Are you searching for a way to become a pastor in the Philippines?In this guide, we’ll cover all the steps necessary to get started on your journey towards becoming a pastor.Whether you’re looking for a career change or just want to try something new, becoming a pastor is an exciting opportunity that can open up new doors and opportunities for your life. It’s also important to note that becoming a pastor is not as difficult as it may seem. Many people think they need years of religious training before they can start preaching their faith, but this isn’t always true. In fact, there are many ways to become ordained without having to go through any formal religious training at all.
You can find all the pertinent information you need on churchgist about the top computer science schools, the top universities for computer science in the world, the best public universities in the USA for MS in computer science, and much more. This includes information about the best universities for computer science programs in the USA, the best public universities in the USA for MS in computer science, and more.
How To Become A Pastor In The Philippines
Becoming a Pastor in the Philippines is not as easy as it might seem. Families with church connections will help get you started, but even if you are a stranger to the community you can become a pastor!
Ordained Minister
I was born on April 16, 1981 and the only child in the family due to the early death of my Father when I was only 8 months old. Despite my chronic illness, the good Lord has gifted me with many skills like carpentry, electrical related works, masonry, plumbing, cooking, driving, animal raising, art craft and many more. I love playing basketball and going out with different types of people. My friends usually described me as resourceful, creative, and long-suffering.
I am physically sickly person and I suffer painful experiences throughout my life. But God is faithful and merciful to me and this is what keeps my life go on as a Christian. I am empowered by Him every day so that I am able to do things beyond my ability. My wife Shim Rose and I have two lovely children, Shiloah and Jephthah.
I came to know the Lord through the faithful witnessing of Rubrico Family and their christian friends. I am a working student in that family and they keep on showing me the love of Jesus from the Bible, their daily living, their priorities and the way they reacted to a particular situation. My conversion is a slow one. I have a hard time accepting the new faith due to some pressure from my family and my personality. But by the grace of God I was converted at age 18 and started serving the Lord as witness to my peer groups in an informal ways. I received the call of God when I was 21 and enrolled in a Bible School for equipping. I do church planting work while being a student and it was blessed by God. Right after I graduated in Bible School I got an illness that took so long to be identified by the Doctor. It is a chronic allergic pharyngitis. I was forced to rest from my ministry for one year not knowing when I can recover. But God has a purpose for me and my family. He is preparing us for greater ministry that I have now.
Doing the ministry in my country is both an honor and a challenge! I live in the Western Visayas Region of the Philippines and people living here are usually religious but polytheist. Whenever we bring good news to the people they are usually receptive and show interest but retains their former traditions and lifestyle. Despite these situations however, the power of the gospel is far stronger than our inherent loyalty to our traditions so that God’s work keep growing and transforming our culture into God-glorifying lifestyle.
Local Ordained Minister Training
I started my study at Christian Leaders Institute full of reservations as to the quality of teaching, stability of this type of program and a little doubt on the reality of offering this for free. I also have deficiency on computer works so that I really worried if I could continue on this program. But it turns out more than what I expected. After around one year of study I realize how much effort the CLI team exerted to establish, maintain and continually enhancing this high quality of ministry training. I am so amazed and blessed at how the biblical doctrines are presented in a clear, unique and down to earth manner without compromising the truth. I also appreciate so much the technical aspects of this program like the Help Desk availability. CLI is being used mightily by the Lord in the revival of our denominational Ministry Training Program. With CLI ordained ministry training quality program, materials and instructors, I have gained a growing knowledge on running a training program with minimal cost. I am fully persuaded that God is calling me to lead the churches in our province in mobilizing Christian leaders for faithful proclamation of the gospel. It is my dream that every Christian in the local church will be nurture and equipped with basic knowledge and skills in the ministry. To make this dream come true I initiated now in leading my fellow leaders in running a ordained minister Training Program using some of the materials at CLI. I keep promoting CLI program to those with fitting situation in this type of training. Seven leaders from our group are now enrolled at CLI. I am moved to lead this particular ministry because our denominational Bible School was temporarily closed but the demand of ministry and competent minister is going on. It is my hope that through the partnership of CLI, our ordained minister training program will be developed more and more and will produced leaders that are carefully equipped in the ministry for the glory of God.
