just memorized it.
What do you mean when you say God is sovereign, and how would you say it to someone who is suffering?
Why ask it
Have the candidate define the word first, since it gets used for everything from God's rule over history to a line on a sympathy card. Then give the suffering a face, such as a member whose prayers for healing were not answered. You are listening for whether the doctrine arrives as comfort or as an explanation nobody asked for.
Is Jesus fully God and fully man, and why does it matter that he is both?
Why ask it
Expect the virgin birth, a sinless life and a bodily resurrection to be affirmed without hedging. The why is the harder half: he had to be one of us to stand in our place, and God to be able to save. Someone who affirms both natures but cannot say why will find them hard to preach.
What happened on the cross?
Why ask it
Kept short on purpose, so you hear which words come first: substitution, sacrifice, ransom, victory. Set the answer beside the wording of your confession, and where something your church confesses is missing, ask about it directly before you assume it is denied.
Who is the Holy Spirit, and what do you believe about tongues, prophecy and healing today?
Why ask it
First check that the Spirit is spoken of as a person and as God, never as a force. On the gifts, give your church's position after the candidate answers and not before, or you will hear your own view repeated back. Then ask whether they can serve gladly within that practice.
What must a Christian believe about Genesis 1 to 3, and what may be left open?
Why ask it
Separate what they hold from what they would require of others. Plenty of churches insist on God as creator of everything and on a real Adam and a real fall while leaving the age of the earth alone, and plenty draw the line elsewhere. Read your own statement before you press.
What do you believe Scripture teaches about marriage, and how would you teach it where members are not of one mind?
Why ask it
Most ordaining bodies have a written position on marriage and sexuality, and many expect every candidate to state their own, so read yours before the day. Hear the reasoning from Scripture first. Then listen just as closely to how the candidate speaks about people who disagree, because they will be pastoring some of them.
What is sin, and what did the fall do to human beings?
Why ask it
A thin account of sin produces a thin gospel. Both guilt and corruption should be in the answer, along with a view on whether people can turn to God unaided. Keep a note of it, because what they say about salvation next has to fit.
How is a sinner made right with God?
Why ask it
This is the center of the examination. Grace, faith and the righteousness of Christ should arrive in ordinary words with a passage or two, often Romans 3 or Ephesians 2. Effort creeping in beside faith, or a blank look at the word justification, is reason enough to stop and stay on this question.
If good works do not save, what are they for?
Why ask it
This is sanctification asked in plain words. There is a ditch on each side: works that earn standing with God, and holiness treated as optional. To find out which the candidate leans toward, ask what they would say to a member who professes faith and lives as they please.
Where do you stand on election and human responsibility, and can you serve alongside people who see it differently?
Why ask it
Temper is being examined here as much as position. Ask the candidate to state the other view so that its holders would recognize it. One who cannot, or who makes this a test of fellowship where your church does not, tends to divide a congregation.
Can a true believer finally be lost?
Why ask it
Your confession very likely takes a side, so know it before you ask. Whichever way the answer goes, follow with the case a pastor actually meets: what would they say to parents whose grown child professed faith and then walked away?
How would you answer a neighbor who says every religion leads to God?
Why ask it
John 14:6 and Acts 4:12 are the usual ground, and the candidate should be clear that salvation is in Christ alone. Notice how they say it. They will have this conversation at funerals and over fences, where clarity without kindness closes the door.
What becomes of those who die without Christ?
Why ask it
Listen to the tone as well as the content. A doctrine of judgment held with grief is preached differently from one held with relish or one that is dodged. If the candidate holds annihilation or universal salvation and your confession excludes it, the council needs to hear that today.
What do you believe about the return of Christ, and which parts do you hold loosely?
Why ask it
A visible return, the resurrection of the body and a final judgment should be firm. Many confessions leave the millennium and the timing open; check what yours requires. Be wary of a candidate as certain of the timeline as of the resurrection.
The church
What makes a gathering of Christians a church?
Why ask it
A Bible study with good coffee is not one, and the candidate should be able to say why: the word preached, baptism and the Lord's Supper, members who are known and overseen. Vague answers here usually go with a loose view of membership, so ask who they think should be on the roll.
