Ordination requires two parties. First, an individual hears God’s call to Christian service as their life’s vocation and responds to that call. Ordination then requires a congregation of people who have witnessed the development of this individual’s faith commitment, discipleship, call to ministry, gifts for ministry, and dedication to the work of the kingdom of God. Ordination does not occur simply because someone desires to be ordained.  A congregation must then examine the candidate and affirm their calling if they are to be ordained.  In our Baptist tradition of the faith, the congregation possesses the sole authority to ordain ministers. Therefore, a person is ordained to the gospel ministry by the very people who have witnessed the calling of the individual.

        Each one of the ministers on staff of Immanuel have been ordained. Chris Cash was ordained by Cambridge Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia. While studying at the Baptist Theological Seminary of Richmond, Chris served alongside this congregation of people. Witnessing his commitment to ministry and the fruitfulness of his gifts, the church ordained him. Steven Skaggs was ordained by Valley View Baptist Church in Vine Grove, Kentucky, after he made a commitment to full-time ministry. Prior to that time, Steven had served several congregations. When Valley View affirmed his calling through the ordination process, representatives from all the churches Steve had previously served part-time attended his ordination service. They came because they had witnessed his gifts, calling, and commitment to ministry. I was ordained by First Baptist Church of Cowpens, South Carolina, by the folks who had taught me in Sunday School, taken me to camp, witnessed my call to ministry, watched as I explored my gifts for ministry, and sent me to Southern Seminary in Louisville to be educated and trained for ministry. On 27 December 1978, a group empowered by the church examined me. The whole church ordained me on Sunday morning, 28 December 1978. Erin Miller was ordained by Peachtree Baptist Church in Atlanta because they experienced and affirmed her calling and gifts for ministry.

            Sometimes people assume that one is ordained to preach the gospel or to be a pastor. This is not true. You are ordained to the gospel ministry. The ministry of the gospel involves more than the proclamation of the Word or serving as a pastor. As our staff clearly represents, the ministry of the gospel includes music, senior adult, student, education, missions, pastoral care, and administrative ministries. People respond to God’s call to ministry. The church ordains them to the gospel ministry. The particular ministry they fulfill for the church depends upon the gifts God has given them and the need of a congregation for those gifts to be exercised among them.

            Ordination also has a way of holding ministers accountable and faithful to their calling. As much as I love the church called Immanuel, I do not want to bring any embarrassment or shame upon the people of First Baptist Cowpens who ordained me. The action of the members of the church in Cowpens in 1978 makes me feel responsible to the Great Church of Jesus Christ. There is a great crowd of witnesses watching over me as I offer the gifts they witnessed and affirmed in service to Christ and his church.

            For several years, I agonized over ordination. After all, it is not a Biblical practice. There are no instructions for the ordination of individuals to the gospel ministry in the New Testament. Yet, the Great Church established a process by which the church scattered might receive trustworthy ministers who came to serve among them. I relented to ordination when I came to see it in this light. A body of Christ that knew me well acknowledged and affirmed my call to ministry. Thus, other congregations have not only my word but also theirs as to Christ’s calling to me.

            Sometimes I despair that more young people and adults are not responding to the call of Christ to full-time service in his kingdom. The call is sometimes difficult to discern. Yet, I believe that there may be in our midst someone hidden in the palm of God’s hand who will one day step forward to ask us to affirm and bless their call to ministry. Then, we will see something we have not witnessed in a very long time—the ordination of one from among us to the gospel ministry. Yet, once we ordain them, we will have to wait and see where the Spirit leads them to serve. After all, the minister always belongs to God and receives orders from Him. The place or role of service is not our call. Christ enlists those whom he needs for his service. May we, as the congregation called Immanuel, be instrumental in God’s calling of people to the gospel ministry.jamie