What does it mean to be called to ministry?

And how should that internal sense of being called by God relate to other factors,

like personal gifting or experience or the support of a local church?

In our interview today, I'm talking with Bobby Jameson about his own journey to the pastorate

and why he thinks the language of calling is actually more harmful than it is helpful when

it comes to pastoral ministry.

Bobby serves as an associate pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., and is the

author of The Path to Being a Pastor, a Guide for the Aspiring

from Crossway. Let's get started.

Bobby, thank you so much for joining me today on the Crossway podcast.

Happy to be here.

So you currently serve as an associate pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.

Do you remember when you first realized that you wanted to be a quote-unquote vocational full-time pastor?

Sure. Thanks for asking.

I don't know about like the first time I seriously thought about it,

but certainly there was a serious desire settling in by Christmas time,

my sophomore year of college.

So I was studying music full time.

I wanted to be a professional musician.

I started attending Grace Community Church where John McArthur is the pastor.

And that was like the end of my freshman year.

By beginning of my sophomore year, I'm really plugging in.

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