On Ordination as admission to a community

The post-field group at college shared a discussion on ordination with a minister yesterday. The minister we spoke to designated two key significances of ordination, the way in which ordination is one of many occasions in which the church affirms the calls of individuals, and the way in which this affirmation places the ordinand within a community of tradition that goes back 2000 years. He sees the key feature of that community is that of function: the call to be attentive to God, and to call communities to be attentive to God.

This lead on to a discussion on the vows of ordination, as the vows move from the generalities of reliance on Christ to the specific functions of ministers in the UCA. The continuing theme was that of spiritual leadership within different contexts, and we were reminded of the many ways that communities can tempt ministers away from the focus.

Yet, when we got to the end, the question in mind for me was "What is the difference between ordination and commissioning?" The response was immediate, "Ordination is for life, but commissioning is for a specific purpose or context." This was said with passion, this was important. This is more than just a job, it is a membership in a community of those who have agreed, and the church has agreed, to set their lives apart for the purpose of spiritual leadership.

So, in this case, the rite of ordination is a rite of admission. The vows serve to remind the minister and the church of the roles and responsibilities, and the minister serves this out in a life of spiritual leadership. Once again, I am struck by the honour which I have been called to, and to which the church is affirming at the moment.

Do you confess anew Jesus Christ as Lord? That one's easy, it is only through the grace and call of Christ that I may understand myself with such company.