Which offices does the New Testament give the church, who may hold them, and who has the final say?
Why ask it
Three questions in one, and each has divided churches: elders and deacons, whether women may hold either office, and where authority finally rests. The ordaining church has settled answers. A candidate convinced of something else should say so now and not discover it in a business meeting.
What does baptism signify, who should receive it, and how should it be done?
Why ask it
Subjects and mode are where traditions part, so expect the candidate to argue from passages and not from custom. A good follow-up is whether they would receive into membership someone baptized in another way or at another age.
What takes place at the Lord's Supper, and who is welcome at the table?
Why ask it
Ask what they believe about Christ's presence in the meal, then who may come: any believer, the baptized, members only. Have them say the words they would use on a Sunday to invite and to warn. That shows the practice better than the label does.
Why are you seeking ordination with us and not in another tradition, and what would you say we hold that others do not?
Why ask it
A candidate should be able to name two or three convictions that mark your tradition, whether in how the church is governed, who is baptized or what the confession says, and tell you which of them brought them here. 'It is the church I grew up in' is an honest start. If it is also the end of the answer, ask what would keep them with you if a church of another kind offered them a pulpit.
Is there any statement in our confession of faith that you cannot affirm as it is written?
Why ask it
This is the answer that goes into the minutes, so ask it plainly and have the candidate name the article. A reservation stated openly can be weighed by the council and recorded. If the answer is a quick no, ask which article took them longest to agree with, which assumes there was one and is easier to answer honestly.
Character and home
Which of the qualifications in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 do you find hardest to live up to?
Why ask it
Everyone has one, and naming temper, hospitality or self-control is worth more than a modest 'all of them', which names nothing. Follow with what they are doing about it and who knows.
Tell us about your praying and Bible reading over the last month, including the days neither happened.
Why ask it
Putting a month on it keeps the answer from drifting into what they intend to do. Ask what they read when they are not preparing to teach, and whom they have been praying for by name. A tidy schedule with no missed days is harder to believe than a patchy month told straight.
Who knows you well enough to confront you, and when did they last do it?
Why ask it
Hold out for a named person and an occasion in the last year or so, then ask what the candidate did with it. If the last correction was long ago, or came only from a spouse, ask whether anyone outside the home has that freedom. A minister nobody can question is exposed.
What safeguards do you keep around temptation, online and when you meet with someone alone?
Why ask it
Councils that skip this out of embarrassment tend to regret it. You are after habits: someone who can see what is on their devices, a rule for private meetings, a person they tell when a struggle returns. How past failure is weighed is for your council's own standards, and present concealment is the thing to fear.
What does your spouse think about this call?
Why ask it
Some councils invite the spouse in or speak with them beforehand, and it is worth doing if your process allows. A reluctant spouse is a reason to slow down. For a single candidate, ask instead who shares their home life and knows how they live.
What would your children say your faith looks like at home?
Why ask it
The test in 1 Timothy 3 is how a household is led, so you are listening for a parent who is present and involved. Perfect children are not the standard. Leave it out for a candidate with no children, and take note if ministry is offered as the reason for being absent.
Are you in debt, and do you give regularly?
Why ask it
These are questions of fact, and a candidate free of the love of money can answer them plainly. Nobody needs to see a bank statement, and salary belongs to whichever church calls them. You are checking that no creditor or former employer could tell a story that would embarrass the church.
Is there anyone who would say you still owe them an apology?
Why ask it
Not being quarrelsome is on the list in 1 Timothy 3, and an unmended quarrel follows a minister into every church they serve. A believable answer names a situation and says what has been tried, because some breaches cannot be closed from one side. If 'no one' comes back at once from someone with years in church life, ask again more slowly.
What would a former employer or an unbelieving relative say about you?
Why ask it
A good name with outsiders is one of the listed qualifications, and it is the easiest for a council to forget. Ask whether you may contact one of the people they mention. Reluctance is not evidence of anything by itself, but find out the reason.
Is there anything in your past or present that would bring reproach on the church if it came out after you were ordained?
