Home > Denominational Ministries > Ordered Ministry > Ministries > Ministerial Credentials > Permanent Credentials > Consecrated Missionary

Consecrated Missionary

Description of the credential

Consecration for missionary service in the ECC is an act of the church by which a person called by God is recognized and set apart for missionary service.  The ECC consecrates only after determining through careful examination that the candidate has been called of God, is genuinely committed to the apostolic message, lives in conformity to it, and is gifted for the specific service to which they are called.  In consecration the church gratefully accepts the person as one called by God and given to the church to minister in the spirit of Christ.  The ECC consecrates the missionary to be the servant of the gospel by word and deed through the missionary work of the ECC.  The Consecrated Missionary (CM) credential is appropriate for missionaries who do not meet the educational requirements of the other permanent credentialing categories of Ordination to Word and Sacrament, Ordination to Specialized Ministry, and Commissioning.

Who is eligible for the credential?

Those who seek to be consecrated to missionary service are called to long-term missions work through the Department of World Mission of the ECC. Candidates must meet the following requirements in order to be consecrated to missionary service:

• Be approved for missionary service by the World mission Committee of the Executive Board of the ECC.
• Complete the educational requirements for consecrated missionaries.  (These requirements are determined by the World Mission Committee of the Executive Board and the Board of the Ordered Ministry.)
• Be a member of an ECC congregation.

What are the requirements of the credential?

• Previous experience as a Covenant short-term or project missionary.
• Completion of the required orientation program for missionaries of the ECC.
• Participation in the pension plan of the ECC.
• Submit a completed minister's profile form, signed baptism statement and background check, and criminal record screening.

Detailed Procedure

Once the candidate has completed the above requirements, he/she notifies the Department of the Ordered Ministry and the Department of World Mission and is placed on the consecrated missionary candidate list at a June meeting of the Board of the Ordered Ministry. If you would like to verify if your name is on the list of potential candidates, please email the Department of the Ordered Ministry.  Note that the consecration process takes about a year and always culminates with the Service of Ordination, Commissioning, and Consecration at the Covenant Annual Meeting in June.  Therefore, if a candidate wishes to be consecrated to missionary service in any given June, he or she must enter into the process no later than July 15 of the previous year.

• The Department of the Ordered Ministry sends all potential candidates a letter in June asking if they wish to be consecrated at next year's Annual Meeting.
• The candidate responds to the letter before July 15.
• The Department of the Ordered Ministry sends all candidates an application for consecration, and questions for the final paper.
• The candidate sends the completed application for consecration and final paper to the Department of World Mission by the due date (sometime in the fall).
• The World Mission committee on ministerial standing interviews the candidate based on the final paper. The committee makes its recommendation and may require the candidate to rewrite sections of the paper.
• The World Mission committee on ministerial standing sends its written report on the interviews to the Department of the Ordered Ministry.
• The Board of the Ordered Ministry interviews the candidate at its Midwinter meeting and makes a recommendation.
• The candidate must receive a favorable recommendation from the Board of the Ordered Ministry, a favorable recommendation from the World Mission Committee of the Executive Board, approval of the Covenant Ministerium, and approval of the Covenant Annual Meeting.
• The candidate must participate in the service of ordination, commissioning, and consecration at the Covenant Annual Meeting.