• Apply to the EPMC Program
  This application will involve the following:
  • brief essays: autobiography, summary of ministry experiences, statement of Christian commitment
  • Names and contact info for 4 references: church council, pastor and personal
  • Four completed recommendations
  • Submission of all official transcripts (Currently enrolled students: submit an unofficial seminary transcript when you begin the EPMC program, and a final transcript after the degree is posted). Transcripts are reviewed for GPA (2.67 minimum) and liberal arts pre-requisite courses. Applicants who do not meet minimum requirements may be provisionally admitted and required to create a learning plan. Please note, official transcripts should be sent directly from your school to CTS.
    • Official, electronic copies can be sent to: admissions@calvinseminary.edu
    • Hard copies can be sent to:
      Office of Admissions
      Calvin Theological Seminary
      3233 Burton St. SE
      Grand Rapids, MI 49546
      USA
  • Recent photo (email to admission@calvinseminary.edu with name in subject)
  • TOEFL or IELTS scores (non-native English speakers only)
  • Declaration of Finances (International students only) due May 1, to obtain an I-20
• Determine who your CRC mentor will be (should be a CRC minister who is willing to meet with you monthly throughout the 2-year process)
• Establish connection with the CMLT of a CRC classis, and inform the candidacy director who that contact person is

Note: the 24-month “clock” starts ticking once you have established and reported your mentorship and classis connections, so do this as soon as possible.

• If you are not enrolled, visit  https://calvinseminary.edu/program/epmc/ to learn more and apply!
• Meet with the CMLT (Classis Ministerial Leadership Team) of your classis and ask them to send an Initial Classis Report to the Candidacy Director at candidacy@crcna.org.
• At the end of this year meet with your CMLT again, and ask them to send their one-year Classis Report to the Candidacy Director at candidacy@crcna.org.
• The Abuse of Power Training can be engaged at any point in your process, so it is listed in the "Final 6 Months" section, but you may choose to take it earlier if you want to lighten the load of your final year! The training is called "The Power to Do Good", and it should take you about 6 hours.
• Meet with your EPMC Facilitation Team for an initial interview. They will design your individualized learning plan based on your previous education and experience.
  
  Each plan will be designed to cover the elements below, and all will include  a minimum of 9 credit hours through Calvin Seminary.
  • Reformed Confessions
  • CRC Polity
  • CRC History
  • Knowledge of Scripture
  • Reformed Hermeneutics
  • Biblical Interpretation Skills with Original Languages
  • Preaching.
  • Liberal Arts competence
• Fill out your Vocational Formation Plan and send it to  your EPMC Facilitation Team for approval.
• Apply for a denominational license to exhort.
• Contact psychassessment@calvinseminary.edu to set up your psychological evaluation. For an outline of the full psych assessment process, please refer to the EPMC Psych Assessment Protocol. The basic steps of the psych evaluation process are as follows:
  • Complete a battery of psychometric assessments.
  • Meet with a therapist for an in person (or virtual) interview.
  • Read/ access your report in the presence of your mentor (after signing the release documents).
  • Contact Dr. Vandermolen to confirm whether or not there are any requirements arising from the assessment.
  • Complete any requirements arising from the assessment.
  • Provide Dr. Vandermolen with confirmation of the completion of any requirements.
• Register for the next US CTSConnection Trip in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
• Begin the coursework in your individualized learning plan.
• Ask your candidacy mentor to fill out an Initial Mentor Report and send it in to the Candidacy Director (candidacy@crcna.org). Meet monthly with your mentor to process your learning and growth. Your mentor should submit three additional Mentor Reports to the Candidacy Office (candidacy@crcna.org) over the course of this first year (see the Forms and Resources page for the most up to date version of all forms.)
• Formation Group: After the first connection trip, at which you will meet your Formation Group and leader, begin meeting with this group every other week over the course of two semesters.