Why ask it
Tell the candidate beforehand that this is coming and who will hear the answer, then ask it and let the room stay quiet. References and background checks still have to be done; the question sits beside them. Which checks are required differs by denomination, insurer and place, so ask yours.
Pastoral practice
A twelve-year-old asks you how to become a Christian. What do you say?
Why ask it
Have them answer as though the child were in the room. It should be clear, free of jargon and complete: God, sin, Christ, and what it means to respond. Watch for pressure toward a decision the child would not understand.
What is the difference between preaching a text and using one?
Why ask it
The answer to hope for is that the point of the passage becomes the point of the sermon. Ask for a sermon they would now preach differently. If the council heard the candidate preach beforehand, bring an example from it.
A divorced member asks you to conduct her second wedding. How do you decide?
Why ask it
It puts a face on their doctrine of divorce and remarriage. Count the questions they would ask her before giving an answer, and compare the position with your church's. An immediate yes or an immediate no, with nothing asked about her story, is the answer to worry about.
Someone tells you in confidence that a child is being harmed. What do you do before the day ends?
Why ask it
The child's safety comes first and the matter goes to the authorities; a plan to handle it inside the church is the answer that should stop the meeting. Reporting duties for ministers differ from place to place, so the candidate and the church both need to find out what the law and the denomination require of them.
You are called to the bedside of a dying man who has never professed faith. What do you say and do?
Why ask it
Manner and clarity are tested together. A good answer listens before it speaks, then talks about Christ plainly and briefly, and prays. False comfort is one failure, and pressing a frightened family is the other.
When does a member's sin call for church discipline, and what steps would you take?
Why ask it
Matthew 18 gives the order: private first, then with witnesses, then the church, with restoration as the aim throughout. 'Never' usually means fear and 'quickly' usually means control. Ask whether they have read what your church's constitution says about the process.
What will you do the first time the church or its elders decide against you on something you care about?
Why ask it
It will happen, and usually sooner than a new minister expects. You hope to hear a distinction between conscience and preference, and a willingness to lose a vote without lobbying members afterward. Ask for a time they have already done it.
What would you do if your convictions changed on a point of our confession after you were ordained?
Why ask it
There is one right answer: tell the people who ordained them, promptly, and accept their judgment. Teaching the new view quietly is the breach of trust. Some traditions write this promise into the ordination vows, and it is fair to ask for it out loud either way.
Who are you personally helping to grow as a Christian right now, and what do the two of you do?
Why ask it
The answer worth hearing has one person in it and something the two of them do: a weekly breakfast, a book of the Bible read together, a new believer taken along on visits. Ministry described only in terms of crowds and programs leaves out the pattern of 2 Timothy 2:2.
When did you last talk about Christ with someone who is not a Christian, and how did it go?
Why ask it
Recent and specific is the standard. Whether the conversation went well matters less than whether there was one. Candidates whose every example comes from a pulpit or a classroom may not know any unbelievers well enough to speak to.
Closing
Which part of this examination were you least prepared for?
Why ask it
Compare the answer with your own notes. When the candidate names the same weak spot the council saw, you have someone teachable, and the council has the first item for any reading it recommends.
How do you plan to keep studying once you are ordained?
Why ask it
Ordination is not a graduation. A real plan has titles, a mentor or a peer group and time set aside, and it gives the council something to attach if it recommends further study as a condition.
If this council advised you to wait a year, what would you do?
Why ask it
Few questions show more. The candidate you can trust says they would keep serving, do the work asked of them and come back. Hints about finding another council tell you how they will treat authority once they have some.
Which promise in the ordination vows weighs on you most?
Why ask it
Send the vows or the charge ahead of time so they have been read. A thoughtful answer shows the candidate knows what is being promised and to whom. Where your tradition has no set vows, ask what they understand themselves to be promising the church.
What would you like to ask the council?
Why ask it
Leave real time for it. A candidate who asks where the council thought they were weak, or how the ordained ministers in the room have lasted, is using the day well. Having nothing to ask is no fault at the end of a long examination.
