What Steps Does One Hav2 to Do to Be Ordained in a Church

Ordination is required by many denominations* for specific types of ministry, such as parish (pastoral) ministry and assistants of sacraments, among others. Being ordained is also a benefit (though not necessarily required) in many other career choices, such every bit chaplaincy, organized religion-rooted organizing, or practitioner-based academia. Although Union does not ordain students, we do back up the ordination procedure through our curriculum, field education, and affiliations with denominations and organizations.

The following section provides an overview of the ordination process for several denominations and traditions, forth with links to the denominational websites.

Click here for one certificate with overviews of the ordination process and requirements for each of the following denominations: Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian Church (USA), United Church of Christ, United Methodist Church.

Click here for a table that groups denominations by ordination requirement.

* Not all religious bodies crave ordination. Some use a process called endorsement. A seminary education more often than not improves career opportunities, regardless of denominational requirements for ordination.

AMERICAN BAPTIST Church building (ABC)

American Baptist Church

Requirements for ordination in the American Baptist Church (ABC) vary by region and church/pastor.

A summary of recommended American Baptist ordination standards:

1. Licensing (if pursued, by a local American Baptist congregation in coordination with their regional department of ministry).
2. Education

             a)Track I: four years of college and an M.Div from an accredited seminary.

             b)Rails 2: Equivalency (equivalent degrees or experience with a maximum substitution of 6 years of full-time ministry equal to 3 years of college pedagogy)

             c)Track 3: Lay Pastor (regional or seminary lay pastor programme from the The states or some other country, plus iii years of full-time ministry feel)

              d) American Baptist history and polity course

              e) A course in professional ethics, and affidavit of the Covenant and Code of Ethics of ABC Ministers Quango

              f) Candidacy Assessment: complete at Ministry Development Council Career Center

3. Meet with regional department of ministry prior to licensing (if pursued) and prior to ordination.
4. Ordination Council meeting
5. Ordination Service

For an overview of the ordination process in the Metro New York Region, consult:

• ABC Recommended Procedures for Ordination
• Rev. Dr. Cheryl F. Dudley , Regional Executive Minister of American Baptist Churches of Metro New York role located at 475 Riverside Drive, Suite 432 or call (212) 870-3195
• Rev. Dr. Andrea White , Associate Professor of Theology & Civilization at Union Theological Seminary

Every fall, usually in September, at that place is an ordination orientation. Contact the role above for exact appointment and fourth dimension.

Cursory histories of more than progressive-identified Baptist bodies:

The American Baptist Church building , originally called the Northern Baptist Convention in 1907, organized as a outcome of the issue of slavery that peaked in 1845, when the Southern Baptist Convention was formed in protest of the American Baptist Strange Mission Society banning slaveholders from service.

The Progressive National Baptist Convention was formed in 1961 by civil-rights movement engaged Baptist ministers to "give full voice, sterling leadership and agile support to the American and world fight for human liberty." Its founding principles of Fellowship, Progress, Service and Peace support issues of freedom, ceremonious and homo rights, and progressive ideas.

The Alliance of Baptists was founded in 1987 in society to provide a space for individuals in opposition to the Southern Baptist Convention's upholding of "biblical inerrancy, exclusive male clergy, autocratic pastoral leadership, narrow denominationalism, piety without social and economic justice, and the violation of state/church separate freedoms." Information technology was the first Baptist body in the South to offer amends for the sins of slavery in 1990.

The Association of Welcoming & Affirming Baptists (AWAB), established in 1993 during ABCUSA'south Biennial in San Jose, CA, supports churches in "beingness and becoming Welcoming and Affirming of all people regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation." It is comprised of individuals, congregations, regional groups and a national trunk.

For a quick listing of ordination requirements for the American Baptist Church,  click here.

AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL (AME)

The African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) has provided the following synopsis of the steps to ministry building:

" To become an ordained minister in the AME Church building, 1 must kickoff be a regular and in proficient continuing fellow member of an AME Church for two years. If you feel a calling, y'all must then make your wishes known to the pastor of that charge. The pastor will then determine if you are pursuing the itinerant or local track. You must requite a trial sermon at which point, the church volition have a church conference in which to vote a person to be submitted as a potential licentiate. At the quarterly conference at that church, the Presiding Elder will then issue a preaching license, valid for a year. A candidate volition exist taken before the District Conference to be voted to be admitted into Annual Conference. It is simply after these steps will you exist allowed to become to the admission's course of the Board of Examiners (BOE). It takes five years to become through the BOE. If taking the itinerancy route, in three years afterward starting the BOE, y'all may be ordained a Deacon if you have a bachelor'south degree . To be an itinerant Elder, you must have a Principal'south degree from an accredited seminary. To be a Local Deacon, you must take attended the BOE for 3 years. To exist a Local Elder, you must complete all 5 years of the BOE. Deacons, both itinerant and local, tin can marry, bury, baptize, and assist with communion. Elders, both itinerant and local are the only ones that are able to consecrate the elements for communion and they perform the same rites every bit Deacons."

"Pastors receive a yearly appointment to a charge (church), on the recommendation of the Presiding Elder and with the approval and final date of the Bishop. The pastor is in total charge of the Church and is an ex-official member of all boards, organizations and clubs of that Church."

For regional data consult:

• First Episcopal District of the A.Thou.Due east. Church (covers New York, as well every bit Bermuda, Delaware, New England, New Bailiwick of jersey, Western New York, and Philadelphia)
• Bishop Julius McCallister, Presiding Prelate FED  of First District office, located at 3801 Market place Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 or call (215) 662-0506
• New York Conference (part of the First District)
• Listing of local NY churches can be found here

The African Methodist Episcopal Church has full communion agreements with the following denominations:

• The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
• The African Union Methodist Protestant Church
• The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church
• The Wedlock Methodist Episcopal Church
• The United Methodist Church

For a one page clarification of the ordination requirements, click here.

CHRISTIAN Church (DISCIPLES OF CHRIST)

Requirements for ordination in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ or Doctor) may vary by congregation and region. Beginning contact the Regional Minister to discuss the relevant process for ordination in one's specific Region.

An overview of the ordination process:

Steps for Candidacy

• Membership and active participation in a local DOC congregation for at least one year.*
• A letter of the alphabet of recommendation/endorsement from local congregation to the Committee on Ministry of the Region.
• Meet regularly with the Regional Commission on Ministry building and provide a statement of faith, theological beliefs, and explanation of telephone call to ministry/ordination.

* Ordination requirements may vary past congregation and Region.

Educational Requirements

• Seminary Track** – completion of an M.Div or its equivalent from a theological school accredited by the Clan of Theological Schools (ATS) in the U.S. and Canada or its equivalent.
• Apprentice Track – completion of a program of study of at least 250 contact hours approved by the Region of care.

** Candidates are encouraged to follow the seminary track, unless they make up one's mind – in consultation with their Region – that economical, linguistic, vocational, or familial circumstances make the amateur track more appropriate. All candidates are expected to demonstrate competency in the 16 areas of ministerial practices.

Human action of Ordination

• This is under the authorization and guidance of the sponsoring congregation and the Region, with the Regional Minister, or the Regional Minister's designee, presiding.

Candidates are evaluated on the following Areas of Competency:

• Biblical Cognition
• Mission of the Church in the World
• Church building Assistants & Planning
• Advice
• Pastoral Care
• Cantankerous Cultural & Anti-Racism Experience
• Proclamation of the Give-and-take Experience
• Spiritual Development
• Ecumenism
• Stewardship
• Education & Leader Development
• Theology
• Ethics
• Understanding of Heritage
• Evangelism
• Worship

In the Northeast region, the post-obit courses are ordinarily required for Medico ordination:

• • • Disciples of Christ polity and history at an approved institution
    • One Unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE)*
    • Sexual Ideals Boundary Preparation**

* This is a requirement for the Northeast Region. Each Region's requirements may vary.