• Continue meeting monthly with your mentor throughout this year to discuss your learning and growth in ministry identity and skills. Your mentor should send 3 more Mentor Reports throughout this year.
• Candidacy requires that you preach two evaluated sermons in two different contexts other than your own (this is distinct from the two sermons/ one video requirement outlined below). Begin scheduling preaching engagements at two different churches to fulfill this requirement. Each time you preach, ask 3 to 5 individuals in the congregation to fill out this evaluation form and then review the feedback with your mentor. In the Mentor Recommendation form which your candidacy mentor will complete, they will provide the dates and locations for these sermons to confirm that this requirement is complete. You do not need to submit these sermons. (Note: Evaluated preaching assignments done through the CTS Vocational Formation office count towards this requirement).  
• Register for your second connection trip, the Canada Connection Trip in Burlington, Ontario.
• Birkman Assessment: Ahead of the Canada Connection Trip, you will be asked to complete a Birkman Assessment and review the results with a qualified consultant. Please bring your results to the connection trip retreat as a discussion about the Birkman will make up part of the retreat content.
  
  Review your psychological evaluation results with your mentor. Once you’ve met with your mentor, please have your mentor email the Vocational Formation office at psychassessment@calvinseminary.edu to confirm that review is complete. The CTS Vocational Formation office will then notify you if they will be assigning any additional requirements based on your report. Once you have completed those additional requirements, please notify the Vocational Formation office. Contact psychassessment@calvinseminary.edu with any questions.
• Complete all vocational formation assignments in your approved Vocational Formation plan and report their completion to your EPMC Facilitation Team and copy candidacy@crcna.org.

Due November 1

• Declare your intent to candidate to the Candidacy Director at candidacy@crcna.org. Your assigned preaching text will be sent to you, along with a link to your Final Year Process Docs folder.
• The CTS Academic Services Coordinator will be notified by the Candidacy administrative assistant that you intend to candidate, and they will email these documents for you to Docusign:
  • Authorization to Release Information
  • Background Check
  • Personal Disclosure
• Before you begin writing your assigned sermons, please see the details below in the Two Sermons and One Video section (under Due February 15), and read the Guidelines for Candidacy Sermon Preparation and Submission thoroughly. When you schedule a time to preach your assigned sermon, make sure to have a plan for the video recording (see notes about this in the guidelines).

Due December 15

• Submit your Vocational Reflection paper to the Director of Candidacy at  candidacy@crcna.org. The Vocational Reflection paper should contain the following:

1. Reflections on your growing sense of identity (20%)
   Incorporating learnings from formation group, mentoring, psych assessment, coursework and vocational formation experiences, write about…

   • What you've learned about your identity as a Christ follower

   • What you’ve learned about your identity within the body of Christ

   • How your experience of accountability in ministry (relationship to council, mentors, pastors) has formed you

   • Your plan for maintaining spiritual/emotional health

2. Reflections on your growing understanding of your calling/purpose (20%)

   • Your developing knowledge of your own gifts and passions

   • Your experience of Christ's redemptive work in your brokenness and how that impacts your sense of call

   • How have others affirmed your sense of gifting and call to ministry?

   • Your developing knowledge of your own gifts and passions

   • Your experience of Christ's redemptive work in your brokenness and how that impacts your sense of call

   • How have others affirmed your sense of gifting and call to ministry?

3. Reflections on your growth in ministry competency (30%)

   • Your own assessment of your development in the 6 ministry competencies: leading, preaching/teaching, seeking justice, pastoral care, evangelism, and worship

4. Reflections on your understanding of leadership (30%)

   • Articulate a biblically and theologically informed philosophy of leadership.

   • Describe your unique leadership style

   • Outline your plan for continued development of leadership

Due February 15

• Two Sermons, One Video
  • Please see Guidelines for Candidacy Sermon Preparation and Submission for detailed instructions about this requirement.
  • Create two (typed, double-spaced) sermon manuscripts and with supporting evidence, one on the assigned text and the other from a text of your choice (not one written for class work).
  • Preach the assigned-text sermon during a worship service that is video-recorded. If the service isn't being recorded, request that someone record you delivering the sermon using a smartphone or tablet.
  • Upload the sermons, supporting materials, and video (see notes below) to your Final Year Process Docs Folder that the Candidacy Administrative Assistant shared with you. If you are uploading a video file, make sure that it is no larger than 1 GB.
  • A link to YouTube or a worship service on a church website is acceptable. If you choose to provide a link rather than upload your video, please create a Google Doc in your folder entitled “Video of Assigned Sermon.” Paste the link into the document and provide instructions for the reviewers so they can easily navigate to the sermon portion of the video.

