Discerning Your Call to Ministry: How to Know for Sure and What to Do about It

“The church has needed this book for a long time.” — Russell Moore

If you are considering the ministry, there are two mistakes to avoid. The first is taking up a calling that isn’t yours. The second is neglecting one that is.

Discerning Your Call to Ministry will help you know the difference. A tool for seminary students, pastors-in-training, and even current pastors, it serves to confirm or prompt deep thought about the calling to ministry through 10 probing questions, including:

• Do you desire the ministry?
• Does your church affirm your calling?
• Do you love the people of God?
• Are you willing to surrender?

Pastoral dropout rates are high, and seminary admission rates are declining—signs that many of us don’t quite know what we’re signing ourselves up for. Author Jason Allen, a former pastor and the president of North America’s fastest growing seminary, gives readers a better picture of the calling. Presenting a series of diagnostic questions informed by Scripture, church history, and his own experience, he helps those seeking ordination or ministry positions make confident decisions about their service to God, one way or the other.

DR. JASON ALLEN is the fifth and youngest president of Midwestern Baptist Seminary. He has served as pastor and interim pastor of Southern Baptist churches in Alabama and Kentucky over the past fifteen years. He currently serves the church more broadly through writing and preaching ministries, including his own website www.jasonkallen.com, where he writes on various topics including higher education, theology, preaching, and cultural and local church issues. He and his wife, Karen, have five children: Anne-Marie, Caroline, William, Alden, and Elizabeth.

R. ALBERT MOHLER, JR. is the ninth president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, the flagship school of the Southern Baptist Convention and one of the largest seminaries in the world. Considered a leader among American evangelicals by Time and Christianity Today magazines, Dr. Mohler hosts two programs: "The Briefing," a daily analysis of news and events from a Christian worldview; and "Thinking in Public," a series of conversations with the day's leading thinkers. He also writes a popular blog and a regular commentary on moral, cultural and theological issues. Mohler is author of numerous books including He Is Not Silent: Preaching in a Postmodern World, The Conviction to Lead: 25 Principles for Leadership That Matters, and The Prayer That Turns the World Upside Down: The Lord's Prayer as a Manifesto for Revolution, and has also appeared on such national news programs as CNN, Larry King Live, NBC, Today Show, and Dateline NBC. He and his wife Mary, reside in Louisville, Kentucky and have two children.