A Reflection on Ordination

Photo by Greg Rosenke on Unsplash

On Saturday I was ordained an elder in the Global Methodist Church. 

Some might be surprised at my decision to be ordained. I currently teach New Testament at Asbury University, which does not require professors in the Christian Studies and Philosophy Department to be ordained in order to teach. When I return to my classes, I won’t be wearing my clergy vestments; my students won’t notice anything different.

So why did I pursue ordination as an elder?

Deacon or Elder?

I have served as an ordained deacon in the United Methodist Church for years. Because my call to teach has placed me primarily in the world rather than the church, the role of Deacon can be considered fitting. I have served as a bridge between the world and the church, just as other deacons who serve as hospital chaplains, food pantry directors, children’s home directors, army chaplains, or a whole host of other ministries beyond the local church. 

Deacons in the Global Methodist Church are called out of the laity (all of whom have a calling to witness and service in the world) and to the ministry of Word, Service, Compassion, and Justice. An elder, on the other hand, retains the calling of the laity and the deacon but is further called to a focus on Word, Sacrament, and Order. Most often the call to order the church is carried out in the local congregation.

I always felt like I had one foot in the role of a Deacon—due to serving in the world—and one foot in the role of elder—because I have been teaching my students how to be pastors. I teach them how to exegete Scripture, how to apply these truths, how to preach effectively, and how to think theologically about the God and the people they serve. Even though I have been serving in the world beyond the local church, I have been fulfilling the call to order the church because I have been teaching future pastors how to order the church.

The Sacred Responsibility of the Shepherd

That’s why ordination is important to me as a professor of biblical studies. In the laying on of hands at ordination, I have been set apart for a particular calling, endorsed by those church leaders who now affirm my calling and my gifts and graces for ministry. They are entrusting me to pass on the faith once delivered. They grant me the authority to represent that faith, and in so doing I am reminded both that I am not in this alone and that I carry an obligation to represent faithfully those men and women who have preceded me throughout the last two millennia. It is a sacred privilege and a sacred responsibility.

Those who lead the church are often are referred to as shepherds. The biblical metaphor is apt: shepherds are responsible for providing, guiding, and guarding. They provide food and water for the flock so that the sheep can grow, thrive, and reproduce. Elders do the same when they teach the Gospel, disciple their congregations to live in holy love, and train their flocks to spread the reason for their hope (1 Peter 3:15). Shepherds guide their flocks into places of safety and rest, directing their sheep away from hazards and toward spaces that enable flourishing. Elders, too, guide their flocks away from harmful patterns of living, leading them instead toward the life of flourishing in the Spirit (Gal. 5:16-25). Just as shepherds guard their flock from predators who would maim and kill, so too the elder must constantly guard against false teaching (1 Tim. 6:3-16). Paul used this shepherding imagery himself as he exhorted the Ephesian elders to guard their flock from savage wolves both outside of the church and within it (Acts 20:28-30).

Unfortunately, elders have not always fulfilled this  calling well. In Ezekiel 34, God commands Ezekiel to prophesy against the shepherds (leaders) of Israel who have fattened themselves while allowing the people to go hungry: “You have not strengthened the weak; you have not healed the sick; you have not bound up the injured; you have not brought back the strays; you have not sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and scattered they became food for all the wild animals” (Ezek. 34:4-5). 

We who have been set apart for the ordained ministry should heed the warning of this text. We must never take our calling lightly nor take advantage of those in our care. Judgment awaits those who do. In Ezekiel, God unequivocally declares his judgment upon the shepherds and states that he himself will tend to his flock, providing the care the sheep so desperately need: “I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strays, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice” (Ezek. 34:15-16). The Gospel of John picks up this theme in chapter 10 when Jesus declares that he is the Good Shepherd, the one who has come so that his sheep “may have life and have it abundantly” (Jn. 10:10). 

Our calling, as leaders who strive to imitate Christ, is to feed the sheep of God by providing, guiding, and guarding. As the GMC Transitional Book of Doctrines and Discipline describes it, elders are called “to bear authority and responsibility to proclaim God’s Word fearlessly, to teach God’s people faithfully, to administer the sacraments, and to order the life of the church so that it may be both faithful and fruitful” (⁋403.2). We serve our people by leading them to the abundant life found only in Christ. 

The Laying on of Hands

In the Old Testament, shepherds of the people of God were empowered by the laying on of hands. Moses, for example, chose Joshua as his successor, and Joshua “was full of the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him…” (Deut. 34:9). This commissioning of Joshua was not arbitrary; it was commanded by God, who told Moses to lay hands upon Joshua and give him some of his authority (Num. 27:12-22). 

Similarly, in the New Testament, believers who were set apart for a special purpose were commissioned by the laying on of hands in prayer. The seven deacons who were chosen to distribute food to the Hellenistic widows were prayed over with the laying on of hands (Acts 6:1-6). When the Holy Spirit chose Barnabas and Paul for their missionary journey, the Spirit commanded the church to “set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I called them.” In response, the church fasted, prayed, and laid hands upon them as the church sent them on their divinely directed journey (Acts 13:1-3). Similarly, in 1 Tim. 4:14 Timothy is directed not to neglect his gift, “which was given to you through prophecy with the laying on of hands by the council of elders.”

The Christian church has carried on this tradition through the centuries in its ceremonies of ordination. Those set apart were carefully examined and prepared as they were charged with proclaiming the Gospel according to the tradition of the apostles. 

On Saturday, when Bishop Scott Jones laid his hands upon my head and prayed at my ordination, he presented a twofold request. First, he called upon the Holy Spirit to pour forth upon me “for the office and work of an elder in Christ’s holy church.” Thank God! None of us can fulfill this role apart from the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, no matter how passionate our hearts, how thorough our theological education, or how charismatic our personalities. Even though we have been examined by the leadership and deemed fully prepared for the path that lies ahead, we are not sent forth in our own power—that surely would be a recipe for disaster. We are humbled, reminded that apart from the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, all is for naught.

The second part of the prayer is equally important: Bishop Jones charged me to “take authority as an elder….” In true Wesleyan spirit, we ordinands recognize that we must cooperate with what the Holy Spirit is already doing. We cannot do this ministry on our own, but neither are we predetermined to be successful in our every endeavor. Rather, we must live into our role as elders. In his homily, Bishop Jones urged us to live in a manner worthy of the calling we have received (Eph. 4:1). God graciously calls us to serve—but our task is to be transformed by the Spirit so that we can perfectly love God and neighbor, and lead others to do the same. 

Images of Ordination

Saturday’s ordination ceremony at the MidSouth Provisional Annual Conference of the GMC was full of beautiful imagery of the fire of the Holy Spirit. But one of the most striking images for me was the transformation of the more than 100 men and women who were ordained as deacons or elders. At the start of the service, row after row of ordinands sat in black robes, patiently awaiting their ordination. After the bishop prayed for each of us, a bright red stole was placed over our shoulders. By the end of the service, row after row of deacons and elders now vibrantly exhibited a unified commitment to serve God’s holy church. The stunning crimson display served as a reminder that the Holy Spirit has breathed new life into the church! May the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit provide for us, guide us, and guard us wherever we serve.  

Suzanne Nicholson is Professor of New Testament at Asbury University and an elder in the Global Methodist Church.