ORDINATION IN ACOP
More than a technicality
A prophetic act
Ordination in ACOP is the human recognition or acknowledgement that God has called and appointed a person to a vocation life of ministry and service to the church.
"You shall put them on Aaron your brother and on his sons with him; and you shall anoint them and ordain them and consecrate them, that they may serve Me as priests."
RECOGNIZING THE CALL OF GOD ON SOMEONE'S LIFE
Ordination is about connecting with what God is already doing in someone’s life. It recognizes that God is already using someone and they are fulfilling their call. In other words, we don’t ordain people so they can fulfill their call, we ordain them to recognize and affirm that they already are. For this reason, as Ken said in his video clip: “An ordination is a sacred act that is not to be taken lightly” and we don’t ordain novices to the faith. Instead, we ordain people who have a proven track record of fulfilling their call.
Test Yourself
Answer
Scriptural charge.
Laying on of hands.
Time of prayer & prophecy.
Declaration in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Presentation of a certificate.
Talk it Through
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Ordination
Respond in paragraph format to the following prompt(s):
- In the interview with Kenn Parker, he says that a candidate for ordination should have a call from God, but they should actively be fulfilling their ministry. Why is fulfilling their ministry so important when considering a candidate for ordination?
- How have you reflected on the importance of ordination?
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19 Replies
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Fulfilling their ministry is so important when considering someone for ordination because ordination is a human recognition of a God given call. The recognition of the call means that God has graced that person, and as a community it is being recognized, and recognized by recognized authority within that community. In this way I believe Jesus remains functionally the Head of the church, as the church is led by those with grace from him to do so, and is safeguarded by those who look for that grace. Personally, I have often considered the importance of ordination for these very reasons. In a time when influence is often more sought after than genuine spiritual authority, ordination is so valuable to the body of Christ as a way to continue to recognize and release those graced by Jesus to serve this way, and not let this vital aspect of the church life be turned over to political expediency or opportunism.
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I suppose I don’t fully understand why these titles are extremely important/fundamental, maybe they aren’t saying they are. I see the value in the sense that without structure in an organization there is just chaos, so simply in order to run things efficiently its good to have distinctions between things so we can wrap out minds around them. I believe there is also value in empowering people who are already doing so well with God, and propelling them into even more!
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It is important for candidates to already be fulfilling their call because the ordination is mean to affirm their calling. Ordaining a person is seeing that they have a calling, and are actively living it out, and the church is affirming that this person is fulfilling their ministry call in an effective way.
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1. I think that fulfilling your ministry before getting ordained is important because it shows obedience and trust in God and his plan for your life. It is sometimes easy for people to be called to something but not follow through on their calling, so being willing to step into the calling God has on your life is an essential step in the ordination process.
2. I have reflected on the importance of ordination by thinking deeper about the implications it has. It is not just a formal recognition of your ministry giftings, but there is a much deeper spiritual recognition and responsibility for the individual. I especially appreciated in the video when it was mentioned how there is a connection with the early church leaders and apostles as they laid hands and prayed for people in their churches as well. This is not just a new process by which people are ordained and encouraged in their ministry and calling and I think that is beautiful.
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FURTHER RESOURCES​
You Did it!
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If you feel like you are ready to take a quiz to review what you have learned in this lesson, go on to the next step. Otherwise, it might be a good idea to review the last few topics again.