THIS Sunday, Church At Movies will be ordaining Barb Robinson as pastor at our church. She has been in our Pastor Apprentice program for over three years now and we feel God is saying now is the time to make it official. Our mission from God is to raise up disciples for Christ and we are very excited to see God's continuous work in us and through us - to HIS glory! Here is more info on what it biblical ordination means:
Question: "What does the Bible say about ordination?"
Answer: The modern definition for ordination is “the investiture of clergy” or “the act of granting pastoral authority or sacerdotal power.” Usually, we think of an ordination service as a ceremony in which someone is commissioned or appointed to a position within the church. Often, the ceremony involves the laying on of hands.
Acts 13 includes a good example of a ministerial appointment: “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’
So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia” (vv. 2-4). In this passage, we note some key facts: 1) It is God Himself who calls someone to the ministry and qualifies them with gifts (Acts 20:28;Ephesians 4:11).
2) The members of the church recognize God’s clear leading and embraced it.
3) With prayer and fasting, the church lays hands on Paul and Barnabas to demonstrate their commissioning (cf.Acts 6:6;1 Timothy 5:22).
4) God works through the church, as both the church and the Spirit are said to “send” the missionaries (ministers).
Paul regularly ordained pastors for the churches he planted. He and Barnabas directed the appointment or ordination of elders “in each church” in Galatia (Acts 14:23). He instructed Titus to “appoint elders in every town” on Crete Titus 1:5).
Titus himself had been ordained earlier, when “he was chosen by the churches” (2 Corinthians 8:19). In the above passages, the ordination of elders involves the whole congregation, not just the apostles.
The Greek word used in 2 Corinthians 8:19 for Titus’s appointment and in Acts 14:23 for the choosing of the Galatian elders literally means “to stretch forth the hands.” Thus, the ordination of church leaders involved a general consensus in the church.
The apostles and the congregations knew whom the Spirit had chosen, and they responded by placing those men and women in leadership.
When God calls and qualifies someone for the ministry, it will be apparent both to that person and to the rest of the church.
The would-be minister will meet the qualifications set forth in 1 Timothy 3:1-16 and Titus 1:5-9, and he or she will possess a consuming desire to preach (1 Corinthians 9:16).
It is the duty of the church elders, together with the congregation, to recognize and accept the calling.
After that, a formal commissioning ceremony—an ordination service—is appropriate, though by no means mandatory.
The ordination ceremony itself does not confer any special power; it simply gives public recognition to God’s choice of leadership.