13 Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
Acts 13:1–3, ESV
Through the Bible: Acts 13–14
At the recent annual meeting of the Alabama Baptist Convention, some sobering data points were shared. Of the over 3100 churches in our convention, hundreds of them are without pastors. Some of them have been searching for months. Some for years. Some have turned to supply preachers, retired pastors, or a bi-vocational model. Couple these statistics with a 2020 Barna Research study that showed the average age of a Protestant evangelical pastor is 57– up from 50 in 2000. The same study notes that only 16% of pastors are under the age of 40. Everyone agrees that we are heading for a crisis if things don’t change.
“Calling out the Called” has been a point of emphasis on both the state level here in Alabama and in the larger Southern Baptist Convention. But Acts 13 reminds us that the ultimate solution cannot come from a search committee, a state board, a pastoral placement service, or the latest book. The Holy Spirit is the primary and ultimate Caller of the called.
“While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’”— Acts 13:2
Barnabas and Saul didn’t volunteer. The church at Antioch didn’t nominate them. The Holy Spirit called them.
But this doesn’t mean the church sits on her hands and waits. There are four things we can and must do to create the kind of environments where the called can hear the Spirit calling them out. And Acts 13:1-3 provides the blueprint.
1. Be a Teaching Church — Create an environment where gifts can surface
Antioch is led by “prophets and teachers.” Healthy teaching produces healthy teachers. When God begins to stir calling in a young person’s heart, it’s usually the church that notices first—not because the church is brilliant, but because the church has created space for people to discover and develop their gifts.
A church that never asks, “Would you be willing to teach for ten minutes on Wednesday night?” will never discover whom God may be calling to preach.
Practical step:
- Create multiple teaching “on-ramps”: Sunday school rotation, youth devos, Wednesday short-message slots, micro-preaching moments.
- Talent surfaces when it’s allowed to try.
2. Be a Diverse Church — Expect calling to come from unexpected places
Look at Antioch’s leadership team: a Levite from Cyprus, a man raised in Herod’s household, a Black African believer, a former Pharisee, and a former persecutor. No two have the same background.
Diversity widens the calling pool.
It forces the church to stop looking for one “type” of pastor and start paying attention to the Spirit’s surprising work in unexpected people.
Practical step:
- Look for called men from different backgrounds—blue-collar, white-collar, recently saved, long-time members, young men no one has ever coached.
- Calling often appears where churches aren’t looking.
3. Be a Worshiping, Praying, Fasting Church — Create space for the Spirit to speak
The Spirit didn’t speak during a business meeting. He spoke during worship.
A church that prays church hears things a church that merely plans never will.
A fasting church receives direction a church that merely fellowships never expects.
A worshiping church is already in the posture of surrender when God says, “Set them apart for Me.”
If Alabama churches long for called ministers, perhaps we need to pray specifically for God to raise them up. As James 4:2 reminds us, often the reason we do not have is that we do not ask.
Practical step:
- Hold periodic prayer gatherings specifically to ask for God to raise up pastors, teachers, missionaries, and church planters from within our pews.
- You attract what you pray for.
4. Be a Supplying Church — Support the Work of Sending
Antioch didn’t just lay hands on Barnabas and Saul—they opened their hands.
They resourced them.
They supplied them.
They provided for the mission.
They welcomed them home and sent them out again.
Missionaries don’t appear out of thin air.
Pastors don’t grow on trees.
Calling needs resources—prayer, money, encouragement, accountability, and a home base that believes in them enough to sacrifice.
If Alabama has hundreds of churches without pastors, part of the solution is not only hearing the Spirit (Acts 13:2) but funding the future—training, equipping, supporting, and sending the next generation of the called.
Practical step:
- Create intentional pathways to support the called—financially, relationally, and spiritually.
- Set aside part of the budget for ministry apprenticeships.
- Provide books, training, conferences, and mentoring.
- Give young men meaningful opportunities to serve, and then resource them when God opens doors.
- Make it normal for the church to invest in its future shepherds before they ever preach their first sermon.
A church that supplies its missionaries becomes a church that multiplies its ministers.
5. Be a Sending Church — Expect to lose your best people
This might be the most painful part of calling. The Holy Spirit doesn’t ask Antioch to send out their spares. He recruits Barnabas and Saul– their two best guys! Their strongest leaders, their most gifted teachers, their most trusted servants.
A church that refuses to send her best will struggle to receive God’s next.
A calling church must also be a sending church.
And a sending church will always be a church God can trust.
When I look at the pastoral needs in our state, I don’t believe for one second that God has stopped calling people. But I do wonder if we have stopped creating the kind of churches where calling can be heard, nurtured, tested, affirmed, and released.
Practical step:
- Create a culture where sending—even locally—is celebrated, not mourned.
- Commission young leaders. Train them. Release them. Cheer them on.
- A sending church becomes a calling church.
The Spirit still calls. He always has.
May our churches grow into communities ready to hear Him say, “Set apart for Me the ones I have prepared.” And may we have the courage—not just to recognize the called—but to send them wherever He leads.
For further Reading
- Calling Out the Called Alabama: A resource for planning and promoting a “Calling Out the Called” emphasis at your church.
- Calling Out the Called: Discipling Those Called to Ministry Leadership, by Shane Pruitt
- Is God Calling Me? Answering the Question Every Believer Asks, by Jeff Iorg
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