EXPLAINED — What is Ordination?
The process of preparation in which you engage first as a local minister and then as a district licensed minister, is a journey of candidacy for ordination. Ordination is the authenticating, authorizing act of the church that recognizes and confirms God’s call on the lives of women and men to ministerial leadership as stewards and proclaimers of both the gospel and the Church of Jesus Christ.
Ordination is an Authenticating Act
It is important to realize that God calls but the church ordains. The church does not claim the right to call people to the ministry. That is the work of God the Holy Spirit. The church is responsible to discern the call of God on a person’s life considering both personal testimony to that call and evidence of gifts and graces for ministry. Thus, ordination lies at the end of an authenticating process of one’s call.
This process may be challenging at times. However, the church is humbly confident that the discernment exercised during candidacy is crucial to the well-being both of the church and of the candidate.
Ordination is an Authorizing Act
By means of ordination the church officially approves and authorizes you as one who is worthy of the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of being a member of the clergy. The ordination service itself bears witness to the Church universal and to the world at large that you are truly a man or woman of God; that you have received the grace of God and the gifts necessary for public ministry; that you have a thirst for knowledge, especially knowledge of the Word of God; and that you can communicate the gospel in a way that is clear and doctrinally sound. To be able to make such claims about you, the church must question, probe, and observe you over time – and test you “ as by fire,” to use a biblical phrase. The biblical assumption of trial by fire is that you will come through the test with proven character and purity.
Ordination is a Confirming Act
Ordination is also a confirming act of the church. In the time leading up to ordination, the church is at work evaluating you and your potential for ministry. Local church boards consider whether your involvement and testimony make it reasonable for them to issue you a Local Minister’s License. That same board will consider making recommendation for district licensing. The local church and the District Board will observe you closely to determine if your district license should be renewed each year. When all requirements for ordination have been met, the District Board may recommend you to the district assembly for ordination as an elder or as a deacon. The entire district assembly will vote whether or not to present your name to the presiding general superintendent. He or she, as representative of the Church of the Nazarene globally, will make the final determination whether you should be ordained. Ordination is truly an act of the entire church.
Ordination is a Spiritual and Theological Act
Ordination is also a spiritual and theological act of the church. It is more than receiving certification to minister. It is more than passing qualifying exams of your profession. It is the church’s acknowledgment of the amazing reality that God calls and gifts certain men and women for ministerial leadership in the church. While the church affirms the scriptural tenet of the universal priesthood and ministry of all believers, the act of ordination is the acknowledgment of God’s call on certain men and women to leadership in ministry.
Jesus taught that “the greatest among you must become the servant of everyone.” Ordination, then, does not convey special status or privilege; rather it recognizes and confirms God’s calling upon ministerial leaders to live as servants of the gospel. Because Scripture teaches that in Christ there is neither slave nor free, Jew nor Greek, male nor female, but all are one in Christ, the Church of the Nazarene ordains persons regardless of their economic status, nationality, race, or gender. Your ordination class may well consist of candidates from several races, born in a variety of countries, representing a whole range of economic backgrounds, including both women and men. What all of these persons hold in common is the testimony of a call from God and the church’s recognition in each of them of the gifts and graces for ministerial leadership.
Because the candidacy portion of the journey is demanding and requires tremendous investment of your energy and resources, the church tries to determine as early as possible if there are any impediments that might preclude your successful completion of candidacy. For this reason, he church inquires carefully into any criminal activity, sexual misconduct, divorce, indebtedness, or other matters of significance in your life history. Though this may feel awkward or painful at times, it is better to determine early in the process the impact of these issues on your potential for ordination and fruitfulness in ministry in the Church of the Nazarene rather than wait until late into the process of your candidacy.
“Ordination bears witness to the Church universal and the world at large that this candidate reveals a life of holiness, possesses gifts and graces for public ministry, demonstrates a thirst for knowledge, especially for the Word of God, and displays capacity to communicate sound doctrine.” Manual ¶502
Ordination is a Privilege, not a Right
The Church of the Nazarene requires that you complete specific educational preparation and gain a certain level of ministry experience in order to be considered for ordination. In addition, you must currently be district licensed and must also have held a district license for at least three consecutive years (Manual 532.3). However, completion of the minimum educational, credentialing, and experience requirements does not automatically qualify you for ordination. Ordination is for a lifetime, and both you and the church as represented by the District Board of Ministry must be confident in your fitness for ordination, spiritually, theologically, personally, and professionally. Based on their observations and on reports from your congregation, pastor, and district superintendent, the District Board determines your readiness for the next step in the process: the ordination interview.