Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / The problem of this dissertation was: What are the patterns of self-image, social relationships and religious commitment expressed by persons who respond to their Christian vocation by entering the ordained ministry from another occupation? The "second-career" minister, particularly in his formative seminary years, is in a unique position to describe these patterns. The theoretical orientation had two foci: the self-actualization paradigm of Maslow and sociological concepts: role relationship, reference group and persons, role-definition, latent and manifest content, and dysfunction. [TRUNCATED] / 2031-01-01