Running an ordination council and weighing what you hear
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the council meets
Remember what kind of examination this is
A search committee asks whether this person fits one church. An ordination council asks whether this person should be recognized as a minister at all, wherever they serve. That is why the time goes on conversion, call, doctrine and life, and why a candidate can be right for a vacancy and still not ready to be ordained.
Find out who ordains in your tradition
In some traditions a local church ordains and the council only advises it. In others a presbytery, a district board or a bishop decides. Read your constitution or call your denominational office before the day, so everyone in the room knows whether they are voting or recommending. What an ordained minister may do in law, such as conducting weddings, is a separate matter that is set locally.
Ask for written work weeks ahead
A written testimony, an account of the call and a doctrinal statement let the council read first and question second. Mark the paragraphs that are thin or borrowed and start there. A candidate who has to write the doctrine down usually finds their own gaps before you do.
Agree on the standard before anyone answers
Decide which confession the candidate is being examined against, which points the council treats as required and where it allows latitude. A council that settles this in the middle of the examination ends up arguing with itself in front of the candidate.
Do the checking separately
The recommendation of the sending church, references from people who have watched the candidate work, and any background checks belong before the meeting, not after. Which checks are required depends on your denomination, your insurer and where you are, so ask them.
In the room
Keep to an order and share out the list
Conversion, call, doctrine, the church, character, practice, then the close. No council gets through every question on this page: share the groups out among the members beforehand, drop what the written statement has already answered, and appoint a moderator who holds the room to one subject at a time and moves it on.
Ask for a passage
After any doctrinal answer, 'Where do you find that in Scripture?' is the most useful follow-up there is. It separates convictions the candidate has worked out from positions picked up in a classroom or a podcast.
Turn a doctrine into a person
If an answer sounds recited, give it a face: the member who lost a child, the teenager who wants to be baptized, the deacon who disagrees. You learn whether the doctrine can be used on a Tuesday afternoon.
Let an honest gap stand
'I do not know, and here is how I would find out' on a secondary matter is a good answer. Write it down as something to study. Bluffing is the more worrying sign, because the candidate will do the same with a church member.
Do not debate each other
The examination belongs to the candidate. When two council members begin arguing a favorite point through their questions, the moderator should stop it and move on.
Weighing the answers
Sort first things from second
A muddled answer on the gospel, the person of Christ or Scripture is a different kind of problem from an unsettled view of the millennium. Go back to the standard you agreed on beforehand and place each weak answer in one group or the other before you discuss the candidate as a whole.
Weigh the life with the answers
A fluent candidate with warning signs in temper, money or the home is a greater risk than a halting one whose church speaks well of them. Give the character questions and the references the same weight in your discussion as the doctrinal ones.
Know what you can decide
Common outcomes are to recommend ordination, to recommend it once named reading or supervised experience is completed, to ask the candidate to return later, or to advise against it. Which of these your council may choose, and whether the final decision is yours or the church's, depends on your tradition, so check before you deliberate.
Deliberate in private and write it down
Excuse the candidate, hear from every member in turn, and record the decision with any reservations and conditions. Then tell the candidate in person the same day if you can, starting with the decision itself.
Mistakes councils make
Treating it as a formality
When the ordination service is set for that evening and the family has already traveled, nobody feels free to say wait. Where your process allows, hold the examination well before the service, or agree beforehand that the service can be postponed.
Examining only the head
Two hours on doctrine and five minutes on prayer, money and the home is the usual imbalance. Give the life of the candidate a set share of the time and keep to it.
Trick questions and pet doctrines
A question built to trip the candidate, or to see whether they share one member's favorite position, tells you little about fitness for ministry. Hard questions are fair. Traps are not.
Leaving out the awkward questions
Temptation, debt, the marriage and the thing in the past are the questions a council is most tempted to skip and most often wishes it had asked. Decide beforehand who will ask each one.
Confusing it with a job interview
If the candidate is also being considered for a post, keep the two processes apart. Liking someone for the vacancy is not a reason to ordain them, and a search committee's enthusiasm should not carry the council. Pay, housing and start dates belong to the church that calls them.