“Ordination is the recognition of a particular pastoral relationship, not the status of a person. Recognizing that we all share the office of believer, ordination means that the church and the ordained leader joyfully agree to live in a certain kind of relationship, to play certain roles in community life. The ordained person is challenged to proclaim the gospel as a representative of Christ, to exercise Christ’s authority in a Christ-like way, and to speak words of blessing in ways that help the congregation know that Christ’s promise is effective here and now. The congregation agrees to respond to this person with respect and attention, listening to the words this person speaks as having particular authority—an authority that is always grounded in Christ’s authority and held accountable by the church.”
—John D. Witvliet, “On Ordination and Worship Leadership,” © September 2003, ReformedWorship.org, CC BY-NC-SA.
Each spring I meet with a group of clergy colleagues for a week of Scripture study, rest, renewal, laughter, and support. Each member of The Well brings two exegetical papers corresponding to pre-assigned Sundays in the liturgical year. We share these papers with one another, and the discussion provides us with a great jumping-off point for the next year’s preaching. Our time together has become a not-to-be-missed event.
Thanks for your encouraging words in “All Churches Great and Small” (RW 69). We at Home Acres Reformed are one of the “small” churches. We are growing—slowly—but this is our challenge. As an urban congregation in a unique community, how do we structure/present worship to attract our neighbors?
We have fantastic opportunities and we need to embrace them in a most effective way, as we present the wonderful love of God.
Q One big change for us in the past few years is that our pastor just preaches in worship, while our worship team leads the rest of the service. We enjoy leading, but don’t have a lot of training. Shouldn’t the pastor take a more active role in the rest of the worship service?
—Iowa
More Ordination Resources
Songs for Intercession, Ordination, and Trinity Sunday
What We Sing is Not What He Wrote: Evolution of "God of the prophets"
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