Information and Guidelines - Board of Ordained Ministry

The Board of Ordained Ministry is responsible for supporting persons who respond to God's call to professional ministry as an elder, deacon, licensed local pastor, or other certified and licensed ministry options.

• For the deacons and elder path:

  • Candidacy Guide
    • Please contact the BOM registrar Sara McManus with any questions you might have.
    • Please note that the psychological assessment track has changed to be managed by the Conference Office and not through UMCARES as of Feb.28, 2021. For any questions, please contact Bea Stucke. 
  • Before coming for provisional membership, you must complete your educational requirements within 4 months after your expected date of commissioning. For example, if you will complete your final class in September 2026, you may submit your paperwork by September 1, 2025 to be potentially commissioned at Annual Conference 2026. 
    • Application requirements for Commissioning as Deacon/ Elder (Provisional Membership) 
    • Application requirements for Ordination as Deacon/ Elder (Full Membership)

• For the local licensed pastor and associate member path:  

  • Candidacy Guide
    Please contact the BOM registrar Sara McManus with any questions you might have.
  • Application requirements for Associate Membership

• Additional requirement resources:

  • Making Disciples Project
  • Sermon Uploading Instructions
  • Background Check Forms
  • Registrar Instruction Video

For specific candidacy forms please click here

Rev. Quaya Ackerman, local licensed pastor.

Scholarships, loans and grants 

The Dakotas Conference of The United Methodist Church provides student aid for certified candidates through seminary and course of study loan or grants, as well as debt reduction relief for new clergy within the conference. Click here for the current student aid guidelines. For more information, please contact the Office of Leadership Development. Here are some of the forms and applications:

Application for seminary loan or grant

Application for course of study loan or grant

Promissary note (required for seminary and course of study loan or grants)

Merit Scholarship application (scholarships distributed through the Dakotas United Methodist Foundation)

United Methodist Seminaries

The University Senate of The United Methodist Church provides a list of approved seminaries. Online classes are now only approved for those that are taken at one of the United Methodist seminaries.  View the list of approved seminaries here.

Licensing and Lay Ministry school 

The Dakotas Conference conducts a week-long licensing and lay ministry school. This is the first step of training to become a local licensed pastor. Individuals seeking to become certified lay ministers can attend to meet their training requirement (Modules 2-4.) Please contact the dean, Rev. Annie Carlson, for any questions.

Course of Study

The Basic Five-Year Course of Study is a year-round experiential and classroom learning process. This process assumes cooperation between the instructors in the Course of Study Schools and the clergy mentors in the annual conferences. Each Regional Course of Study School shall offer all 20 courses of the Basic Five-Year COS and shall seek to meet the needs of both the full-time and part-time local pastors. Normally courses are to be taken in the sequence prescribed by the curriculum. At a minimum, students are expected to take first year courses in the first year of study and fifth year courses in the final year of study. In addition to these basic curriculum courses, the school may provide a communication skills program for students. Other special programs, like part-time local pastor course of study, may be funded at the discretion of the schools or the Division of Ordained Ministry and other programs that meet student needs. Course of Study guidelines