Free Church of Scotland
Board of Ministry
Application for Recognition as a Candidate for the Ministry
PLEASE COMPLETE THIS FORM CLEARLY IN BLACK INK. YOU MAY COMPLETE THE FORM ELECTRONICALLY. SUBMIT AS A WORD FILE. DO NOT FOLD THE FORM.
All questions should be answered. To comply with legislation we require a clear photocopy of your current passport (which may be attached as a digital file).
We also require 2 copies of your photograph. These may be supplied in colour or black and white (approx. 6” x 4”). Alternatively you may supply a digital image file and attach the file along with your application. If you supply printed photographs affixed one copy in the box below.
Surname: ______
First Names: ______
Form updated: September 2017
PART A - To be completed by the Applicant
1. Name and AddressSurname:
First names:
Email:
Telephone (landline mobile):
Correspondence address:
2. Personal details
Date of Birth (DD/MM/YYYY):
Nationality:
If not a UK or EU citizen, what is
your UK immigration status?
Country of Origin:
Present Occupation:
What is your First Language?
List any other languages you speak and indicate your level of fluency.
Do you have a driving licence?
Next of Kin:
Address (if different):
Relationship:
Telephone (landline & mobile):
Email:
3. Family Life
What is your marital status?
If married, give date of marriage:Wife’s name:
Wife’s occupation:
Give details of any dependent children:
Have you / your spouse ever been divorced?
Please give details of any Disability/ Special Needs/ Dietary requirements that affect you / your spouse or a dependent.
If single, have you shared with your immediate family your call to the ministry?
What degree of support do you expect from them?
Please give details of any Disability/ Special Needs/ Dietary requirements that affect you.
4. Marital relationship (if applicable)
What are the key features of your spiritual life as a couple/family?
What steps do you and your wife take to keep your marriage strong?
How do you envisage balancing ministry, family and leisure time?
How do you deal with any issues or differences?
Are there any areas of major theological disagreement with your wife?
Does your wife support your application to enter the Free Church ministry?
EDUCATION & WORK
5. Pre-University examination results (e.g Highers / A levels)
Examining body Date Subject Level Grade or Band
6. If you are a student or Graduate of a University, College etc., please give details of your educational attainments below
University/College, etc. Date of Entry Faculty
Degree or other qualifications aimed at:
Subjects already passed or Degrees already obtained (give year and qualification):
List any subjects yet to be taken:
Expected date of graduation or completion of studies (Month and Year):
7. Please list work experience to date and list any professional or vocational examinations or qualifications passed or professional qualifications:
8. Give the names and address, email, and telephone numbers for TWO former or current employers (or other unrelated persons) who would be willing to supply you with a character reference. State your connection with them and advise them that they will be contacted for a reference. (Presbytery/Kirk Session should take up these references, consider them, and forward them to the Board of Ministry along with the application):
CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE
9. Please give a brief account of your Christian conversion and testimony (up to 500 words):10. Church Affiliation
1) How long have you been connected with the Free Church of Scotland?
2) How long have you been a member in the Free Church of Scotland?
3) Have you been a member of another denomination? Give dates in each instance.
4) Of which Free Church congregation are you now a member?
5) How long have you been a communicant member in your congregation?
6) Have you ever been an office-bearer in the Free Church of Scotland or any other denomination? If so, please give details (office, denomination, congregation and dates):
11. Doctrine
1) Do you accept the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the infallible and inerrant Word of God?
2) Have you read the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy (1978), which may be read at http://www.bible-researcher.com/chicago1.html? Do you agree with the statement?
3) Do you accept the teachings of the (1647) Westminster Confession of Faith as being in harmony with the written Word of God?
4) Do you consider this Confession to be a statement of your own faith?
5) Are there any parts of the Westminster Confession of Faith on which you require further clarification or about which you have questions?
6) Sung Praise in the Free Church of Scotland is regulated by Act 1 (Plenary General Assembly, November 2010). What are your views on sung praise in public worship?
7) As a candidate for the ministry you will visit and take part in the worship of a variety of Free Church congregations. The local practice in sung praise may be different from your own views. Would you be happy to participate in worship in such a setting?
8) In May 2000 the General Assembly approved of the Danvers Statement (drafted in 1988), which sets out a “complementarian” theological understanding of the roles of women and men. (The Statement may be read at: http://cbmw.org/core-beliefs/).
Have you read the Danvers Statement?
Do you agree with it?
9) The appendix to this application contains the questions put to candidates at their ordination.
a. Do you have any questions about them?
b. Could you answer them in the affirmative?
12. Christian Ministry
1. Please give a simple explanation of the gospel message in less than 500 words.2. Please give a written account of your vision of Christian ministry in less than 500 words.
3. Please give a written account of any Christian work in which you have recently been engaged in less than 500 words.
13. Grounds of Application
1) What is your motive in seeking ordination to enter the ministry?
2) Have you at any previous time applied for recognition as a student for the ministry of the Free Church of Scotland?
3) If so, please give details (date, as a member of which congregation, which Presbytery and with what results?)
4) Have you ever applied for recognition as a student for the ministry of any other denomination?
5) If so, please give details (date, denomination and with what results?)
14. Disclosure: Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG)
Because the position of Student Minister involves “regulated work” with children and protected adults, the Free Church of Scotland will require you to complete a Self-Declaration form and will also require a satisfactory PVG Scheme Record Disclosure prior to appointing you to this position.
Have you ever been convicted of a criminal offence?
Is there any reason why you may not be considered suitable for working with children or protected groups?
