ORDINATION

 

Ordination is a primitive idea for installing a person in his proper office by the laying on of hands. For many nowadays ordination savours of priesthood and sacramentalism, but for hundreds of years Baptists have used this word with no such connotations.

 

What Is The Scriptural Basis For Ordination?

For example, the laying on of hands was used in the act of blessing (Gen. 48:14ff.); the ritual of sacrifice (Ex. 29:10,15; Lev. 1:4); the setting apart of Levi (Num. 8:10) and Joshua (Num. 27:18-23). In the New Testament hands were laid on children (Mk. 10:16), the sick (Mk. 6:5; Acts 9:12,17), after baptism ((Acts 8:17,19; 19:6), in the appointment of the Seven (Acts 6:6); the sending out of Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:3). Its primary ideas were identification, authority, and devotion to God. It was an act of public recognition in which the church believed that the man had been called and gifted, commissioning him to act under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It expressed the solidarity of the Christian community in the work of the Gospel.

 

What Is The History Of Ordination Among Baptists?

Ordination services among Baptists in the 17th. century were an important element in Church life. Ordination, for a time, was also used for the setting apart of deacons. Often the man concerned was already a member of the church and his pastoral work began several months before the ordination was held. It was a solemn service, attended by ministers of nearby churches, and it consisted of questions about the minister’s beliefs and experience, a prayer, sermon, and the laying on of hands by the ministers. No unordained person took part. The appointment was to a particular charge and was held to last for life. If, however, the minister moved to another church he was reordained. Ordination involved fasting, prayer, and the laying on of hands (see 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, ch. 26, para. 9).

In the 18th. century the practice continued but as ministers began to move more frequently from one church to another the practice of being ordained only once became more common. It was beginning to be recognised that ordination was to a wider ministry than one local church. To express their brotherly agreement in the election, ministers of other churches and representatives of the denomination in which a man served, increasingly served in the ordination service, though only the local church chose the minister. Hercules Collins called ordination a ‘Gospel ordinance’ and it meant: (1) the dedication of the person to the office of minister; (2) it let the minister know that the hand of God was on him to strengthen and protect; (3) the gifts and blessings of the Holy Spirit to rest on the minister as he had responsibility for the souls of others. (After 1792 the practice of ordaining missionaries began.) It was strongly argued that ministers should be publicly set apart as it gave them formal authority to act regularly and helped to prevent “the intrusion of unworthy and disorderly men into the sacred office”.

By the middle of the 19th. century the Baptists’ reaction against the Oxford (Anglo-Catholic) Movement in the Church of England led them to gradually omit the laying on of hands, and by 1885 Ordination services had been replaced by “welcome meetings”. However, interest in ordination services revived after the First World War, and since then have become the regular practice with or without the laying on of hands.

 

What Is The Modern-day Baptist Understanding Of Ordination?

To Baptists ordination means the setting apart of a man to the ministry of the Gospel, recognising him, authorising him to do his work and commending him to God’s grace. It is not imparting gifts or conveying grace but recognising God’s gifts and grace already given. It is within the context of the priesthood of all believers, primus inter pares. In an ordination service there should be represented: (1) the church to which the ordinand belongs which has observed him, examined his call and gifts, and recommended him for training; (2) the church which has called him to be its pastor (this external call has corroborated the internal call); (3) the college where he has been trained (confirming the fact of his training, his soundness in doctrine, and Christian character); (4) the denomination to which he belongs (no further ordination is necessary since the denomination accepts him as one of its ministers). He is not being conferred with special status but being commissioned to special service. Neither is he is being given the right to preach the Word and adminster the ordinances. Those involved in the laying on of hands are representative of the whole body of believers. Also the ordinand reaffirms his vows to the Lord and gives himself wholeheartedly to the work into which he is being called.

 

What Is The Value Of Ordination?

(1) It is a Scriptural practice; (2) ordination invests the ministerial office with proper solemnity, - it is no trivial matter to be a minister of the Word; (3) ordination guards against the danger of individualism; (4) ordination helps to confirm and strengthen the call; (5) ordination clearly points out the person being ordained, enabling the congregation to identify with him and invoke the blessing of the Holy Spirit upon him.

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