On Sunday I announced our Council of Elders has called an ordination council for Will. We’ve all heard the word, but what is ordination? Quite simply, it is the authoritative act of consecrating a person for vocational ministry. The ordinand—the one being ordained—is set apart for vocational ministry. Both elders and deacons can be ordained, though for very different purposes. We see this in the book of Acts.
The church in Jerusalem had a problem: widows were being overlooked in the distribution of food. This doesn’t mean they weren’t getting food; they weren’t being cared for properly during the distribution of food. In particular, Hellenist widows—Greek-speaking widows who were also Greek in culture—were being “overlooked”. This was a serious problem the apostles wanted to deal with directly. They were unable to do the work, however.
Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.
Acts 6:1-6 ESV
Notice the constraint: they could not give up preaching the word of God in order to serve tables. In other words, they were already engaged in the work the Lord had given them. It would not be right to cease to do what the Lord told them to do in order to do another good thing worth doing. The other good thing worth doing was so much more than merely serving tables, of course. If the problem were simply that a certain group of widows were not receiving food, an instruction to ensure all the widows received food would suffice. The neglect these widows were experiencing was greater than this, and it almost certainly stemmed from a linguistic and cultural barrier. While the widows were Jewish, they spoke Greek and had Greek culture. Those serving in the food pantry were not Hellenists and so were not properly caring for the Greek widows. These women were not receiving proper pastoral care! The Venerable Bede explained this problem.
The cause of this grumbling was the fact that the Hebrews gave preferential treatment in the ministry to their own widows, inasmuch as they were more fully instructed, over the widows of the Hellenists.
Bede the Venerable, Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 6.1
It was important for all the widows to receive necessary care. While receiving their food, they were being overlooked. That is, they were not being cared for by those who knew them and cared for them. It is interesting that the seven men chosen all had Greek names! They were also Hellenists who could relate to and care for these widows. Because the apostles already had clearly defined responsibilities and so it would not have been right to neglect those responsibilities and because it was important to also care for these widows, they appointed seven men. They ordained them by laying hands on them and consecrating them for this important role.
Later in the book of Acts Barnabas and Saul were in the church at Antioch and were very engaged in ministry there. Then the Lord revealed something to the church.
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
Acts 13:2-3 ESV
The Spirit instructed them to set apart Barnabas and Saul for a particular work the Lord was giving them to do. The church there in Antioch laid hands on them and ordained them to the work. This is what ordination is. It is a consecration—a setting apart—of a person for a particular work. In his letter to Timothy Paul reminded Timothy of his ordination.
Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.
1 Timothy 4:14 ESV
Here we see it was the council of elders in Ephesus who laid their hands on Timothy and thereby ordained him to serve the church. In 2 Timothy Paul indicates he himself was there when Timothy was ordained and Paul laid his own hands on Timothy as part of that act of consecrating him. Later in 1 Timothy Paul warns Timothy about being too hasty doing the same.
Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure.
1 Timothy 5:22 ESV
Whether a person is ordained as a deacon, one who serves a church vocationally in a supporting role, or a man is ordained as an elder, no church should rush into it. There is a reason the offices of overseer and deacon come with high qualifications. It is extremely important to ensure a man ordained to the ministry of oversight or a person ordained to the diaconate is actually qualified for the office.
Clement of Rome—the same Clement Paul mentions in Philippians—wrote a letter to the church in Corinth near the end of the apostle John’s life, in the mid-90s. In that letter he indicated the apostles set up the office of overseer or elder to have a permanent character. The apostles appointed men to the office, and then he said that other men should be appointed to that office by those reputable men with the consent of the whole church (1 Clement 44:1–3). In this way we maintain apostolic succession in the church. The apostles appointed elders who appointed elders who appointed elders, all the way to today.
What is very interesting in that letter by Clement is his expectation that men appointed as elders serve for life. The concept of a term for an overseer was foreign. In fact, Clement wrote the letter because the church had forcibly removed men from the office of elder in order to put their own people in leadership. Clement rebukes them and says those men should be given the privilege of serving faithfully for the rest of their lives. In a similar way Paul instructed Timothy to remain at Ephesus where he was ordained (1 Timothy 1:3).
This suggests something profound: ordination is a consecration to a specific work, generally speaking, while ordination to the episcopate—the office of overseer—is a consecration to a specific people. We see this at the Council of Nicea in the year 325. Not only did the council meet to address the heresy of Arianism, which was a denial of the divinity of Christ, they met to discuss various other matters.