My Ordination at Christian Leaders Institute has strengthened both my capacity as a minister and my appreciation on God’s work in my personal life. Although I was already ordained in our denomination three months before I enrolled at CLI yet I’m not ashamed to attribute some accomplishments I have in the ministry to CLI that God uses for my continuous equipping.
Although I am also involved in church planting and teaching ministry, I classify myself in the calling of pastoral ministry because of the growing passion, skills and opportunity that God has given me in looking for and caring for the total needs of my fellowmen.
My calling, gifts and passion for ministry are vital elements not only in my admission to ordination for ministry but also in the actual ministry I have now. I learn from CLI that in choosing a particular ministry, we need to consider our skills and personality. Thanks God for giving me the package of things I needed in the ministry. But CLI ordination subject help me a lot especially in balancing my gifts with right attitude and motives in ministry.
Some of the unique challenges in my geographical area are poverty and floods that oftentimes gives discomforts to those who come for worship. We experience several times worshipping in the midst of a flood in the area.
My local church faithfully supported me in my ministry calling since I started in the ministry. Although we are struggling financially as a church, I could testify how the members are doing every effort in minimizing our ministry expenses. They become an encouragement to me as I pastor them.
I am presently serving as Senior Pastor in a local church of the CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH IN THE PHILIPPINES in our place. I became an ordained minister. Our local church is known to the community as one that advocates the holistic development of children. We have more than 300 children being sponsored holistically through the faithful partnership of Compassion International. I also chaired the Committee on Education that was delegated by Classis ( group of neighboring churches in our province) to be responsible for running the Ministry Training Program of our denomination.
This free ministry training and ordination become formative in my present and future ministry in the sense that I am prompted from time to time to help revive and maintain our denominational ministry training. I study hard at CLI to learn as much as possible not only the principles or what were in the curriculum but also administrative part of running a free theological training in our area.
Please keep on including me in your prayers as I am continually struggling from physical condition and that the good Lord will keep using and empowering my life as I wholeheartedly consecrate my life for service.
How do I know if I’m being called to be a pastor?
It’s not simply a matter of gifting. It’s not simply a matter of an internal feeling of that call. And it’s not simply a matter of having the right education.
A lot of times people feel called, and maybe that’s attested to by the demonstration and use of their gifts in the local church. Then they go to Bible college, or seminary, or both, and they say: “Well, now I’ve done it. I’ve spent all these years in Bible college and seminary. I’ve done all that I need to do—I’ve done an internship, I’ve come under care of a church, and so I must be called.” As we know, that’s really insufficient.
There needs to be an external call. That external call can only come from experienced elders who are active shepherds for a significant length of time. It can’t come from a mom or a dad saying, “You’d be a good pastor.” It can’t come from a sweet person in the church who says, “You’d make a good pastor someday because you’re really kind.”
Only become a pastor if you are as certain as you can possibly be that God is calling you to it, has entrusted you with the gifts for it, and if every wise, experienced elder or pastor that you know in your orbit who is aged in ministry has said, “You must do this.” And if they are not saying, “You must do this because this is what God has called you do,” then in many ways be thankful to God and go do something else.
The reason we are pastors is not because we wanted to be. It’s because we felt and believed that we couldn’t do something else, and that was attested to time and time again. That doesn’t mean we weren’t able to do something else; it means that we had to do this.
Any pastor who has been in pastoral ministry for any length of time will say that, if he could, he would not be a pastor. It’s not a self-pitying thing. We’re not saying that we don’t like being pastors or that we’re upset with God.
No, what we’re saying is that it is a hard calling. It’s not simple, it’s not easy, and it will bruise you and burden you every hour of every day of your life.
Only do it if you must, and be willing to give a great deal away.
Here are three factors that one must consider before entering pastoral ministy:
1. Confronting Reality
The pastoral calling is truly a calling from the Lord. Otherwise, nobody would want to do it.
If I had to be honest, it is not a very rewarding calling. When going into pastoral ministry the reality is that you will not make much money (from the eyes of secular culture), nor would you receive the applaud of men. One of my worst nightmares growing up was the role of a pastor. “Pastor is the worst role in the world,” I often thought as a little lad in kindergarten.
