Ordination Reflections

On Monday evening, April 16, I was ordained an elder in the Church of the Nazarene at the Mid-Atlantic District Assembly by General Superintendent Dr. Eugenio Duarte. What follows here are my reflections of that evening -- not simply the events themselves, but their significance to me.

After the congregation sang "Called Unto Holiness," the district secretary presented the 6 of us ordinands to the general superintendent. This presentation affirmed to those present that ordination in the Church of the Nazarene is the culmination of years of preparation through education and ministry experience. As he was confirming that we had each met the requirements necessary for ordination, my mind thought back through my journey toward ordination.

In the Church of the Nazarene, there are 3 steps which lead to ordination. The first step is a local minister's license. I received my first local minister's license in 2002 after meeting with the board of my local church, Stillmeadow Church of the Nazarene, where I described my personal testimony and call to ministry. In granting a local minister's license, the local church affirmed my call to ministry and God's gifts and graces at work in my life. With a local license, I continued my education as a religion major at Eastern Nazarene College, and continued to minister through various church ministries.

The second step  toward ordination is receiving a district license. By this time, I was a student of Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City. I had to fly home to meet twice with the Mid-Atlantic District Board of Ministry. The first time was for a weekend ministry assessment which helped them (and me) identify strengths for ministry and areas in which to improve. This Ministry Assessment Center was a very helpful part of the process toward ordination. A few months later, I met with the Board of Ministry for the official district license interview, in which I again expressed my call to ministry and personal testimony of salvation and sanctification. At the Mid-Atlantic District Assembly in 2007, I received my first district license. Although this officially marked the beginning of my status as a member of the clergy, it was a temporary status, renewable each year for up to 10 years while finishing the education and ministry experience requirements for ordination.

The final step is the actual ordination. Once I had fulfilled the necessary education and experience requirements, the District Board of Ministry invited me to a series of ordination preparation seminars they offered early this past winter. Following this series of seminars (which I joined via Skype while in Romania), I returned to the US to meet in person for my final ordination interview with the Board of Ministry at the end of February. After being examined by the Board of Ministry, they recommended to the District Assembly that I be ordained. At district assembly, there was a vote to accept the board's recommendation. The general superintendent also met with those of us being ordained the night prior to the ordination service to hear our testimonies and our commitment to abide by the beliefs and practices of the Church of the Nazarene.

Following the district secretary's presentation of us ordinands, an ordained minister read the Church of the Nazarene's "Theology of Ordination" from the Manual.

"While affirming the scriptural tenet of the universal priesthood and ministry of all believers, ordination reflects the biblical belief that God calls out and gifts certain men and women for ministerial leadership in His Church. Ordination is the authenticating, authorizing act of the Church, which recognizes and confirms God’s call to ministerial leadership as stewards and proclaimers of both the gospel and the Church of Jesus Christ. Consequently, ordination bears witness to the Church universal and the world at large that this candidate evidences an exemplary life of holiness, possesses gifts and graces for public ministry, has a thirst for knowledge, especially for the Word of God, and has the capacity to communicate clearly sound doctrine. ..."

The complete theology of ordination, too lengthy to post here, lists not only the educational qualifications of the ordained minister, but also expresses the life of holiness that I am called to live, not only for myself, but as an example to other Christians, as a leader in the Church, and as an example to others of the Church of the Nazarene.

After the message by Dr. Duarte, the choir of ordained ministers sang a song reminding me of God's continuing faithfulness. The God who called me and has equipped me for service to Him and His Church will continue to be with me and provide everything I need.

When it was my turn to kneel at the altar, surrounded by all the ordained ministers on the district laying hands on me, Dr. Duarte placed his hands on my head and ordained me. Then the Rev. Dr. Bayse "Bud" Reedy, Jr., pastor of my home church since I was 9 years old, prayed a prayer for me, praising God for what He has done in my life to bring me to this point. 

After all 6 ordinands were ordained, we were presented as a group to the assembly. Then Dr. Duarte presented us with our ordination certificates. Unlike a diploma marking an individual's academic achievement, an ordination certificate is a sacred covenant. Dr. Duarte charged us to keep our ordination certificates clean. He didn't just mean keeping the piece of paper clean, but to take seriously the life of ministry represented in the words on the certificate. At that moment, more than at any other moment prior to it, I recognized the sacred responsibility that is being entrusted to me as an ordained elder in the Church.


Dr. Corlis McGee, President of Eastern Nazarene College, then presented each ordinand with a sculpture entitled "The Calling," representing Jesus calling fishermen to become His disciples, to serve as a constant reminder of our calling to follow Christ with our whole lives.

At the reception following the service, dozens, if not hundreds, of people shook my hand, took pictures with me, and congratulated me on my ordination. Those moments, as informal as they were, spoke more clearly to me than the assembly's vote earlier in the day that God's people were recognizing me and supporting me as an elder in the Church.

As I returned to my hotel room at the end of the evening, I was the same person I was when I had left it hours before, yet something was different. I was now entrusted with a sacred responsibility to serve God and His Church as an ordained elder.

You can watch the video of the ordination service by clicking here.