On pages 4 and 5 of the current issue of the "Ontario Highlights" is a picture that captured my attention. Pictured are four young pastors being ordained to the gospel ministry, and four teachers being commissioned to the teaching ministry. Although I consider both ministries equally important, I would like to limit this blog to the process of ordination. Ordination is a moving and emotional experience. There is something special about that moment when a group of ordained pastors surrounds the ordinands and places hands on their shoulders or their heads. Anyone who has experienced a similar moment remembers the solemnity of that hour.

Contrary to the custom practiced by most protestant churches that ordain their pastors as soon as they complete the required ministerial training, the Seventh-day Adventist Church takes very seriously the Apostle Paul's injunction "not to be hasty in the laying of hands" (1 Tim 5:22). The Church does not equate academic accomplishments with ordination preparedness.

The call to ministry usually comes early in life and the person who feels called eventually pursues his/her studies in ministerial related fields; however, the Church believes that before the imposition of the hands, future pastors have to experience the reality of ministry. We call this phase of ministerial training the "internship" phase. Ideally the young intern works under the guidance of an experienced pastor and learns by observing, asking questions, and practicing. This is also a time when the intern is observed by his/her church members and fellow administrators.

In the Seventh-day Adventist Church, it usually takes ten years from the moment the person starts his/her theological studies until he is ordained. Of course, this is not an absolute rule and exceptions abound. Typically, four years are spent doing undergraduate studies in a theological field of studies, then after graduation two years are spent as an intern, and then nine quarters (just over two years if the summer quarter is taken) are spent at the Seminary. After completing a Master of Divinity at the seminary, there is usually placement in an assistant/associate pastoral position or placement in his/her own church/district.

What are the steps in the ordination process? Usually the conference Ministerial Director, in consultation with the conference officers, makes a general assessment of those who are on the ordination track and who should be considered for ordination. A number of potential candidates are retained and an evaluation by church members, administrators, and sometimes also by peers takes place. This evaluation shows (very often on a numerical scale) how the intern is performing and how his ministry is perceived. Following the evaluation, each candidate's name and all supporting material is passed to the Conference Ordination Committee. Every candidate and his/her spouse is invited to an interview with the Ordination Committee where they are questioned on many different aspects of their lives: family life, ministerial experience, conflict management, theological understanding, and other areas of ministry. If the Ordination Committee feels that the candidate is ready for ordination, it recommends the name to the Conference Board of Directors, which after discussion, recommends the individual to the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Canada for approval to ordain. At the SDACC, information on every candidate is read, reviewed and evaluated and final approval is granted by the Union.

I was privileged to be invited by the Ontario Conference to be part of the Ordination Committee that interviewed and evaluated the four candidates. shown in the "Ontario Highlights". Although I was only able to be present for part of the time, I was positively impressed with the seriousness and depth of the Ordination Committee preparation for that event. Although the interns were treated kindly and sometimes couched in their answers, they could sense (and so did we) that this was serious business that deserved their highest level of attention.

I believe that our church takes very seriously Paul's counsel not to be hasty in the laying of hands. Ordination is not an issue to be dealt with precipitously. When someone is ordained as a minister of the gospel, that ordination is valid in the whole world and is for life, unless the person, by behaviour that is incompatible to his call to the sacred ministry, invalidates his ordination.

I praise God that we take the ordination of our ministers so seriously. Do we sometimes make mistakes in ordaining someone who should not be ordained? Yes, we do. But, as long as we follow the process as it is in place, we will certainly minimize such mistakes as we fulfil this part of the gospel ministry for the glory of God.