** The post-obit one-solar day continuation education trainings are typically required for clergy (especially in the Northeast Region) on a rotating annual ground:

• Yr 1: Medico History and Polity (a basic review)
• Year 2: Healing and Reconciliation (Mediation)
• Year iii: Anti-racism Pro-reconciliation Training
• Twelvemonth 4: Boundary training, including sexual, fiscal, etc.

For more than information on the ordination procedure, consult:

• • • Full general Committee on Ministry Documents
    • Rev. Thaddaeus Burwell Allen , Regional Minister of the Northeast Region office (covers New York, as well every bit Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Jersey) located at 1402 Washington Ave., Parkersburg, WV 26101 or call (304) 428-1681 (function) or (304) 633-2428 (cell)
    • Listing of local Northeast regional churches can exist found hither.

DOC is a full communion partner with the United Church building of Christ (UCC).

For a one-folio overview of the DOC ordination process and course requirements, click here.

EPISCOPAL Church

Episcopal ordination requirements vary significantly by bishop and diocese. Please contact your diocese to larn the particulars of the ordination process in your area. With this noted, below is a full general outline of an Episcopal ordination process.

1. As a baptized Episcopal member, a person who feels chosen to ordination begins a conversation with their parish (usually clergy, and so parish committee), who will reverberate and decide whether to recommend to Diocese.
2. If recommended to Diocese by parish, the candidate's file is reviewed by the Bishop, who will interview the individual after they are interviewed and recommended past a Commission on Ministry (or equivalent body). If approved to become a postulant, Bishop decides a training programme in chat with postulant.
3. In the course of germination, the postulant'due south file is reviewed once more past the diocesan Committee on Ministry building and the Bishop, who may approve progress from postulant to candidate for Holy Orders. This will typically happen between one and two years after access as a postulant.
4. Full general Ordination Examinations are ordinarily taken in last year of theological study.

The post-obit areas are tested on the General Ordination Examination :

1. The Holy Scriptures
2. History of the Christian Church building
3. Christian Theology
4. Christian Ethics and Moral Theology
5. Christian Worship
6. The Practice of Ministry

Episcopalians who enroll in Union'due south Chief of Divinity program tin can concentrate in the Anglican Studies plan which volition help students set for the Full general Ordination Exams. Course requirements of the Anglican Studies concentration include:

• 6 credits – Anglican liturgy
• 3 credits – Anglican church history
• 3 credits – Anglican studies elective
• 3 credits – Anglican theology
• 3 credits – Anglican church missiology
• Beginning-yr and capstone seminar
• One form on non-Christian religious tradition
• 1 grade on racial, gender, ethnic, sexual, or religious injustice

Each diocese will besides crave candidates to complete its own grooming programs in anti-racism, prevention of sexual misconduct in ministry, and the disciplinary canons ('Championship IV') of the Episcopal Church.

For boosted details on Episcopal ordination, consult:

• Your Diocese's overview of the discernment process (i.e., for New York )
• The Constitution & Canons, "Championship III: Ministry building" (run across Canon 8: " Of the Ordination of Priests " starting on page 79)

For more information about the Episcopal ordination process and the Chief of Divinity in Anglican Studies , contact Miguel Escobar at mescobar@uts.columbia.edu .

The Episcopal Church is full communion partners with the following denominations:

• Evangelical Lutheran Church building in America
• The Moravian Church building – Northern and Southern Provinces
• Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar, India
• Our Catholic Churches of the Wedlock of Utrecht
• Philippine Independent Church
• Church of Sweden

For a one-page overview of the Episcopal ordination procedure and course requirements, click here.

EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA (ELCA)

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has 2 "rosters" of ordained ministers: Give-and-take & Sacrament (Pastors) and Word and Service (Deacons).  Candidates for the former normally complete the M.Div. degree and serve a total-year internship in a congregation (either after the 2d year of study or following graduation). With few exceptions, their first call after seminary volition be as a parish minister.  Those who volition serve as Deacons typically complete a Masters' Degree either in theology or a field relevant for their surface area of service (chaplaincy, community organizing, social service etc.), with boosted requirements for studies in Bible, Lutheran history, and theology.  Ordination requires a "telephone call" from a congregation or to serve in another course of non-parochial ministry.

In guild to further strengthen resources available to and support for Lutheran students at Union, the Rev. Michael Cooper-White, D.D., serves as Director of Lutheran Formation.  In 2017, Cooper-White, an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), retired subsequently 17 years as President of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg (now a part of United Lutheran Seminary), prior to which he was an inner-city pastor and urban coalition director, bishop'south assistant, and Executive Assistant to the ELCA Presiding Bishop. In improver to offering courses in ELCA history and polity, Cooper-White is committed to "walk with" individual students in their vocational discernment. For those discerning a call to serve as ordained ministers or deacons, his expertise in all matters related to the ELCA "candidacy" procedure can evidence invaluable. Fluent in Spanish, Cooper-White has lived and worked in Latin American communities.

While standards for both rosters are uniform throughout the ELCA, synods vary in how those standards are applied. Accordingly, be certain to consult with your synod of candidacy.

The following reflects typical steps and requirements of the Metro NY Synod:

• • • Active membership in ELCA congregation for i year.
    • Begin synodical candidacy by Congregational Registration Form with a synod. This online "entrance" form needs to exist signed by both the parish pastor and congregational president.
    • Receive approval at each stage of the process (entrance, endorsement, and terminal approval for ordination)

When enrolled at Union:

1. Consult with the synod of candidacy, and the Managing director of Lutheran Germination.
2. Affiliate with an ELCA seminary ("affiliation seminary"), since Union is a non-ELCA seminary.
3. Participate in appropriate field education (typically an ELCA congregation for Chiliad.Div. Word & Sacrament candidates; a social ministry or chaplaincy setting for Word & Service candidates).
4. Both rosters usually require CPE, arranged past the Field Education office in consultation with the synod of candidacy.

Resources and Contact Persons:

• ELCA Candidacy Resources (2021 Candidacy Manual)
• Bishop Paul Egensteiner or Rev. Becca Seely of Metropolitan New York Synod  role located at 475 Riverside Drive, Suite 1620, New York, NY 10115 or telephone call (212) 665-0732
• Rev. Michael Cooper-White , Managing director of Lutheran Formation at Union

The ELCA is a Full Communion partner  with the following denominations. After ordination, some pastors and deacons may serve with one of the other communions:

• The Presbyterian Church building (PCUSA)
• The Reformed Church in America (RCA)
• The United Church of Christ (UCC)
• The Episcopal Church building
• The Moravian Church building
• The United Methodist Church building (UMC)

For more data on the history of agreements, click here .

For a one-page overview of the ELCA ordination procedure and course requirements,  click here.

UNITED METHODIST Church building (UMC)

While procedures for ordination in the United Methodist Church (UMC) are denomination-wide, requirements may vary slightly by conference.

An overview of the process:

• • 1. Write alphabetic character to Commune Superintendent (cc pastor and DCOM [District Commission on Ordained Ministry] chair). Include your interest in ordained ministry building, that y'all accept met with your pastor to discuss Christian as Minister , and your telephone call narrative.
    2. Work with assigned mentor on Candidacy Guidebook, register with General Lath of Higher Education, register with Board of Ordained Ministry (Blast).
    3. Declare call publicly before pastor and staff/parish relations committee (of local church building), who will vote to recommend you lot to Charge Conference (local church), who will vote to recommend you to District Committee on Ordained Ministry (DCOM).
    4. Meet with DCOM, submit to them required writing, have background bank check, consummate psychological test, attend UMC sexual ethics and anti-racism trainings. Gain DCOM approval.
    5. Gain (first) BOOM approval.
    6. End seminary with required coursework and trainings.
    7. Voted on at Clergy Session of Annual Conference.
    8. Commissioned past the Bishop of Annual Briefing, thus becoming a Conditional Member of Annual Conference.
    9. Go through residency program in your annual conference (normally ii-3 years after completing seminary, although it varies) and gain (2nd) BOOM approval
    10. Elected by the Clergy Session into full membership of the Annual Conference. Ordained as an Elderberry by a Bishop.*

