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
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When someone is fulfilling their ministry, this is further evidence of the call. It is also an indication of commitment and responsibility on the part of the minister—that they are taking their call seriously. Fulfilling one's ministry is, in effect, is also an act of obedience to the call of God.
I think that ordination is yet another step in what Rev. Stan Powers' has termed "defining relationships." For example, ordination helps to protect the body of Christ. It is a process of trying to make sure that credible, responsible people who have been divinely appointed for ministry are granted appropriate and publically recognized authority within their ministry context.
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I hadn’t though of ordination in this way before, but these two things seem crucial. The act of obedience and stepping into the responsibility of the call is such an important thing; even if it simply means having the moment that both a minister and those around them can point back at and say “that is when I stepped over a threshold into obedience to God’s call in my life.” Through this, it serves as encouragement and accountability to the responsibility of the call of God.
In terms of protecting the body, ACOP’s process of having ordination be something initiated by the regional director also helps steward appointing leaders well, creating a well thought-out process that allows the moderately loose nature of the Fellowship to still produce credible and quality leaders to fulfil Jesus’ command to be shepherds and “feed his sheep.”
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The fact that a candidate for ordination is fulfilling their ministry is further proof that they qualify for ordination because ordination does not confer ministry on one but is recognition of one’s ministry that they are already doing and the call of God upon their life.
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FURTHER RESOURCES​
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