# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1956_S180
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

180 SEMINARIES AND COLLEGES

What Kind of Recruit Is the Church Seeking?

In any program of recruitment and training worthy of the
name, the surest approach is to consider the qualifications of each
individual prospect. Consequently it is of prime importance to
develop a normative statement of desirable individual charac-
teristics of recruits.

In developing such a list, it is necessary to avoid the over-
simplification sometimes found in the admonition to seek out God-
fearing young men or young women. It is just as fallacious to
develop such a comprehensive listing of intangibles that such
listing makes it possible to ignore the potential recruit as a whole
person in Christ.

For the holy Christian Church, the most important single
characteristic at any time and in any place is that the person who
aspires to the holy ministry must be spiritually dominated and
dedicated. Parents, pastors, teachers, college and seminary instruc-
tors, counselors, administrators, and the individual himself must
consciously and deliberately be concerned with his possession of
a vital inclination to serve the Lord and His church in the ministry
of the Word.

Next in importance is the desirability that each recruit be
physically energetic and vital. While the exercise of the office of
the ministry requires only fair motor skills, the recruit for the
work of the ministry must possess physical stamina and endurance.
The recruit must also be free from physical defects which would
handicap him in the exercise of his office.

The recruit, furthermore, should be mentally healthy. There
is an undeniable tendency for certain types of mental illness to
clothe or color themselves religiously or to mask themselves as
theological problems. With the fostering of mental health an
increasing national problem, it is certain that no recruit for the
church’s ministry should have a record of mental illness without
adequate and effective treatment.

One of the most important ways in which mental health can
be viewed is as emotional maturity. The individual who presents
himself for admission to the training program must have had his
or her needs for acceptance, for recognition, and for love met in
normal ways. The synodical institution can neither substitute nor
routinely make up for prior lack in this regard. Once the indi-
vidual is active in the church as pastor or teacher, he must be able
to help others whose emotional needs have not been met. Maturity
implies emotional stability and balance as well as superior ability
to adapt to a variety of conditions. Quite early in life, emotional
maturity can be measured in terms of an individual’s purposeful-

SLAC i RAT OK A AL a mene nnn ea A Net ert

ness. It sho
as an inten

To say
academicall
achievemen
ability and
and women
to bear effe
is an area
to teach ca
To be gem
vidual is al
professiona
already eff
likely to be
who are nc

The re

‘ preference

understand
He is to b
people of i
actively ar
Even t
As an ind
exchange.
own and o
The ve
exercise tl
ministry a
Leaders of
to be able
All thi
growth an
growth to
disciplined.
How r
priceless r¢
Missouri S
as a clue.
who annua
there are r
fied, and u
ment effor
synodical