Into ministry: The pastorals, the early church, and the Free Methodist Church in the early twenty--first century

In 2011 the Free Methodist Church decided to examine and reform its leadership formation practices for pastors. The church was encouraged to interact with a number of the wisdom sources for the project; the early church was one of the sources.;The purpose of the research was to discover pastoral formation essentials from the Pastorals and the early church fathers. Additionally it sought to determine if the pastoral formation essentials are (1) known, (2) embraced and practiced within formation models for existing Free Methodist clergy and conference ministerial candidates, and (3) contribute to the developing Free Methodist pastoral formation model. The research used a triangulation, mixed---methods design. The research found formation essentials present in the early church, the essentials are known among Free Methodists, and they are partially active in current formation practices.;This research included the Pastoral Epistles; writings of four pastors of the early church---Ignatius of Antioch, Hippolytus of Rome, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Augustine of Hippo; bishops, theologians and formation providers of the Free Methodist Church; and, recently ordained pastors of the Free Methodist Church.