Does a Preacher or if you will Minister have to be ordained? I didn’t think they did. I know schooling helps but a friend of mine says a man has to be ordained to be a Minister. If so where is it at in the Bible. I need an answer Thank You, Bonnie
Denominations commonly practice a ceremony of ordination of ministers, but several religious groups, including the churches of Christ, do not practice such a religious rite. The dictionary definition of “ordain” is: “to invest officially (as by the laying on of hands) with ministerial or priestly authority” (Merriam).
However, one really needs to evaluate what ordination means in a practical sense.
ORDINATION In the limited and technical sense ordination is the ceremony by which a person is set apart to an order or office; but in a broader, and in fact its only important sense, ordination signifies the appointment or designation of a person to a ministerial office, with or without attendant ceremonies. (New Unger’s)
Hence, though the churches of Christ do not practice formal ordination ceremonies (and issue papers of ordination), any man appointed or recognized as a preacher of the Gospel or minister is essentially and informally ordained (appointed) by the congregation for which he preaches. The reason the churches of Christ do not practice formal ordination of its ministers is doubtless owing to the absence of such in the New Testament, by which we seek to guide ourselves religiously. “In the introduction of the Christian dispensation no exterior act of ordination was practiced by Christ. The calling, appointing, and commissioning of the twelve apostles was His personal act, unattended, so far as the record shows, with any symbolic act or ceremony” (New Unger’s). “Some scholars doubt whether the solemn service we know today as ordination was practiced in the time of Christ” (Nelson’s). “A scriptural investigation of this subject can hardly fail to impress any ingenuous mind with the great significance The fact that neither the Lord Jesus Christ nor any of his disciples gave specific commands or declarations in reference to ordination” (McClintock and Strong).
Since most religious groups practice a formal ordination, ordination has been written into some laws of the land (e.g., state licensing of ministers to legally officiate weddings). When necessary, ministers or Gospel preachers, recognizing that to ordain essentially means to appoint, must answer in the affirmative when asked by a judge or other legal representative respecting an application to solemnize weddings. Though not formally ordained, in the broader application of the word and informally, every minister is essentially ordained when appointed or recognized by those to whom he preaches.
Works Cited
McClintock and Strong Encyclopedia. CD-ROM. Seattle: Biblesoft, 2000.
Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. CD-ROM. Springfield: Merriam-Webster, 1993.
Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary. CD-ROM. Nashville: Nelson, 1986.
New Unger’s Bible Dictionary. CD-ROM. Chicago: Moody, 1988.