Due March 1

• Bio, Picture, Faith Journey, and Statement of Reason: This information will be featured in the Candidate Booklet. The Candidacy Administrative Assistant will provide you with a form to complete to provide this information. An example of the Candidate Booklet can be found here.
• Minister Profile: The CRC Information Technology department will send you an email with login instructions to create your own CRCNA Minister Profile (this email is usually sent shortly after you declare your intent to candidate). Even if you already know where you will be serving you need to complete this profile for future information sharing. Your minister profile will be part of a database that search teams can access when looking for a new pastor. This profile is also where you will keep your information up to date for the CRCNA Yearbook. If you have questions or need to access your profile, please contact yearbook@crcna.org.
• Abuse of Power training: This new synodically-mandated training will require about six hours of online work. The training is called "The Power to Do Good," and you can access it on the Safe Church webpage.
• Meet with your CMLT a final time at the end of this second year, and ask them to send in a final Classis Report and the Classis Recommendation form to the Candidacy Director at candidacy@crcna.org.
• Mentor Recommendation: Ask your candidacy mentor to complete the Mentor Recommendation form. Your mentor must sign this form and review it with you, then submit it to the Candidacy Director at candidacy@crcna.org.
• Ask the chair or clerk of the council to complete the Council Recommendation form. The representative must sign this form and review it with you, then submit it to the Candidacy Director at candidacy@crcna.org.
• Meet with your EPMC Facilitation Team for a final interview. The purpose of the interview is to allow the EPMC Facilitation Team members an opportunity to discuss the participant’s vocational formation reflection paper with them, and make a final assessment of (1) the student’s personal, spiritual and professional readiness for ministry, (2) the student’s knowledge of and agreement with the confessional positions of the Christian Reformed Church, and (3) the student’s general suitability for ministerial candidacy in the Christian Reformed Church. The team will then present their assessment of the participant’s readiness for candidacy to the Candidacy Committee before the participant’s final interview for candidacy in April.

April Candidacy Interview

• An invitation will be sent to meet with an interview team in late April. The Candidacy Director or a member of your interview team will contact you regarding the date/time of your interview for candidacy in the CRCNA. The topics of this interview:
  • Personal call and sense of vocation
  • Knowledge of scripture and theology
  • Commitment to the doctrine and ministry of the Christian Reformed Church

May 

• Check in with CTS and Candidacy to make sure you have no outstanding coursework, candidacy assignments, vocational formation or psych requirements that would cause “delayed status” for your candidacy. If you have not completed all of the requirements listed above and all coursework, you will be considered a candidate with a “delay.” You will have an asterisk listed next to your name on the Candidate’s page. A delay means that you will not be able to accept a call and be examined by your classis until all requirements are complete and the delay removed.

June Candidacy Approval by Synod

• Candidacy Committee sends a list of all approved candidates (even those with delayed status) to synod for approval at the June meeting
• Candidates are celebrated, prayed for and affirmed at synod
• If you haven’t already done so, please send your final transcripts for your M. Div to Calvin Theological Seminary.  Please note, official transcripts should be sent directly from your school to CTS.
  • Official, electronic copies can be sent to: admissions@calvinseminary.edu
  • Hard copies can be sent to:
         Office of Admissions
         Calvin Theological Seminary
         3233 Burton St. SE
         Grand Rapids, MI 49546
         USA

Summer (or later) Call

• Once synod officially gives approval to candidates in mid-June, all (non-delayed) candidates may officially accept a “provisional call” (provisional upon successfully passing an examination by the classis of the calling church).
• Before this point, candidates may begin having conversations with churches but no call can be provisionally extended/accepted until synod has approved them (and all assignments are complete)
• If you accept a call, please send an email to the Candidacy Director at candidacy@crcna.org containing the title of your new role and the name/location of the church who called you. This will then be communicated to CTS and other denominational entities who need this information.
• It may be possible, in some cases, to begin work at your calling church before you are ordained

Fall (or later) Classis Exam and Ordination 

• You should talk with the Stated Clerk of the classis of your church to obtain the classical exam requirements and their timeline (classis usually meet 3 times a year in September/October, January/February, April/May, unless they schedule a special meeting for your exam).
• If you have outstanding requirements that cause you to show up as a “delayed candidate” (asterisk behind your name) on the candidacy website, your classis will not be able to examine you until those requirements are cleared up
• You will be examined by classis for ordination as a Minister of the Word
• After approved by classis, your ordination service can be scheduled with your calling church

Note: You are examined and ordained only once in your lifetime as a CRCNA Minister of the Word (even if you transfer between churches and classes later on in your ministry.)