Licensing

The EFCA ministry license is the basic ministry credential. It is renewable every five years as long as you serve in accordance with EFCA standards. After two years of licensing you can apply for certification if you so choose. For more details about licensing see the FAQs on this site and the Ministerial Credentialing in the EFCA document.

Here are your main tasks in preparing for licensing. These tasks are spelled out further in the licensing checklist below.

Application Forms

You must fill out several forms of various sorts and furnish some information so that, in compliance with Minnesota state law, we can check on your previous employment relative to sexual integrity. You and your spouse/friend and your church elders will also fill out questionnaires on your spiritual and character qualifications. (You and your spouse/friend can choose a personal interview as an alternative if you prefer.) See the portion of the national EFCA website for forms required by the national office. See the resources page of the NCD website for the forms required by our district.

Letter and Personal Spiritual & Character Qualifications Questionnaire

  • You must write a letter of intent for licensing.
  • Request that the PSCQ questionnaires be sent to you. These need to be completed by you, your spouse if you are married or a close friend if you are single, and your church’s elders (if you prefer, you and your spouse/friend can choose a personal interview instead) that explore your spiritual and character qualifications for this ministry credential. These documents are sent to the district office upon completion. (The elders’ PSCQ replaces the elder board recommendation letter.)

Licensing Thesis

You must write a 15- to 20-page paper that summarizes your conversion and call to ministry, your beliefs relative to the EFCA Statement of Faith, and your convictions and practices relative to several contemporary issues. Guidelines for the paper can be found on the national EFCA website: Vocational License, Non-Vocational License.

Reading

There are five books about EFCA history, beliefs, and practices that you are required to read. These books can be purchased from NextStep Resources.

  • What it Means to be Free, by Calvin Hanson
  • Evangelical Convictions, EFCA Spiritual Heritage Committee
  • The Significance of Silence, by Arnold T. Olson
  • Stumbling Toward Maturity, by Arnold T. Olson
  • The Search for Identity, by Arnold T. Olson

You can work on the above tasks in any order. Submit your paperwork to our office (ncd@ncdefca.org) when you have it completed. It must be completed before your licensing interview can be scheduled. When you have your paper ready for submission, send it to our office. We will look it over for formatting and then send it to a first reader (an EFCA-ordained pastor) from the district credentialing network for review. He will contact you with suggestions or required revisions to the paper. Once he signs off on the paper we can schedule your licensing interview—an informal but focused time with two or three EFCA-ordained individuals who will go over your paper with you to confirm your basic theological competence and your alignment with the EFCA.

Click here for a checklist to follow as you move toward licensing.