The Ordination of our Associate Pastor, Tambi Swiney (May 30, 2010)
(Pastor Steven Meriwether with Associate Pastor Tambi Swiney)At the January business meeting, the church approved Tambi Swiney's request for ordination. An ordination council was endorsed. The council was comprised of: Kenny Cooper, Melanie Dover, Tim Fields, David George, Lerma Hearn, Claude Huguley, Sue Jones, Fred Kendall, and the pastor. The ordination council, in its deliberation on what to ask of the ordinand in the way of written materials, agreed that a statement regarding ordination among Baptists would be beneficial to the congregation. The following statement on ordination was written by Kenny Cooper at the council's request.
Unlike many other Christian denominations where ordination to the ministry comes at the completion of seminary training and possibly an internship, Baptists have associated ordination with a call to ministerial service. This has typically been a call to serve the local church. The act of ordination carries with it no ecclesiastical or temporal power, but is a recognition of the candidate's sense of call and appropriateness for ministry and the congregation's call to that person to be its minister.
The process of ordination begins with a request for ordination from the candidate or the congregation calling the person as a minister. An ordination council is formed and charged with the responsibility of examining the candidate and making a recommendation to the congregation to ordain or not to ordain. This council is usually composed of ordained ministers and deacons. If the recommendation is to ordain, then an ordination service is planned which often includes scripture reading, a sermon (or in some cases the candidate's testimony), a charge to the candidate, a charge to the church, and the laying on of hands — a biblical model of setting one apart for a particular ministry. A certificate of ordination and often an appropriate gift for a new minister are presented at the conclusion of the service.Download Service Links: Order of Worship (PDF)
Audio: Anthem | Scripture Readings | Sermon
Associate Pastor Tambi Swiney, with son Chaney and husband Paul.
