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The Ministry of the Ordained pt. 1

© Susan Padezanin

The 1996 Conference enacted major changes in the way we structure our ministry. We no longer have the diaconal ministry, although persons who are already diaconal ministers and wish to retain that status may do so. Instead of the lay position of diaconal minister, we now have the Order of Deacon; a permanent order of those called to a ministry of Service and Word. The other ordained position is that of the elder, which is an order of those called to a ministry of Service, Word, Sacrament, and order. The Order of Deacon is non-itinerant, although places of service are subject to episcopal appointments or confirmation. Elders are itinerant, subject to episcopal appointment. Those on the way to becoming elders will no longer be ordained deacons first. Each order will stand on its own and each will organize as an entity for up building and mutual support.

Candidates for either deacon or elder will become probationary members of the annual conference after completing certain educational and other requirements and they will be commissioned. Three years service under supervision is then necessary for either order before ordination can take place. At ordination, both deacons and elders become members in full connection to the annual conferences.

The actual acts of ordination to either order are presided over by a bishop. A bishop has authority to ordain only those persons who have been duly processed by the annual conference board of ordained ministry, and for whom orders have been voted by the members in full connection of the annual conference. In the laying on of hands for ordination as deacon, the bishop may invite other deacons, elders, and laity to participate. In the ordination to the Order of Elder, the bishop may invite other elders and laity in the laying on of hands. Ordinations are usually done at the session of the annual conference, in an impressive service that is long remembered by those being ordained.

For generations, even centuries, Methodism followed the practice of the Roman Catholic and Anglican traditions that required persons on their way to becoming an elder or priest to first be ordained a deacon. This is now changed, with each order standing on its own. Deacons will be responsible for their own employment and are not subject to episcopal appointment as in the case of elders.

The former conference board of diaconal ministry is eliminated in the new structure and all persons seeking either deacon's or elder's orders apply through the board of ordained ministry.

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