If you are just beginning to explore your call to ministry, plan to join a New England Conference Ministry Exploration Summit. A summit is a gathering of folks in the early stages of candidacy or discernment as well as experienced Clergy and Laypersons from the different ministry paths. Anyone interested in lay, licensed or ordained ministry is welcomed and encouraged to join one of these events. Participation in a Summit is required to become a Certified Candidate or a Certified Lay Minister. Participation in a summit fulfills the "Orientation to Ministry" requirement. Summits are usually offered twice each year (typically January and September).
Ministry Exploration Summit Facts
Registration Form January 2023
Next Summit: TBA
Hybrid Option: If participants are unable to attend in-person, they will be able to join online via Zoom. If you are interested, please SAVE-the-DATES and send the completed registration form to the BOM Registrar (bomregistrar@yahoo.com).
Hotel Info will be posted here when plans are finalized.
Questions? Contact the BOM Registrar, bomregistrar@yahoo.com or (603) 892-0359
New England candidates for Local Pastor must complete Local Pastor Licensing School unless they have completed at least 1/3 of an approved Master of Divinity program and the New Pastor Orientation. Licensing School requires 80 hours of instruction. To successfully complete the program, you must be present and participate in all sessions (in-person and online) as well as submit all assigned work on time. The New England Conference offers Local Pastor Licensing School once per year. To register, read the Brochure and Registration Form document in full and return the completed form to the Registrar with your payment. You must be a Certified Candidate and your District Superintendent must sign the Registration Form (page 4 of the document)
The 2023 New England Local Pastor Licensing School begins with an in-person retreat from Sunday, January 8, 2023 through Friday, January 13, 2023 at Rolling Ridge Conference Center in North Andover, MA. Additionally, there are three zoom sessions on January 28, February 11, and February 25, 2023 (9:00 am -3:00 pm each day) and a Preaching lab in-person on March 11, 2023 (location TBA). Please read the registration form and brochure thoroughly for more info.
LPLS 2023 REGISTRATION Info & Form --fillable form
LPLS 2023 REGISTRATION Info & Form --regular Word format
This training event is for folks who have not successfully completed a Local Pastor Licensing School, but who are going to be serving under a License for Pastoral Ministry (Local Pastors and Provisional Members). If at least one-third of a Master of Divinity degree has been completed, the licensing school requirement is fulfilled by attending the New Pastor Orientation. If you have already completed Local Pastor Licensing School, you do not need to attend the NPO unless your dCOM has required it. The New Pastor Orientation is held once per year, usually in late May or June.
The next New Pastor Orientation (NPO) is scheduled for May 21-23, 2023 at Rolling Ridge Retreat and Conference Center in No. Andover, MA.
REGISTRATION FORM 2023- regular Word format
REGISTRATION FORM 2023-fillable pdf format
Questions? Contact the Registrar, bomregistrar@yahoo.com or (603) 892-0359.
The Course of Study (COS) is the required continuing education for Local Pastors. These courses must be taken from an approved school. Please see the school lists below. There are 20 required courses shown in this COS Chart.
PANDEMIC NOTE: online COS courses will be counted as residential for spring, summer and fall 2020 as well as spring, summer and fall 2021. In other words they will not count against the maximum of 10 online courses.
COS Registration Signatures Please note that COS registration does REQUIRE the proper signatures for registration. After your DS has signed your COS registration form, send your form to the New England LP Registrar (beginning Sept 2022, contact Deborah Venator for further instruction). If you would like the LP Registrar to mail your registration on to the school or back to you, please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope in your letter. You may send your form electronically using email and the LP Registrar will email the signed form back to you.
COS Scholarships Scholarships for Local Pastors taking Course of Study are limited to $250 per course for a maximum of two courses per year (maximum total of $500 per year). If your COS school required you to pay the full tuition upfront, send your grade report/transcript to the LP Registrar (beginning Sept 2022, contact Deborah Venator for further instruction) along with a note requesting the scholarship.
COS Progress As per the BOD, until the COS curriculum (20 courses) is completed, part-time local pastors should take two courses per year and full-time local pastors should take four courses per year. If this schedule is not possible, a local pastor should discuss this with their dCOM. If there is a reason adequate progress cannot be reasonably made, the dCOM may submit a request to the BOM for a 1-year extension. This is an annual request and, therefore, must be re-submitted if the issue persists into another year. COS Extension Form - dCOM to BOM