The Order for Ordination and Installation of Elders and Deacons

When the Elders and Deacons of a congregation have been elected, their names shall be publicly announced, and a time appointed for their Ordination and Installation.

When Elders are to be set in office without Deacons, or Deacons without Elders, such parts of the following form are to be used as relate to that particular case.

Persons previously ordained shall only be installed.

The persons to be set in office, their names being announced, shall present themselves; whereupon the Minister, addressing the Congregation, shall say,

Dearly Beloved in the Lord; These persons have been solemnly chosen and called by you, as a Christian Congregation, to take part as Elders and Deacons in the care and service of this Church. They have accepted your call. No one has come forward to urge any just objection to their being set in office. I therefore proceed, in the name of the Lord, to set apart each in his own office, to the work of the ministry among you, and in your behalf.

Then, addressing the Candidates, he shall say,

Brethren; As it is a great honor to bear office in the Lord's house, so is it also a solemn trust which no one should take upon himself rashly or lightly. For although your election has been by the free choice of your fellow members, you are not to regard yourselves merely as servants of men, but also as servants of Christ. You should therefore magnify your office, and make high account of its duties as a service to be rendered unto God, and not simply to men.

Elders are appointed to assist and support the Ministers of the Word in the general government of the Church. They form, with the Minister, in each particular charge, a council in common for the spiritual supervision of the flock which is committed to their care. They are to be the advisers and counsellors of the Minister in the discharge of his holy office; they are to be to him as hands and eyes, acting with him and for him, and representing his presence throughout the Congregation. It is their province to go before the flock in the way of Christian example, to watch over it in the Lord, to take an active interest in its spiritual welfare, to feel a responsibility for its condition, to be at hand in all circumstances with spiritual aid for its necessities and wants. To them, moreover, in conjunction with the Pastor, belongs the whole discipline of the Church, its power of the keys, as exercised both in the form of censure and in the form of restoration.

Deacons are appointed to assist and support the Pastor in those ministrations which pertain to the more outward needs of the general household of faith. They are to aid in securing the funds necessary for the support of the Church in its various activities. They are to labor among the people in making known to them the needs of the Church, fostering the principle of stewardship, and thereby cultivating the spirit of liberal and cheerful giving. In discharging these duties, however, they must not lose sight of the true spiritual character of their office, which, although it may be thus occupied with outward and temporal things, yet remains always a proper branch of the Christian ministry, requiring virtues and merits of like sort with those which are needful for the office of the ministry in its more exalted character.

Having well considered the nature and design of these sacred offices to which you have been called by the voice of this Congregation, do you accept the call as coming from God, and do you undertake the work and service it sets before you, in the name and for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ?

Answer. I do.

Do you recognize the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the Word of God and the ultimate rule of Christian faith and practice?

Answer. I do.

Do you promise to exercise your ministry, as Elders or Deacons, among this people, with faithful diligence, according to what you have now declared to be the rule of your faith, showing all proper regard for the lawful authority of the Church, and taking heed to your own lives, that you may adorn the gospel of our Savior by a walk and conversation answerable to the place you occupy in the Church of the living God?

Answer. I do.

The Congregation standing, the Minister shall say,

Let us pray.

O Lord, our heavenly Father, who hast been pleased of thy great goodness to call these thy servants to office and power in thy Church; send down upon them, we beseech thee, the Holy Spirit, by whose blessed inspiration alone they are enabled to fulfill the ministry now committed unto them. Make them wise and faithful, humble, and yet bold, constant, patient, and persevering in their appointed work. In all their walk and conversation may thy precepts shine forth; may they hold the testimony of a good conscience; and prove themselves a good example unto all thy flock, to the glory of thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Here those who have not been previously ordained to the office in which they are now called to serve, shall kneel, whereupon the Minister shall proceed to ordain them, laying his right hand upon each one in succession, and saying,

Take thou authority to execute the office of (Elder) (Deacon) in the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ, which office I now solemnly commit unto thee, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The newly ordained persons shall now rise, after which the Minister shall install both those now ordained, and those who have been previously ordained, using the following form:

In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the authority invested in me by his Church, I now install you in the charge and service to which you have been called by this Congregation.

May the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit rest upon you, abide with you, and strengthen you in your ministry always with all might through the Spirit unto every good word and work. Amen.