Ordination?

Patrick Friesen has written an article for The EMMC Recorder called "the ordination of a servant" (page 11). In this short article Patrick tells about some his struggles regarding ordination and how he has overcome them. I have serious problems with ordination. So I read this article with some interest. 

Here some of the struggles that Patrick sees: 

Anabaptists have a strong view of the priesthood of all believers. He asks, "how can a church group who believes so strongly that everyone is a minister, single out one person to serve in that role? And if ordination is about the recognition of particular giftedness, why not have an ordination for other roles within the body of Christ?"

Another issue is that ordination is often "seen as placing the pastor on a pedestal". 

Further Patrick notes that historically ordination was "the process which appointed individuals, predominately male [always for EMMC], giving them the right and responsibility for leading the ordinances [communion, baptism, marriage and funerals]." Now Patrick says that within the church "virtually anyone" can lead these things. 

Patrick's solution to all of this? How did he overcome all of these objections? He redefines ordination:

ordination is best understood not as raising someone up to a "higher" role within the church, but rather it is a process of identifying, examining and commissioning a servant.

 Interesting.

2 issues I have with this.
1) Patrick fails to address most of the problems that he raised. The only one that this actually addresses is that ordination places a pastor on a pedestal. In fact defining ordination as a call to serve simply makes the others issues more obvious. Everyone is called to serve. Why would we single out one person [male] as the servant?
2) Redefining words requires intentionality and time. One of the real issues with ordination is not what do the pastors and college professors believe but what does the average church goer believe. Redefining ordination will be a lot of work (something that will not just happen). This is especially true since many denominations will not have the same view of ordination as EMMC. Let me provide an example of how difficult this is. In 2007 EMMC worked through ordination. At the annual convention it was agreed that ordination was no longer viewed as a lifetime call on a person. Once a person would no longer be a pastor it is be likely that their ordination would be dropped. This was 7 years ago. Patrick writes that ordination "is a ceremony of identifying a lifetime demotion into servant-hood". Lifetime? But for 7 years we have been working at defining ordination as not lifetime. Guess this has not worked that well. (Now I should note that I am not sure what conference Patrick is actually in. However Patrick teaches at an EMMC bible school, this article is written for the EMMC, and the event that stimulates this article is the ordination of an EMMC pastor). 

Calvinist or Anabaptist? - does it matter?

Terry Hiebert, at Revive! EMMC Leadership Retreat, noted that within the EMMC there are both Calvinists and Anabaptists. He titled a presentation he lead "why can't we get along?"
(Working definitions of Calvinists and Anabaptists)

Does it matter if we are Calvinists or Anabaptists?

Yes.
Our theology shapes how we live, how we do ministry (run church).
Everyone has a working theology. You might not be able to explain it, but it does exist and shape you.

Example:
The Gospel Coalition (Calvinists) states "The Bible is without error, but also that its inerrant content must be properly interpreted."
Historically this means that "proper interpretation" rests with "properly" trained scholars. People come to listen to trained scholars explain what the bible means. Preaching is very important within this tradition. Training of scholars is also important.
Strengths: The bible is treated with great respect. It is also acknowledged that it can be a difficult book to understand. It is really old and was written in Greek and Hebrew. Education and scholars have an important role within the church. The bible is does not mean whatever you feel like you want it to mean.
Weaknesses: Can create a priestly system. For the average person to approach the scriptures (and by implication God) they need to have a scholar (priest) assist them. Another weakness is that a human's interpretation can get tied so closely to scripture that to challenge the interpretation is seen as a challenge to scripture itself. This results in toe the party line or be accused of heresy. 

Anabaptists on the other hand lean toward a communal discernment of scripture. People should read the scriptures together and wrestle with what it means and how applies to their lives within community.
Strengths: People are encouraged take ownership of reading and understanding scripture. This is not for the elite but for all followers of Jesus. Scripture reading is not simply about right interpretation but also about application to life. 
Weaknesses: The hard work of understanding scripture within its original context can be down played. Studying the bible can simply become a sharing of what we feel scripture says instead of diligent study.

Calvinist or Anabaptist? - A place to start

Terry Hiebert, at Revive! EMMC Leadership Retreat, noted that within the EMMC there are both Calvinists and Anabaptists. He titled a presentation he lead "why can't we get along?"

(For working definitions of Calvinism and Anabaptism)

A place to start:

Humility
Admission that we do not know everything. There are still things to learn.
We learn from those who disagree with us.
If someone agrees with me completely I have not learned anything. There is no place for growth or deeper understanding.

Respect
This is not a winner takes all competition. The goal is not to defeat your enemies at all costs.
There are no enemies.
We are brothers and sisters.

Calvinist or Anabaptist? - Definitions

Terry Hiebert presented at Revive! EMMC Leadership retreat. Terry showed that in the EMMC there are Calvinists and Anabaptists. The title of his presentation was "why can't we get along?"

Working Definitions:

New Calvinist - The Gospel Coalition's "Foundation Documents" summarized:

1. The Bible is without error, but also that its inerrant content must be properly interpreted.
2. The absolute sovereignty of the triune, creator God has exhaustive foreknowledge, determines the smallest details of the universe, and saves his elect monergistically [monergistically means that God saves without any cooperation from the individual].
3. In marriage and in the church, God has ordained that men and women play complementary (not equal) roles.
4. The strong sense of mission comes out of a rich theology of God's kingdom as the exercise of God's sovereignty in the world for the eventual redemption of all creation.
5. A well-developed ecclesiology commits New Calvinists to the renewal of faith in the gospel of Christ, reforming ministry practices to conform fully to the Scriptures, and proclaiming a gospel that "seeks the lordship of Christ over the whole of life."
6. The "gospel-centered" faith is rich in piety holding up Christ as the one to whom we are united by faith and through whom we receive our justification and sanctification - he is not merely a moral example.

The Neo-Anabaptist - The Anabaptist Network

1. Jesus is our example, teacher, friend, redeemer, and lord.
2. Jesus is the focal point of God's revelation.
3. Western culture is slowly emerging from the Christendom era when church and state jointly presided over a society...seriously distorted the gospel, marginalised Jesus, and has left the churches ill-equipped for mission in a post-Christendom culture.
4. The frequent association of the church with status, wealth and force is inappropriate for followers of Jesus and damages our witness.
5. Churches are called to be committed communities of discipleship and mission, places of friendship, mutual accountability and multi-voiced worship.
6. Spirituality and economics are inter-connected.
7. Peace is at the heart of the gospel.

At the end of the presentation Terry asked two questions:

1. Does this matter?
2. Are you more Calvinist or Anabaptist?