The essay, by Mike Glenn, argues that real ordination happens when a local congregation recognizes and trusts someone's ministry, a process every pastor must undergo anew in each church. Glenn holds that congregations discern who walks with Christ, recognize informal leaders who are often unpaid and without office, and ordain people to different ministries according to their gifts. He contends that churches care whether a person loves Jesus rather than whether they are a man or a woman, citing a woman named Gayle who was recognized for her prayer ministry. He concludes that the local church, not denominations or institutions, ordains its leaders, and that others should heed what the church knows.
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A new pastor, however gifted, should not rush to implement his plans, because the congregation has not yet come to trust him or agreed to follow him.
Holding the office does not make someone a congregation's pastor; every congregation must in effect ordain its pastor by validating his ministry, regardless of his experience, and this usually takes six months to a year or more.
Congregations validate a minister by watching whether the Spirit of Christ lives in the person, observing how they relate to others and serve in moments like funerals.
Denominational and institutional debates over who may be ordained are largely irrelevant to local churches, which in practice recognize whomever they want to minister among them.
Churches discern who truly walks with Christ, lives faithfully, and can be trusted, and their judgment should be heeded by pastors and others.
Whether a person is a man or a woman does not matter for church leadership and ministry; what matters is whether the person loves Jesus, the church, and its people, and churches rightly recognize women as leaders and ministers.
Congregations ordain people to particular ministries according to their gifts, so a pastor may be trusted to preach and lead vision while others are trusted for prayer or care.
The local church, not any outside denomination or institution, is what ordains its leaders and servants, and congregations rightly resent outsiders telling them who may lead or serve.
Every church has informal leaders, unpaid and often without office, whom the congregation follows, and wise pastors gather these leaders around them as an informal leadership council.
Such informally recognized leaders are truly ordained, because the church has confirmed the Spirit abiding in them and given them permission to lead.
Though every believer has gifts and callings, they must wait for the church body to affirm and confirm them before leading and serving.
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