* Ordination as Deacon follows a like process.

Coursework required for ordination includes:

• • • United Methodist doctrine, polity, and history (half dozen credits)
    • Evangelism and the mission of the church building in the world (not necessarily "Methodist")
    • Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) – required in New York for ordination as Elder
    • Erstwhile Attestation
    • New Attestation
    • Theology
    • Church building history
    • Worship/liturgy
    • Sexual Ideals/Boundary training (one day, provided by UMC)
    • Anti-racism preparation – required in New York for Commissioning (see steps 6-8 above)

The overview higher up is based on information provided by Rev. Dr. James (K) Karpen.

For more information, consult:

• • • The Book of Field of study of the United Methodist Church building (2016)
    • General Board of Higher Education and Ministry building'due south " Candidacy " folio
    • 2016 Licensed and Ordained Ministry Credentialing Requirements
    • The Northeastern Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church
    • New York Annual Conference role at 20 Soundview Avenue, White Plains, NY 10606 or phone call (914) 997-1570
    • Rev. Lea Matthews (UTS Alum) Associate Pastor at St. Paul and St. Andrew United Methodist Church

The United Methodist Church building has full communion agreements with the following denominations:

• The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
• The United Church of Sweden
• The Moravian Church
• The African Methodist Episcopal Church building (AME)
• The African Methodist Episcopal Church Zion
• The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church
• The African Matrimony Methodist Protestant Church
• The Union American Methodist Episcopal Church

UMC continues in an Interim Eucharistic Sharing Agreement with The Episcopal Church building, awaiting approving of a total communion agreement by both denominations (projected for The UMC General Conference 2020  and TEC General Convention 2021).

For a i-folio overview of the UMC ordination process and course requirements, click here.

UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST ASSOCIATION (UUA)

Unitarian Universalists (UUs) who sense a call to ordained ministry begin by applying to participate in the ordination procedure. All applications are recorded by the Clan. Those applicants who are accustomed into the process become "aspirants," aspiring to the ministry while fulfilling the formational and educational requirements to get a candidate.

• • 1. Applicant – people in contact with the Ministerial Credentialing Office.
    2. Aspirant * – applicants who successfully consummate the required paperwork, including:
       • Initial Enquiry Form
       • Interview Course
       • Transfer/Plural Standing Forms (if applicative)
       • Testify of acceptance to a theological school or graduation from theological school with submission of all official transcripts from prior graduate level academic preparation
       • Signed Application for Candidacy form
       • Completed Criminal Background Bank check (effective Jan 1, 2019)
       • Congregational sponsorship (Statement of Congregational Sponsorship)
    3. Candidate – aspirants who complete their career assessment, have completed at least one year of theological school, and have completed a field pedagogy or clinical pastoral education (CPE) experience.
    4. Preliminary Fellowship – candidates who successfully interview with the Ministerial Fellowship Committee (MFC) and are found to completely fulfill requirements are granted this standing. Ordination occurs later Preliminary Fellowship is granted.

* Aspirant status is active for seven years.