Appendix – Questions to be put to probationers before they are licensed to preach the gospel (see question 10(6)):
1. Do you believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God, and the only rule of faith and manners?
2. Do you sincerely own and believe the whole doctrine of the Confession of Faith, approven by the General Assemblies of this Church, to be the truths of God, contained in Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments; and do you own the whole doctrine therein contained as the confession of your faith?
3. Do you sincerely own the purity of worship presently authorised and practised in this Church, and also own the Presbyterian government and discipline; and are you persuaded that the said doctrine, worship, and discipline, and Church government, are founded upon the Holy Scriptures, and agreeable thereto?
4. Do you believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, as King and Head of the Church, has therein appointed a government In the hands of the Church officers, distinct from, and not subordinate In its own province to, civil government, and that the Civil magistrate does not possess jurisdiction or authoritative control over the regulation of the affairs of Christ’s Church?
5. And do you approve of the general principles embodied in the Claim, Declaration and Protest, adopted by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1842, and in the Protest of Ministers and Elders, commissioners from Presbyteries to the General Assembly, read in the presence of the Royal Commissioner on 18th May 1843, as declaring the views that are sanctioned by the Word of God, and as the standards of this Church, with respect to the spirituality and freedom of the Church of Christ, and her subjection to Him as her only Head, and to His Word as her only standard?
6. Do you promise that, through the grace of God, you will firmly and constantly adhere to, and in your station, to the utmost of your power, assert, maintain, and defend the said doctrine, worship and discipline, and the government of this Church by Kirk Sessions, Presbyteries, Provincial Synods, and General Assemblies?
7. Do you promise that in your practice you will conform yourself to the said worship, and submit yourself to the said discipline and government of this Church, and not endeavour, directly or indirectly, the prejudice or subversion of the same?
8. Do you promise that you shall follow no divisive courses from the doctrine, worship, discipline, and government of this Church?
9. Do you renounce all doctrines, tenets, or opinions whatsoever, contrary to, or inconsistent with, the said doctrine, worship, discipline, and government of this Church?
10. Do you promise that you shall submit yourself to the several judicatories of this Church?
DECLARATION (TO BE SIGNED BY ALL APPLICANTS)
I hereby certify that to the best of my knowledge all the particulars given above are correct and in the knowledge that I must, if accepted, pursue my studies under the supervision of the Board of Ministry. I hereby make application for Recognition as a student for the Ministry of the Free Church of Scotland.
Signed......
After carefully checking that all questions have been answered you should now hand this form to the Minister or Session Clerk of the Free Church in which you are a communicant member. Enclose two photographs and a photocopy of your Passport Information page. Electronic files may be supplied in place of these paper documents if you complete this document electronically.
PART B – THIS SECTION OF THE APPLICATION FORM
IS FOR THE USE OF THE KIRK SESSION & PRESBYTERY
Guidance for Kirk Sessions / Presbyteries on procedure
Normally an applicant will have obtained advice from his minister before completing a Candidate Application Form. When an applicant submits a form it is perfectly in order for the Kirk Session to discuss the matter and take a decision about the best way to proceed. However the Kirk Session should not formally interview the applicant or give their formal approval to the application without first involving the Presbytery in the recognition process. Most Presbyteries will have a Students Committee or they may appoint a special Committee as the need arises. The whole Presbytery may be involved or a representative committee may deal with the application as most appropriate in each case.
The Kirk Session is responsible to ensure that the applicant has fully completed Section A, that he has enclosed photographs and a copy of his passport information page, and that details of two referees have been supplied. In processing the application the Session are confirming that the applicant is a member in full communion with their congregation and that he participates fully in the life and worship of the church.
The Session should invite the Presbytery or its Students Committee to meet conjointly with the Kirk Session in order to complete Section B of the application, to interview the applicant, to advise the applicant and to made a recommendation as to how the candidate should proceed.
Great care should be taken at every stage in the application and interview process. The interview meeting is a meeting of a Presbytery appointed committee meeting conjointly with representatives of the candidate’s home Kirk Session. The Kirk Session will determine if all the members of the Session or a representative number attend. The Presbytery provides the chairman of the conjoint meeting and the Presbytery takes ownership of the application process if the application is approved for transmission to the Board.
The Board reminds presbyteries to take great care when processing an application. The Presbytery should take up the references and should ensure that referees have the skills and knowledge to make judgements on an applicant’s character and skills. References should be followed up where necessary if there is any matter of concern. Giftedness for teaching and preaching and inter-personal skills should be properly assessed as part of the application process. Presbyteries may need to consider an applicant’s Christian character and temperament and they should be prepared to probe areas of personal weakness and deficiency. The Kirk Session members will know the candidate well and their input will be particularly valuable in assessing the character of the applicant.
The Board of Ministry will be happy to assist ministers, kirk-sessions and presbyteries as they process applications. Contact the Clerk or Convener of the Board with any query.
CANDIDATE EVALUATION - To be completed by the Kirk Session in consultation with Presbytery representatives
(1) If the applicant’s association with the congregation or with the Free Church of Scotland is less than three years, what information does the Kirk Session/Presbytery representatives have about the applicant from his previous congregation(s) or denomination?
PREACHING/TEACHING SKILLS
(2) How often, and in what circumstances, have members of the Kirk Session or Presbytery representatives heard the applicant preach?
(3) What evidence do the Kirk Session/Presbytery representatives see of the applicant’s potential as a preacher and teacher?
PERSONAL CHARACTER AND GIFTS
The following questions are given to assist in evaluating the candidate’s character and gifts. The conjoint meeting is free to examine other areas as appropriate and space is provided to give additional information. Recording a brief response from the candidate for these questions will assist the Board in their assessment of the candidate. You may also wish to comment on the response. Please comment in brackets to make it clear that this is your comment on the candidate’s response.