One would perhaps seek elsewhere for better profit as the ministry is really tough! Reality hurts, but ministry is not so fine-and-dandy or a beautiful picture of serving and loving people that seminary painted.
There are many times I wondered and wrestled with the question, “Did I make the wrong decision?”
However, praise God that’s not all of what entails in the calling to pastoral ministry.
2. Compelling Desire
The sign of the heavenly calling is intense, all-absorbing desire for the work because of the yearning passion and compelling desire to serve God’s people.
You must respond like this:
“I have no other calling; I cannot simply picture living my life in a secular business setting in an office as a businessman. I long to go to those needy and poor, those who have yet not heard the gospel of their own salvation, as Christ send one to me to proclaim His good news. I would love to see myself as Christ Jesus took on flesh in the humblest way, I would like to serve God’s people in such way.”
That is the God-given passion of a pastor.
We should never be ashamed of that calling. There was a young man who came up to me and said, “I want to preach the gospel as a pastor. But that’s not right because I have to be humble and I shouldn’t desire that. That’s pride.”
If it’s good and godly, then why not go for it? Satan never tempts one to preach the gospel. We can be assured of that. The apostles Paul says, “Desiring the pastoral ministry is a good thing!” (1 Timothy 3:1) It is a good thing one feels called to serve as a pastor.
3. Confirming Affirmation
In 1 Timothy 3 and Titus, we also see the calling of affirmation and confirmation of the qualification of a pastor. One must meet the criteria of above reproach, (1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:6,7) husband of one wife, (1 Timothy 3:2,12; Titus 1:6) hospitable, (1 Timothy 3:2) able to teach, (1 Timothy 3:2) …. etc. and the list goes on, that is a reality of confirmation of the pastoral calling!
Also, the local church must recognize and affirm these gifts in a one’s own life. Self-assessment (personal calling and desire to preach) is not enough.
As Charles H. Spurgeon himself brilliantly said,
“The will of the Lord concerning pastors is made known through the prayerful judgment of His church. It is needful as a proof of your vocation that your preaching should be acceptable to the people of God.”
The call of pastoral ministry is completed only when the body of Christ affirm that call as a pastor. It is recognized in the community, not simply in isolation of one’s own desire.
Pastoral Calling as a “Gift?”
An important factor that we so often miss in regards of the call to pastoral ministry is this – that there is no such thing as a gift being a pastor, instead, pastors and teachers are the gift to the church.
The too common of a view that many believers hold onto is this, the pastoral gift is that some believers are invested with the ability to “shepherd.” This may be partially true, yet it is not entirely true.
It is not one’s own confidence in their ability to change things that they can bring into the ministry. There are men who are much capable of preaching and are much more knowledgeable than me.
When we see the 12 disciples that followed Christ alongside with Him, they were all failures who sure did not have a good ability to become a pastor. And some of them exercise in the context of an “elder/overseer.”
The book of Ephesians mentions this, “Pastoral ability is described as a “gift” in only one of Paul’s lists, where it is linked with the ability to teach (Ephesians 4:11)
What we must remember in this specific context, the emphasis is not on the fact that God gave the ability to be a pastor, so much as it is on the fact that He gave the church individuals who function as pastors and teachers.
An Ordinary, “Nobody”
Soon when I entered into the pastoral I recognize that the position that I so desired after my conversion at age 16 was different from what I envision in my mind. Indeed, this role as a “shepherd” is given from God above.
And the truth is that nothing magical that happens when I am in this position. If our being and who we are before was a jerk then we will continue on being a jerk.
Sometimes we have this idea that because we take this role of a pastor there is this process of regeneration that takes place, and we are suddenly changed and our personalities then become supreme saints. It is just not the fact.
As I have the Holy Spirit lives in me and dwells within me, it still doesn’t mean that I will be a totally new person. Under the role of a pastor, there is just a simple ordinary person of who that person is.
So, Am I Called?
Is he calling you? My prayer is that you will know whether you are called to pastoral ministry in light of the clear guidance that He has given in His Holy Scripture.