Doctors receive their medical licenses to practice.

Lawyers pass their bar exams.

Steve Kawiecki, left, who started last July as associate pastor of student ministries at First Baptist Church, 1330 Kasold Drive, hopes to be ordained next month at the church. Here he talks with Kansas University students Aaron Head and Julie Gillogly after Sunday services.

And doctoral students successfully defend their theses.

How about pastors? When are they officially welcomed into the professional fold of their peers?

That day is called ordination, and it’s coming up fast for Steve Kawiecki, associate pastor of student ministries and Christian education at First Baptist Church, 1330 Kasold Drive.

Right now, Kawiecki, 28, is most comfortable being called “Pastor Steve.” But after he’s ordained April 21 at First Baptist, he’ll start letting people call him “reverend.”

Every faith and many denominations or movements within each faith has its own rules and requirements for an aspiring member of the clergy to become an ordained spiritual leader.

Kawiecki will be ordained at First Baptist, which is a member of American Baptist Churches USA. So his ordination process follows that denomination’s guidelines. But ordinations of many faiths typically share the purpose of officially recognizing a person’s entry into the clergy, and welcoming a candidate into the ranks.

The remaining hurdle

Kawiecki pronounced “kev-ee-ESK-ee” has cleared most of the hurdles on his five-year journey toward ordination, but one challenge remains.

On April 6, an ordination council of 25 to 35 people will meet at First Baptist to question Kawiecki about his faith, his theological viewpoints and his ministry vision. Some of that is outlined in an ordination paper Kawiecki wrote that was distributed to council members weeks ago for review.

Members of the council made up of both clergy and laity represent congregations in the Northeast Area of the American Baptist Churches’ Central Region, which includes First Baptist.

An ordination council will question Kawiecki about his faith, theology and ministry vision April 6. The council will then vote whether to approve his ordination, which would be April 21.

After talking with Kawiecki, council members will vote on whether to confirm him.

If they do, planning for an April 21 ordination at First Baptist will go forward.

“I’ve already been asked these types of questions in a more personal setting by First Baptist’s search committee that called me here (to interview for his current position),” Kawiecki said. “But I am nervous. It would be difficult not to be.

“People (on the council) from these other churches will want to know, ‘Who is this minister?'”

Kawiecki officially started his work at First Baptist in July 2001, but he’d been preparing for ministry long before that day.

A native of Fayetteville, Tenn., he graduated in 1996 from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville with a bachelor’s degree in political science and education.

In 1997, Kawiecki began his studies at Baylor University’s Truett Seminary in Waco, Tex. He earned his master’s in divinity, with a concentration in theology, in May 2001.

Working in ministry at First Baptist is his first pastoral position after seminary, and Kawiecki said it’s a good fit.

“I love Lawrence,” he said. “When I finished seminary and I had my degree, I had it set in my mind that I wanted to be in a college town, working with college students. Lawrence fit that perfectly.”

First Baptist has about 350 active members.

Getting introspective

Aside from being confirmed by the ordination council, Kawiecki has already met key requirements to be ordained at First Baptist in the tradition of American Baptist Churches USA.

Kawiecki has earned his master’s in divinity, First Baptist has licensed him for the ministry it’s like a learner’s permit until he’s ordained and he has written his ordination paper for the council to consider.

In the paper, he was asked to address several broad topics, such as his call to the ministry; his understanding of God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit; and his view of the purpose and place of the church in today’s world.

“It was challenging,” Kawiecki said. “It’s not something you can do in a day, and it does take some introspection. You know people are going to be reading this paper and asking you questions.”

Being ordained as a pastor has parallels to people in secular fields getting a long-awaited degree, earning certification or receiving a license to practice their profession.

But officially becoming a pastor is different, too.

“My understanding of a minister is that you have been set apart by God to equip the laity to minister to the world. It’s a very personal calling, but it’s a high and holy calling,” Kawiecki said.

“That’s different than meeting some bottom-line quota (in another type of work). We’re actively involved in getting other people to see that God is actively involved in their lives.”