I am looking for general theologies of ordination and the laying on of hands.
For instance, in Acts 13 it appears that Paul was already recognized as an Apostle and yet that local church still laid hands upon him. I cannot imagine that this was Paul’s “ordination service” but rather a commissioning to a special task. However, I have never really systematically looked deeply into the laying on of hands, and I am also curious about ordination practices and who has the power to ordain based on the NT.
I am writing as a reformed Baptist and I know many calvy Baptist churches that are infected with Landmark beliefs. Some of these deny that there is a special class of ecclesiastical personnel and that all the church offices rest on the authority of the local church in such a way that everytime a pastor switches churches, he needs to be re-ordained or have his ordination recognized.
For missionaries coming from these type of churches, if their sending church dissolves, do they then lose their right to be on the field since they are commissioned by that local church which acts as their sending authority? It appears that they are called by God, and that calling is then recognized by one’s local church, which then commissions them (often ordaining them and laying hands on them for the task) before releasing them to work more broadly. As the missionary goes out, they are recognized by other churches and accepted as a “sent-out one” such that if a sending church dissolves or disappears, the missionary still has a right to work because his status is recognized by others. However, some say that the missionary ought to come home and find a new sending church if his original sending church dissolves. And then, furthermore, some of these churches require anyone that they send out to spend at least 2 years in their midst before sending them out as one of their own. This all seems like a needless hassle if a missionary laborer is already on the field and doing good work and his coming home is precipitated through no fault of his home but due to his local church dissolving. This scenario seems to show one of the weaknesses of autonomy of the local church, if this autonomy does not recognize the validity of the actions of other solid churches.
For instance, in Acts 13 it appears that Paul was already recognized as an Apostle and yet that local church still laid hands upon him. I cannot imagine that this was Paul’s “ordination service” but rather a commissioning to a special task. However, I have never really systematically looked deeply into the laying on of hands, and I am also curious about ordination practices and who has the power to ordain based on the NT.
I am writing as a reformed Baptist and I know many calvy Baptist churches that are infected with Landmark beliefs. Some of these deny that there is a special class of ecclesiastical personnel and that all the church offices rest on the authority of the local church in such a way that everytime a pastor switches churches, he needs to be re-ordained or have his ordination recognized.
For missionaries coming from these type of churches, if their sending church dissolves, do they then lose their right to be on the field since they are commissioned by that local church which acts as their sending authority? It appears that they are called by God, and that calling is then recognized by one’s local church, which then commissions them (often ordaining them and laying hands on them for the task) before releasing them to work more broadly. As the missionary goes out, they are recognized by other churches and accepted as a “sent-out one” such that if a sending church dissolves or disappears, the missionary still has a right to work because his status is recognized by others. However, some say that the missionary ought to come home and find a new sending church if his original sending church dissolves. And then, furthermore, some of these churches require anyone that they send out to spend at least 2 years in their midst before sending them out as one of their own. This all seems like a needless hassle if a missionary laborer is already on the field and doing good work and his coming home is precipitated through no fault of his home but due to his local church dissolving. This scenario seems to show one of the weaknesses of autonomy of the local church, if this autonomy does not recognize the validity of the actions of other solid churches.