Required graduate coursework** include:

• Preaching/Worship Arts
• Liberal and/or Liberation Theologies
• Pastoral Intendance
• Religious Education Theory; Method/Practise
• Hebrew & Christian Scriptures
• Religious Ideals
• Anti-Racism/Anti-Oppression/Multiculturalism
• Church Administration or Nonprofit Management & Leadership
• UU History; UU Polity; History of Christianity
• World Religions

** As plumbing equipment within the seven areas of MFC ministerial competencies, which include:

1. Worship and Rites of Passage
2. Pastoral Intendance and Presence
3. Spiritual Development for Self and Others
4. Social Justice in the Public Sphere
5. Assistants
6. Serves the Larger Unitarian Universalist Faith
7. Leads the Faith into the Time to come

There are also required reading lists for each competency surface area (see A ppendix for a comprehensive list).

For more than information, consult:

• UUA website
• Requirements for Ministerial Fellowship with the Unitarian Universalist Clan Booklet
• Appendix to Requirements for Ministerial Fellowship Booklet
• Ministry Evolution Services locate
• Rev. Dr. Audette Fulbright , Associate Minister, All Souls NYC – A Unitarian Universalist Congregation

For a one-page overview of the UUA ordination procedure and course requirements, click here.

PRESBYTERIAN Church building (Usa)

Requirements for ordination in the Presbyterian Church (USA) vary by Presbytery, which is the trunk that ordains.

An overview of the process:

• Must exist a member of a church building for at least six months.
  1. To enter " Inquiry " stage: tell lath ("session") and pastor, who must vote to take you "under intendance." Complete online forms and answer questions in front of the Committee on Grooming for Ministry, which refers you to Presbytery to be enrolled as an Inquirer.
  2. " Candidacy " process will be governed by Committee on Training for Ministry building (run across Informational Handbook ). Candidacy can be completed once service in a church, academic work (including graduation from seminary with "satisfactory grades" and coursework required), and ordination exams are completed.
• Ordination Exams

Usually taken as "Inquirer":

• 1. Bible Content Exam

Usually taken during "Candidacy":

• 1. Open Volume Bible Exegesis
  2. Theological Competence
  3. Worship & Sacraments
  4. Church Polity
• Must have "a call" (placement) to exist ordained.

The Committee on Grooming for Ministry building for your Presbytery will decide specific academic and church service requirements for each individual.

For the Presbytery of New York City'southward Committee on Preparation for Ministry Handbook for Inquirers and Candidates, click here .

Coursework required for ordination typically includes:

• • • • Presbyterian/Reformed theology, worship & sacraments, church polity (to gear up for Ordination Test)
      • Hebrew and Greek
      • Exegesis of the Old and New Testaments using Hebrew and Greek (commonly with additional Bible classes)
      • Clinical Pastoral Pedagogy (CPE) is frequently required*

* Requirements vary past Presbytery. The Commission on Preparation for Ministry for 1's Presbytery volition determine the specific academic and church service requirements for each individual.

For more information, consult:

• • • Volume of Order: The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.s.A.) Office Ii: 2017/2019 . K-2.06-2.07, pages 34-36.
    • Informational Handbook for Preparation for Ministry in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
    • Presbytery of New York Urban center located at 475 Riverside Drive, Suite 1600, New York, NY 10115 or call (212) 870-2221.
    • The Presbytery of New York City'south Handbook for Inquirers and Candidates
    • Rev. Greg Horn , Pastor & Caput of Staff at The Presbyterian Church of Upper Montclair and Advisor to Presbyterian Students at Marriage Theological Seminary/Auburn Theological Seminary**

** Presbyterian students at Wedlock have the added back up of Auburn Theological Seminary , a Presbyterian seminary at 475 Riverside Drive, #1800, New York, NY 10115.

The PCUSA has total communion covenant relationships with:

• The Korean Presbyterian Church Away
• The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
• The Moravian-Reformed Covenant Partnership
• The Reformed Church in America (RCA)
• The United Church of Christ (UCC)

For a one-folio overview of the Presbyterian ordination process and course requirements, click here.

REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA (RCA)

The Reformed Church building in America outlines its ordination procedure for Ministers of Word and Sacrament as a progression from the individual's sense of telephone call through ordination, equally follows:

• • 1. Internal call/External call—a personal sense of phone call affirmed by the church.
    2. Local church consistory (governing torso) applies on behalf of the applicant to the classis (regional governing body).
    3. Candidate appears before the classis or its committee for an interview.
    4. Classis petitions the General Synod (national governing torso) for a Certificate of Fitness for Ministry, which will exist issued upon completion of all requirements by the candidate no sooner than 24 months* subsequently the petition is received.
    5. Completion of seminary preparation** (Master of Divinity caste).
    6. Licensure and Ordination.

* In instances where the bidder has completed theological grooming prior to the required flow, the classis may petition to substitute a flow of ministry supervised by the General Synod for all or office of its 24 month requirement.

** Candidates of ministry building who take received an G.Div. from non-Reformed Church seminaries volition demand to furnish the following: an M.Div degree or its equivalent from a seminary accredited past the Association of Theological Schools (or a theological accrediting agency of comparable standards); a transcript of the bidder's seminary record; and evidence of confessing membership in a Reformed church building of the classis making petition.

Education requirements include:

• History, theology, and church order of the Reformed Church in America
• Greek and Hebrew

For more information, consult:

• RCA website
• The Book of Church Society (2018) – see articles 11-17 (pages 44 – 61)
• Regional Synod of New York located at 42 N. Broadway Ave., Tarrytown, NY 10591 or phone call (914) 332-1311

RCA has Formula of Agreements with:

• The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
• The United Church of Christ (UCC)
• The Presbyterian Church (USA)

For a ane-page overview of the RCA ordination procedure and course requirements, click hither.

UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST (UCC)

The requirements for and steps to ordination in the United Church of Christ (UCC) vary by regional Clan.

An overview of the procedure:

• After existence a member of a local UCC church for one-2 years (length varies), go support of local church and get "Member in Discernment" (MID). Association will vote to affirm and and so review theological teaching, preparation, and " Marks of True-blue and Effective Ministers "; recommendations made for further training volition be based on the private. MID is given and meets with a mentor.
• Write a newspaper demonstrating your "theological perspective and grasp of the historic Christian faith," "cognition and understanding of the history, theological roots, polity, and practise of the United Church building of Christ," and your sense of call to ordained ministry (Presented to Ecclesiastical Counsel of the Association after oral exam).
• Oral Ordination Exam (ordinarily two hours) assesses "noesis of the history, polity, and practices of the United Church of Christ".
• Must take "a call" (placement) to be ordained.

Coursework typically required includes:

• • • History and polity of UCC
    • Bible, systematic theology, church history, worship, pastoral care and counseling, administration, church education, interfaith; church finance, in some cases.
    • Clinical Pastoral Didactics (CPE) (required by New York Metropolitan Association at least)
    • Boundary Training

For more data, please consult:

• • • Manual on Ministry: A Guide to Authorizing Ministry building in the United Church of Christ (2018) – see section 2 (pages nineteen – 137)
    • Ministry in the United Church of Christ: A Groundwork Document, Nov 2010 .
    • Rev. Dr. Renee Jackson , Minister for Ministerial Formation (national), (216) 736-3842
    • Rev. David R. Gaewski , Conference Minister of New York Conference located at 5575 Thompson Rd., DeWitt, New York, NY 13214 or call (315) 446-3073.
    • Jane Huber , Visiting Professor and Director of Practices of Ministry & Vocational Development at Spousal relationship Theological Seminary

The UCC has an Ecumenical Partnership with the Christian Church building (Disciples of Christ) and Formula of Agreement with the Evangelical Lutheran Church building in America, Presbyterian Church building (Us), and the Reformed Church in America. For more than information, click here or refer to the Manual on Ministry (pages 35-49).

For a one-page overview of the UCC ordination process and course requirements, click here.

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Source: https://utsnyc.edu/academics/career-paths/ordination-process/

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