Tonight, we interviewed Pastor Tim Satryan, who pastors Wilmington First Assembly in Delaware. We began our discussion around the topic of his involvement in helping to interview those people who are interested in becoming Assemblies of God pastors. This is the topic I'd like to reflect upon in this blog post.
What's great about this blog post is that I'm writing to say how impressed I am with the process of interviewing potential AG credentialed pastors. The process is not considered to be 'screening' as it was once called, but rather, helping to 'affirm the call of God on people's lives.' That feels very healthy to me, and after we talked some more, I felt really at peace about the process.
One of his main points was that, during the interview, he asks candidates a question concerning their call from God. What he's looking to hear is that the person knows that they know that they know that God called them. This is for one simple reason: when ministry gets tough, and you get kicked around and hit in the mouth a few times, there will come a time when the only thing that you can fall back on is God's call. Asking this question to candidates is not about keeping people out: it's about saving people from entering a position that they will become burnt out in and ultimately is about caring for people.
It feels very healthy - I'm so happy to say that the system that I'm interested in becoming credentialed is a healthy system that is interested in people's lives, their well-being, and their being strong pastors who are ready to kick the doors of Hell in.
I really admire Tim's heart behind his questions and his willingness to review test answers with an applicant immediately after they finish taking the written exam [incredibly helpful].
I'm sure that his job/position on the presbytery gets tiring, and I pray that God blesses him for his diligence in empowering/coaching young people looking to be pastors.
I really enjoyed this interview with Pastor Satryan.
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