An Update on Call Processes in the Gulf Coast Synod

Oct 28, 2024

By Tracey Breashears Schultz, Bishop’s Associate for Leadership

The shared call committee for St Paul and Lutheran Church of Our Saviour, both in Baton Rouge.

At the time of this article, there are twenty-two of our synod congregations in the call process. Of these, six are redevelopments or new mission starts; seven are new transitions or just beginning to create call committees; five have active profiles and are awaiting pastors to interview, and two are in the process of interviewing candidates.

In the ELCA database used by bishops and their associates for finding profiles of pastors who have made themselves available for call, (as of 10/24/24) there are 289 pastors (and 8 deacons) with active paperwork. This means all 65 synods of the ELCA are recruiting these leaders. When I invite a pastor to consider interviewing for a call in our synod, they often already have paperwork to review and/or are in multiple call processes. Sometimes, they will tell me they have all they can handle or that they will get back to me if one of their current options falls through. This means, and I don’t love this language, that it’s a pastor’s market, meaning clergy can be selective about the calls to which they are open; they can take their time until the fit is right; they will prioritize full-time calls, those that will pay synod guidelines, and those that are not going to argue with them when it comes to continuing education, vacation, or other standard expectations.

This also means call processes move more slowly than any of us wants them to. What makes me sad or frustrated is – as call committees wait for ministers to interview, they begin to think something must be wrong with their profile or (even worse) with them!

So, I wanted to let you know we have been open to some new possibilities during this season:

  • In places that are healthy and which show potential for nurturing a leader, we are inviting candidates for ministry to take on a leadership role, filling a pastoral vacancy as an intern and/or a Synod Authorized Minister (SAM). (The SAMs in our synod are required to be in seminary and in candidacy and are supervised by experienced ministers).
  • It used to be that congregations could not call their interim pastor for the settled call. In the right circumstances, the bishop and I are becoming more flexible about this.
  • We are in conversation with our full-communion partners. When call committees (and councils) are open to it, I ask my counterparts in other denominations, like the Presbyterian and United Methodist churches, if they have pastors our call committees may interview. This is true for interim as well as settled pastors.
  • As pastors are mostly seeking full-time calls over part-time, we are encouraging congregations to work together, to form partnerships, to share a pastor and other ministries. The bishop often says, “we accomplish together what we cannot do alone,” and this goes for call processes, too.
  • Where we have a good fit, we are encouraging our candidates to take their first calls in our synod.
  • Whereas we used to tell call committees they would get 3-5 names at a time, we no longer hold to this. I give call committees names as I have them. This is more realistic for the current landscape, and it gives call committees flexibility they did not used to have (as it was once a requirement to release the names you had before any new ones would be given to your committee).
  • Every chance I get, (and I hope this will become a habit for you, too) I encourage those with gifts for ministry to consider answering a call. Not all of them will lead to ordinations, but some of them may, and isn’t that extraordinary to be part of?

Finally, the situation is not hopeless. It never is! Three people have taken calls in our synod since Synod Assembly, and I expect at least one of the two committees currently interviewing pastors to result in a congregational call vote.

As I travel our synod, leading worship, meeting with councils and call committees, I wish you could see the varied ministries, communities, people, and possibilities I get to see. Those with and without a settled pastor are trying new ministries, exhibiting courageous leadership, and sharing the gospel.

I love our synod, and I sure do my best to encourage those I’m recruiting to love it, too!