Observing Lutheran Ordination

Last Sunday was a rare treat. Our former Vicar (Seminary Intern) Nate returned to CTK to be ordained. As Nate put it, when he came to Seminary, and later when he came to CTK for his year-long vicarage, he had objectives other than pastoral ministry. After experiencing ministry here, he has no other objective than pastoral ministry. CTK really became the home church of his heart for pastoral ministry. So this was the logical place for his ordination.

Covenant readers will spot a couple of interesting differences in the way these two bodies approach ordination to ministry. The obvious place to start is that in the Covenant, the national body ordains, and does it once every year with all the ordinands, whereas the LCMS ordains individually, all over the country. Each seminary graduate makes the arrangements along with the local church and district where it will happen. Which raises another distinction: Ordination occurs in the weeks after seminary graduation, rather than 2 years later as in the Covenant.

What was most interesting to me, and not at all surprising, given what I have learned about the Missouri Synod, was the precise questioning regarding, not only the authority of the Scriptures, but the accuracy of the three ancient creeds as summaries of true biblical faith (Apostles, Nicene, Athanasian) and all of the major components of the Book of Concord - by name - The Augsburg Confession and its defense, the small and large catechisms of Luther, the Smalcald articles, the Treatise on the power and primacy of the Pope, and the Formula of Concord - are in agreement with true biblical faith.

As a body, the LCMS seems to need the security, comfort, and validity of a greater precision and definition in its theology more than The Evangelical Covenant Church does.