Candidacy Committee

Candidacy in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is the churchwide process of preparation and formation leading to approval for the public ministries of this church: commissioned associates in ministry; consecrated deaconess or diaconal minister; or ordained pastor. (1)

The synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, through a candidacy committee, act on behalf of the ELCA in the candidacy process.  Candidacy committees are responsible for determining the readiness of persons to enter the candidacy process and to begin theological education, for endorsing candidates for a specific roster of this church, and in the approval process for determining an individual’s qualifications and readiness to serve in rostered ministry. (2)

The Northern Illinois Candidacy Committee consists of appointed rostered and lay representatives. It conducted several committee meetings during the period. Prior to each meeting Initial Interviews and Entrance Panels were conducted for candidates. The committee then affirms (disaffirms) the recommendations of the panel. The Committee conducted a Saturday Candidacy Retreat at the Synod Office. The retreat provides perspective candidates with an informational setting and opportunity to meet the committee and recently approved candidates. Committee members participated in the Resourcing event and Synod Assembly forums.

40 Northern Illinois Synod candidates were actively participating in the process. During the past year 9 Northern Illinois Synod candidates were approved for ordination or commissioning. The Synod, through the Candidacy Committee provided scholarships to those involved in the candidacy process and pursuing theological education. This was done in part with a very generous gift ($11,000) from the members of St John’s Lutheran Church, Mendota, Illinois. Each year candidacy students are faced with increasing cost to their education. The synod provides a small assistance through the scholarship fund. Funds, however, are limited. We encourage congregations who find themselves with funds they might like to provide as scholarship assistance to contact the synod office. We encourage you to provide funds for candidates from you own congregation. Currently, several new candidates have begun the entrance process.

The Northern Illinois Synod partners with the Metro Chicago and Central Southern Synods to form the Illinois Multi-Synodical Candidacy Committee. Northern Illinois Synod Candidacy member Myrna Andersen is Co-Chair of this committee. It is through this committee that candidate endorsement and approval panels are conducted and acted upon. A majority of the candidates attend Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, Wartburg Theological Seminary, and Luther Seminary. These seminaries provide evaluative material and recommendations concerning the candidate. This committee met three times during the period. Prior to each meeting endorsement and approval panels were conducted for candidates. Recommendations of panel members were presented during the meeting at which time the committee affirmed (or disaffirmed) the panel presentations.

In addition to regular meetings serving on a panel requires committee members to contribute numerous hours of preparation, per candidate. Committee members must read and review numerous reports and essays to discern the candidate’s readiness to proceed to a next phase or for approval for rostered ministry. We salute Pr. Catherine Burnette and Pr. Christine Stienstra for their service. Catherine received a Call to a congregation out of the Northern Illinois Synod and Christine received a call for additional duties within the Synod.

Prayer is of great importance for all of our Candidates. We encourage every member of the Synod Family to include these future leaders in your prayers. We thank Karin Graddy, NIS Communications Director for including the names of our Candidates in the Synod newsletter, Walking Together.

We say THANK YOU, Committee members, Myrna Anderson (AIM),  Paul Crank, Pr. Steve Dow, Pr. Stacie Fidlar, Lee Harbison, Pr. Robert Hansen, Pr. Mark Juliot, Pr. Susan Kent, Vice Chair Pr. Robert Kinnear, Secretary Mary Lasits (DM), Pr. Rich Likeness, Carla Vanatta (AIM), Pr. Kris Zierke, Assistant to the Bishop for Candidacy, Pr. Barbara Rapp,. Your gift of service, time and effort are appreciated.

- Richard J. Brynteson, Lay Chairperson 

(1) (2) Candidacy Manual, Division for Ministry, ELCA