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WHAT CALL COMMITTEES SHOULD ASK: 
Interview Question Helps for Call Committees

by Dorothy McNaught

When looking for a Lutheran pastor, a congregation is seeking someone faithful to the Lutheran Confessions who will proclaim the Word of God, rightly administer the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, help the church grow (in spiritual understanding, discipleship, and numbers), and minister to the members in the joys and sorrows of living. The pastor is seeking a congregation to shepherd, to feed with the Word and Sacraments, and one which needs the special talents and gifts God has given for his/her place in ministry; a church family where s/he will also be nurtured.

To do this matchmaking, the Call Committee reads the applications and meets with candidates. Not every candidate is the right match for the congregation. Questions need to be asked, somewhat along these lines:

1. Upon what do you base your belief in God? (The answer should have some depth of personal conviction, and include the Bible and Luther's Catechisms. "The instruction I received while I was growing up," or "I memorized a lot of Bible verses and Luther's Small Catechism" would be a shallow answer.)

2. What value does the Bible have for you? (It is God's word to me and all people)

3. Where does authority in the world come from? (God. Not God and . . .)

4. Who is the Jesus of the New Testament? (The virgin birth, and "our risen, living, active Lord and Savior" need to be in the answer)

5. How does God reveal Himself to us today? (Through His Word; any revelation of God will agree with the written Word, the whole Bible, not verses taken out of context. We talk to God in prayer; He answers in many ways (Job 33:14 ff. also the many instances of answered prayer recorded in the Scriptures.) Prayer is not a sacrament.)

6. What is your relationship with God? ("Serving the Lord" is commendable, but the heart of the matter is in Knowing (Heb. "yadah") God and walking in oneness with Him (John 17) as He reveals Himself to each of us. ("Know the God of your father," are David's words to Solomon in I Chron. 28:9 ff).)

If the candidate is solid on Scripture as the inspired, God-given words of the Bible (barring translation deviants), s/he will be solid (led by our Lord) in questioning various teachings, asking, "Does it agree with Scripture–all of it?" The Devil also is familiar with it and will take verses out of context and twist the meaning of them, just like he did with Jesus, seeking to deceive God's people and lead them into sin.

The whole Bible has to do with relationship: of each person with God, and God's great work in giving Himself to us and gathering us together in families (churches). This is much plainer in the original languages, and the candidate needs to be able to go to the original language in sermon preparation. It was in going to the manuscripts that Luther brought out the Truth when men were using the church as an excuse to glorify themselves. It is still one of the strengths that will keep our Lutheran churches in the Truth so the pastor can proclaim with certainty, "It is written."

Mrs. Dorothy McNaught is the co-chair of the Augsburg Lutheran District Worship and Education Committee. She is a member of Salem Lutheran Church in Creston, Iowa, and the convener of its Branch.

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