Litany of Ordination

 

 

Minister:	I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus...preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, rebuke and exhort, be unfailing in patience and in teaching.    -II Timothy 4:1,2
Candidate:	With God's help, I wil strive to forcefully declare the message of our Christian hope, to carefully guide those with whom I am charged toward a discovery of the truth which is in Jesus Christ, and to reverently administer the sacred symbols of our Christian faith.
Congregation:	We, too, acknowledge our responsibility to declare the hope and truth of our faith within this world.  We will endeavor to prepare ourselves for this task through study and worship as the gathered body of Jesus Christ.
Minister:	In Christ Jesus, you who were once far off have been brought near in the blood of Christ; for He is our peace who has made us both one, and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility...and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the Cross, thereby bringing the hostility to an end. -Ephesians 2:13-16
Candidate:	Because of God's love to me in Jesus Christ and because of my chosen role in the world, I acknowledge a special responsibility to bring healing to bewildered, hurt, and angry hearts and to seek for those who especially need my care.  Even beyond this, I feel called to strive to heal the disunity within the Christian church and to strive to enlarge and strengthen the church's witness in our time.
Congregation:	We, too, are responsible for the healing unity which the church is called to bring into our fractured society.   With God's help, we will join with you in this task.
Minister:	Therefore, having this ministry, by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.  We have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways; we refuse to practice cunning or tamper with God's word, but, by the open statement of the truth, we would commend ourselves to every person's conscience in the sight of God. -II Corinthians 4:1,2
Candidate:	Trusting God for courage and honesty, I assume my responsibility to "speak the truth in love," to make clear to this congregation and to this community the judgment of Christ on injustice and falsehood wherever it occurs.
Congregation:	We shall try to listen and to see with open hearts and minds the sights and sounds of God, proclaiming God's righteousness in our troubled days and, insofar as we are honestly able, shall act to correct those evils in which we are in any way involved.
Minister:	I appeal to you, therefore, sisters and brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship.  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your minds, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. -Romans 12:1,2
Candidate:	I joyfully assume the responsibility of leadership within the community of faith, and declare my awareness that the quality of our life together is to be an example for our strife-torn world community.
Congregation:	We are aware that insofar as we succeed in living together in peace with this congregation, we give to our world an example of the love of God which is in Jesus Christ.  May God help us.
Minister:	Having thus covenanted with us before God, (name of candidate), come forward and kneel before us.