Ordination
The Orthodox Anglican Communion is aggressively seeking to identify men who sense a divine Call from our Lord to serve in the ministry of His Church. We are particularly interested to hear from potential postulants in the United States, to serve in the Communion's jurisdiction in the USA, The Orthodox Anglican Church. Many of our postulants for Holy Orders are men in mid-career or nearing retirement. Many of these men have experienced a divine Call to the ministry from their childhood but have been unable to respond until now. Others have been applicants in other, larger, "main-line" churches, but have been rejected due to their orthodox views and convictions. Other men have been ordained, but have become orphaned by their bishops. Still others are Protestant ministers seeking Holy Orders in a Catholic body. If you are interested in exploring the opportunities to serve the Lord in our Church, please down load the Inquirer's documents (below), and e-mail the Revd Canon John D Kennedy, acting Director of Vocations.
The introduction to the Ordinal of the Book of Common Prayer affirms:
It is evident unto all men, diligently reading Holy Scripture and ancient Authors, that from the Apostles' time there have been these three Orders of Ministers in Christ's Church,-- Bishops, Priests, and Deacons.
The terms "bishop", "priest", and "deacon" are the direct English equivalents of the apostolic ministry attested in the Sacred Scriptures. When the first missionaries presented the claims of Christ to the Anglo-Saxons, the converted haltingly pronounced the Greek term presbuteros as "priest". Likewise, the Greek episkopos was rendered "bishop". Only the Anglo-Saxon word "deacon" had any resemblance to the Greek diakonos.
A Postulant is one who, feeling the Call of God into this apostolic ministry, commits to prepare for this great task, by first undergoing tonsuring and then following the training program approved by the Bishop. This preparation for Holy Orders is a process that requires the utmost attention to the Call and Leading of God Almighty, vigorous academic study of "the Holy Scripture and ancient Authors," and a life-long commitment to the Way of Prayer and the Celebration of the Sacraments. Simply to graduate from a theological seminary is thus only half of the preparatory process. Ordination is a mark eternally made upon the soul of the Postulant and complete preparation for this Work of God is a dynamic interaction between priestly holiness, (instilled and encouraged by personal work with others), prayer, and academic study.
Ordination in The Orthodox Anglican Church (in the United States) and other member churches of the Orthodox Anglican Communion is conducted in accordance to Church Canons and upon the successful ecclesiastical evaluation of the Postulant. For more information regarding ordination, please contact:
The Revd Canon John D Kennedy, acting Director of Vocations
