How'd you get started in the business?

How did you wind up in vocational ministry?

On what would you base/validate your "call" to ministry?

Regarding the application process at DTS, prospective students are told the following:

You will best serve the Lord based on your giftedness and call, and those things may be best used in a church ministry or local business. Ask God to guide you to a decision through prayer, His Word, and the counsel of family, close friends, and spiritual leaders. The primary purpose of seminary is to prepare you for full-time vocational ministry, or to sharpen your ministry skills so that you can impact more effectively the people in your God-given sphere of influence—whatever that may be.

How did you know that's what you were supposed to do?

Read about some prominent men (e.g., Philip Ryken, Voddie Baucham, Tim Keller, Thabiti Anyabwile, etc.) had to say on how they get started in pastoral ministry.

I've often wondered about the idea of a call to (pastoral) ministry and the role the local church plays in the discernment of such.

Is there ever cause for someone to question the call of another?

How does a seminary, or other organization, make an objective determination about a seemingly subjective topic?

Thinking again about the DTS criteria, can one be gifted, but not called? Can one be called, but not gifted?