Called to Pastoral Ministry
February 12 - March 24, 2024 ·For young adults aged 18 - 35 to explore their gifts and skills leading toward ministry.
2024 Enrollment is Closed
Discover Your Call
In this course, you will explore pastoral ministry as a vocational pathway, discern while listening, and be inspired by stores of ministries and faith leaders. Together, we will explore your unique gifts and help you discover your purpose and potential in ministry for a church or congregation.
Course Leadership
The FTE team is here to accompany, encourage, and support you through the course offering.
Pastor, coach, author, attorney, and podcaster, Sarah Raquel Gautier is a second-generation Latina who has devoted her life to building people up to live in wholeness with purpose. Sarah serves as the lead pastor of Living Stones in East Boston, MA and is the author of Color Me Yellow - Finding Your Voice in the Tension Between God's Promises and Their Fulfillment. Sarah co-created the Collab Convo Cards, a conversation starter deck to equip Latinx young people in discerning their identity, calling, and purpose. Sarah believes that through intentional conversation and mentorship, Latinx young people can live their greater stories.
A little about Living Stones Church is a faith-rooted community for mind, body, and spirit. In 2019, we were birthed out of the question: "What would it look like for a faith community to partner with businesses and organizations for the good of the community?". The answers to this question find their expression in East Boston, a predominantly Latine neighborhood in Boston. In this context, Living Stones is an intentional intercultural and intergenerational bilingual (English and Spanish) church. Our ministry program, Esperanza provides fitness and mentorship to Latine teens in the neighborhood. This ministry is a collaboration between a CrossFit gym in East Boston, a soccer development program, and the local high school. Our mentors are young adults in our church who are discerning their identity, calling, and purpose while serving the community through Esperanza.
Pastor Brandon Keith Lacey, Sr.. Pastor Lacey is the senior pastor of the New Life Full Gospel House of Worship and serves as the district overseer of the Louisiana Northwestern Berith District of the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship International. Pastor Lacey also serves as a family and marriage counselor and as a faculty and staff member at Southern University at Shreveport, Louisiana where he assumes the following roles, academic advisor, adjunct professor of college success, and project manager for Project E.A.T
Pastor Lacey is a proud member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., and serves as the Director of Educational Activities for the Delta Upsilon Lambda chapter. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry from Southern Methodist University. Pastor Lacey earned a Master of Arts in Religion from East Texas Baptist University and a Bachelor of Arts in Leadership Studies from Beulah Heights University (Cum Laude).
A little about New Life Full Gospel House of Worship, Inc. It was founded on January 3, 2009. The mission of the New Life Full Gospel House of Worship is to cultivate a Christ-like culture through spiritual formation, family enrichment, economic development, and education. The New Life Full Gospel House of Worship is a covenant partner church within the Louisiana Northwestern Berith District of the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship, International.
Explore the Course
Define and discover your calling from God. Take this time to listen and reflect on your gifts, experiences, passions, and what’s needed to uncover your purpose.
Explore different ways for you to be mentored and called to mentor. Think critically about the insights shared by peers and the teaching team and takeaways you can apply to mentorship.
Reflect on your experiences and the gifts within your community. Engage in practices and discussions to explore how and where you can be an agent of change.
Leverage the power and opportunities you hold and listen to the stories shared by passionate leaders on their vocational journey. Tap into the movement and voice of God and together make a change in the world.
“ Do it! Going in I had a pretty clear idea of my call, but this course and community really helped me hone in on what I find important. Doing this discernment work with others in a similar situation was really beneficial in how I talk about my call to ministry. ” Emer Kate Sander, Called to Pastoral Ministry Participant '23
The Forum for Theological Exploration (FTE) is a leadership incubator that inspires young people to make a difference in the world through Christian communities. Since its founding in 1954, FTE has provided resources, events, networks, grants, and fellowships to cultivate tomorrow's leaders, pastors, and theological educators, FTE provides a forum through which gifted, purposeful students, young adults, and partners explore their passion, purpose, and call.
Called to Pastoral Ministry is for young adults aged 18 - 35 who are called to explore their leadership gifts and skills leading toward pastoral ministry.
FTE created this course to help young adults identify and explore how God might call them to use their gifts, passions, and ideas in the church through pastoral ministry.
Upon completion, you will join FTE's alum network, including pastors, professors, deans, presidents of organizations, civil servants, and non-profit leaders leading their communities, congregations, and society.
You must invest about 5 to 10 hours, including the virtual community gatherings.
FTE may choose to upload part or all of the community gathering discussions, but we recommend contacting the course teaching team with any questions you have during the course.
Yes, NovoEd has a mobile app, as does Zoom, for community gathering calls.