The Most Asked Question During Ordination Exam

[Earth Wind and Fire]

My ordination questioning was "easy", as far as ordinations go. Everyone on my council has known me since I was a child (or in the case of one, a teenager) and many were responsible for instilling the correct doctrine in me.

Since they knew me and what I believed, for me, the questioning was more a discussion of how I was going to lead the church that has been dropped in my lap as a 22 year old.

Spoiler: the church had a LOT of problems before I took it, including the fact that the previous pastor basically disappeared. It was one of those small churches run by a single family. Or more specifically, a mother and daughter in that family.

We butted heads quite a bit. And in the end, I was there less than a year before moving on to become a youth pastor at a church a few hours away.

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So you abandoned them?

 

[Sapper Woody]

So you abandoned them?

Interesting that you would jump to that conclusion without knowing any of the story.

No. I didn't abandon them. There's a whole lot more to the story, but I helped them find another pastor before I left, and the pulpit wasn't empty even one service.

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[Earth Wind and Fire]

Interesting that you would jump to that conclusion without knowing any of the story.

No. I didn't abandon them. There's a whole lot more to the story, but I helped them find another pastor before I left, and the pulpit wasn't empty even one service.

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You will note that there was a question mark at the end of the sentence.

 

[Reformed]

2. What will you do if, in its infinite wisdom, this Council recommends you NOT be ordained?

(The proper answer to #2 is "I will do as the Lord leads me to do regardless of what this Council recommends.")

One answer I like is, "I will seek the counsel of my elders to gain their insight as to why I was not ordained, and seek to follow their counsel as the Lord directs me, whether in ministry or not." Baptist ecclesiology does have its blind spots. Self-ordination is one of them. I like to see a candidate for ordination who is willing to place himself under the authority of the local church.

 

[Reformed]

Why do churches look from leadership outside of the assembly unless they are too weak to use discerning?

Brother, some local assemblies may lack one among them who is strong enough in the scriptures, or sound enough in character, to rise to the level of Pastor. That's a sad commentary, but it's all too true. That's fodder enough for a different thread on the imperative to train up godly men who are able to teach others also.

 

[Reformed]

Sometim

Sometimes a council is wrong.

True. Wisdom is needed on the part of the candidate to ascertain that. When it comes to being ordained by one's own local assembly, it should seldom get to the point that ordination is not conveyed. The elders should have properly vetted the candidate before ordination. They will have had many opportunities to see the candidate's character and fitness for ministry displayed. While I am not Primitive Baptist, I do agree with them on the centrality of the local church.

 

[Reformed]

Interesting. What would you consider to be a good answer? (Obviously nothing involving transubstantiation.)

I ask because I don't think the Lord's Supper (aka Communion) is purely symbolic with no Divine interaction. I think Christ is present with us in the event as the Body of Christ celebrating his incarnation, life, death, resurrection, ascension, present reign, and future kingdom. The act of consuming the bread and wine/juice is a holy touch point between our present state, the past, and the future in Christ.

Would I pass muster with that not-so-Baptist sounding answer?

You should pass muster. The Lord's Supper is a means of grace to both the individual and the local body. There is nothing in the elements that make them anything more than common. Wine, grape juice, bread, matzo etc. never become more than what they are. It is what they symbolize that gives them meaning. When we partake of the Lord's Supper our faith should be strengthened as we meditate upon the significance of Christ's broken body and shed blood. We do this communally, so our fellowship with each other is also strengthened. If unconfessed or church discipline prevents us from partaking, God often uses that as a loving discipline to bring us to repentance. This view of the Lord's Supper transcends the memorial-only view but does not go as far as the Lutheran or Romanist view.

 

[Reformed]

He was the last of the original apostles, but there were more than 12 apostles. I would say there were 24 or 25 named or mentioned but not directly named.
We know the gift of tongues was widespread in the early Church. The day John died all the believers who had spoken in tongues for many years could no longer speak in tongues? Bet without CNN to tell them John died, they were confused as to what happened.

It's quite possible (if not probable), that tongues ceased during the time of the Apostles, not just after the death of the last Apostle. I think this topic needs a separate thread in order not to derail this one.