In Canon 9 the council declared that any elder who was ordained without proper examination and was later revealed to be unqualified must have his ordination revoked. In Canon 16 the council dealt with a significant problem: men leaving the church that ordained them to go to another church. Canon 16 reads:
Neither elders, nor deacons, nor any others enrolled among the clergy, who, not having the fear of God before their eyes, nor regarding the ecclesiastical Canon, shall recklessly remove from their own church, ought by any means to be received by another church; but every constraint should be applied to restore them to their own parishes; and, if they will not go, they must be excommunicated.
Canon 16, Council of Nicea 325 AD
The penalty for refusing to return to the church that ordained that was not merely revocation of ordination, but excommunication! This was a serious matter! Why would an elder leave for another church? Another church in a larger city may offer higher compensation, more amenities, more influence, more prestige, etc. This canon does not prohibit an elder from moving to another church altogether. Rather, it means he does not possess the authority to make the determination himself. It seems there were those who treated ordination as a license or a certification, similar to how a man may be licensed as a master electrician, giving him the right to work as an electrician wherever he may choose.
Today, many treat ordination in this manner. The pattern in the New Testament and in the early church seems to be that of long-term oversight. That is, God raises up men to serve as elders and these men serve for the rest of their lives. Some of them will be set apart in a special way. Paul told Timothy that elders who rule well are worthy of double honor—”especially those who labor in preaching and teaching” (1 Timothy 5:17). Those are the men ordained to the episcopate.
While the pattern is for long-term oversight of a particular people, Scripture is also clear that God may move a man on to serve elsewhere. Barnabas and Saul were serving the church in Antioch. They were faithful in that local church. Look at that text in Acts 13 again, this time with more of the context:
Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
Acts 13:1-3 ESV
Luke says there were prophets and teachers in the church, and he names five men, including Barnabas and Saul. While they—all of them—were praying and fasting, seeking the Lord, the Holy Spirit tells them—that is, the Spirit tells all of them—to set apart Barnabas and Saul for another work elsewhere. Luke doesn’t say Barnabas and Saul woke up one morning and decided they wanted to try something new. He doesn’t say the Lord spoke only to those two. The Lord led the leaders of the church to send Barnabas and Saul to work elsewhere.
It may be that the Lord leads a man to go elsewhere but the example of Scripture is the Lord will make it clear to the whole church if the man is to be set apart for another work. All too often this decision is made in isolation by the one choosing to leave.
When a council of elders ordains a man, that church is, essentially, claiming that man. When New City ordained me, it claimed me for this work. This means I do not have the freedom to look for other work. I do not have the freedom to go work for a factory or “choose” another church to serve. As I’ve made very clear to the other elders, if they ever sent me elsewhere, I’d go—kicking and screaming—but I’d go. If God were calling me elsewhere, he’d have to make this very clear to those men, just as he did to the leaders at Antioch.
This is a gift to a church, for it means a man can grow with the church and be committed to the church, and it means the church can grow with a man and be committed to him. One of the profound benefits of this sort of commitment is it requires problems to be worked out. Relationships can get messy. Sometimes feelings can be hurt. If a man is planning to move on every few years, where is the motivation to work things out? The worst-case scenario becomes he leaves a bit earlier than he originally planned. This is not good for him or for the church. By remaining in the church that ordained him (or in the church to which he was sent by that church’s council of elders), the need to grow, to bear with one another, to forgive one another, becomes extremely important. The relationship is covenantal: both parties are committed and therefore resolved to work through any differences.
Ordination is the claim a church makes on a person’s life in which that church consecrates the person to vocational ministry. A deacon who is ordained is set apart to serve the church in a very tangible way, whether caring for widows as in Acts 6, or in building maintenance, or administrative work, etc. An elder who is ordained is set apart to serve the church by serving as an elder full-time. The work of an ordained elder is the same as that of a lay elder. The difference is ordination sets that particular elder apart so that he does not need a job to provide for himself and his family. Instead, the church provides for him so that he can devote himself to the work of an elder full-time. As I’ve shared many times, I have the same responsibilities as the other elders; I just do them more. I am freed from working a job that I may devote myself to this work.
This is ordination. It is a church’s claim on a person. It is an act of consecrating a person to a specific role for the good of the church. New City Church has called an ordination council to examine Will. Our Council of Elders will be joined by ordained men from Calvary Church, Fourth Church, New Hope Church, and Sunshine Church, as we believe we have heard the Holy Spirit say, “Set apart Will for the work to which I have called him”. This ordination council will help us affirm this is, indeed, what the Holy Spirit is saying.
Be in prayer for this council. Be in prayer for the Lord’s work in Will’s life. Be in prayer for Sara and their children. Be in prayer for our church, for God has given great gifts to us, that we might join him in his work in our community. Ordaining Will is a great opportunity for us to recommit to the work the Lord has given us to do.