Ordination process

The Ordination Exploration program of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia assists you and the church in providing opportunities for assessment, exploration, and discernment of a sense of call to ordination.

Objectives of the Ordination Exploration Program  

All baptized persons are called to minister in Christ’s name, to identify their gifts with the help of the Church and to serve Christ’s mission at all times and in all places. (Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church, revised by the 2006 General Convention. Title III, Canon 1, Sec. 1(a)).

The Bishop, Commission, and the discernment community shall assist persons engaged in a process of ministry discernment to determine appropriate avenues for the expression and support of their ministries, either lay or ordained. Title III, Canon 3, Sec. 4.

You are most likely reading this because you sense within your own life and ministry a call that could be leading in the direction of ordination. This sense of call may have emerged as an inner movement in the context of your ministry in and through a faith community, or it may have emerged as others have observed in you an expression of this call and brought it to your attention. However it may have come to your awareness, perhaps you wish to explore further.

At the outset, it may be helpful to know the broad outlines of the Ordination Exploration Process.

• It assumes that the call to ordination takes place in a community of faith and is not simply a private experience.
• It lasts one year, and assumes that if approved for postulancy that you are prepared to begin a 3 year Masters of Divinity program at an Episcopal seminary.
• Upon application, the Bishop and the Ordination Exploration Committee will review your materials and extend an invitation into Phase One of the Program. Applications are reviewed yearly in January.
• Phase I takes place in the spring and involves individual and group psychological assessment and screening. At the end of the screening, you will receive an evaluation. If you wish to proceed to the next phase, your evaluations will be shared with the Bishop and the Canon to the Ordinary. Unless your evaluation indicates that it may not be helpful for you to proceed, or you decide you do not wish to go further, you are invited to enter Phase II.
• Phase II extends from the summer through the winter. Phase II includes three group meetings and twelve weeks in an exploration parish. In the case of diaconate exploration, supervised ministry in a diaconate ministry site is also included. Upon completion of Phase II you may wish to apply to be admitted as a Postulant for Holy Orders or you may wish to explore further lay ministry options.

Six Steps in Applying to the Ordination Exploration Program

Step One: Please ask yourself the following questions:

 

If you are currently a college student under the age of 25:

1. Have you been confirmed for at least one year?
2. Have you been an active communicant at the same parish and/or been involved in campus ministry over the last year?
3. Have you shown evidence of extensive leadership in a parish or campus ministry (lay reader, Christian formation teacher, vestry member etc.)?
4. If divorced, has your divorce been final for at least two years and have you demonstrated continuing concern for the well-being of your former spouse and children?
5. If you have experienced any recent major life transition (death of an immediate family member such as spouse or child, marriage, birth of child, loss of a job, lifestyle change), has at least one year passed since this transitional event?
6. Are you enrolled in a degree program with an accredited educational institution with plans to complete a Bachelor’s Degree?

 

If you already have a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution:

 

1. Have you been confirmed for at least one year and are you presently an active member in good standing of the same parish or religious institution for at least one year (exceptions are made for military)?
2. Have you shown evidence of extensive lay leadership in the parish (lay reader, Christian formation teacher, vestry member etc.)?
3. Have you participated in an appropriate discernment process?
4. If divorced, have you been divorced for at least one year and demonstrated continuing concern for the well-being of your former spouse and children?
5. If you have experienced any recent major life transition (death of an immediate family member, marriage, birth of child, loss of a job, lifestyle change), has at least one year passed since this transitional event?

If you do not have a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution, in addition to questions 1-5 above:

 

1. Are you presently enrolled in such a program and will you receive your degree within the next two years?
2. Can you demonstrate comparable education through life experience and professional training? Are you’re a lifelong learner?

If the answer to all applicable questions is “yes,” you may proceed to Step Two.

 

If the answer to all applicable question is “no,” you many not be eligible for the OEP at this time.

 

If you have further questions please contact the Canon to the Ordinary at 757-213-3390 or winat600@gmail.com

 

 

Step Two:

 

• Review your finances in light of the costs for the Ordination Exploration Process and eventual cost for seminary or training.

 

• The total cost of the Ordination Exploration Program is: $2,000. You may choose a monthly payment plan, with the first payment due at the orientation to the OEP in March. There are presently no scholarship funds available, but many parishes provide assistance.

This amount covers:

• All meeting and overnight expenses.
• Background checks
• Fees for required anti-racism and safe church training.
• The first installment of $500 is due upon invitation to the Ordination Exploration Process.

This amount does not cover:

• Fees for the psychological testing.

Step Three:

• Mail completed application to the Office of the Canon to the Ordinary along with a letter of support from your priest, chaplain, or convocation dean, if your parish is not served by a resident priest  Please include a $50.00 application fee payable to: Diocese of Southern Virginia and marked: “OEP application.” These forms should be in your file prior to meeting with the Bishop.

• Accompanying the application should be a letter of support from your priest, chaplain or convocation dean. The letter should address the following questions:

1. Is this person a confirmed adult communicant in good standing of your congregation or faith community?
2. How long and in what way are you acquainted with the applicant and his/her ministry?
3. What is your personal appraisal of the applicant’s gifts, calling, and leadership skills, spiritual and emotional maturity?
4. In what ways does this person manifest emotional and social intelligence?
5. What gifts of leadership does the applicant manifest in the congregation or faith community? How does the community perceive this person?
6. How does the applicant nurture his/her life in Christ?
7. How does this person express and understand his/her Anglican identity?
8. Does this seem to be the “right moment” for this person to explore ordination or are there life realities, which would signal a more opportune time? Does he or she have the intellectual capacity to take on preparation for ordination?
9. Will your congregation or faith community support this person in the ordination process with prayer, financial assistance as needed, and ongoing pastoral attentiveness?
10. What one or two areas of the applicant’s life, character or work are in need of growth?
11. If this person wishes to explore Ordination to the Diaconate, how do you see a diaconal attitude manifested in this person’s life and ministry? Is she or he engaged in a diaconal type ministry at present? How would ordination empower this ministry?
12. If she or he is exploring a call to the priesthood, could you envision calling this person to be your assistant?
13. Do you have any significant concerns about this person? If so, please call the Bishop.

 

Step Four:

 

• Your priest, chaplain, or convocation dean sets up a self-directed home parish discernment committee of 3-5 persons. (See Appendix I and II below.)

 

• Your priest appoints a convener of the committee before the first meeting. This committee will meet with you for five, ninety-minute sessions. (See Appendix I: Home Parish Discernment Committee).

• At the end of these five sessions the committee will send a letter to the Canon to the Ordinary with a copy to your sponsoring priest. (See Appendix I for the guidelines for this letter).

 

Step Five: It is your responsibility to be sure that the following documents are received by the Office of the Canon to the Ordinary by January 1:

 

1. The Ordination Exploration Program application, including a resume and spiritual autobiography.

2. Letter of support from your priest, chaplain, or convocation dean.

3. A letter from your Home Parish Discernment Committee

4. Two passport photos.

 

Step Six:

• Upon receipt of your application materials, including letters from your home parish discernment committee as well as your priest, chaplain (college ministry), or convocation dean (in the event your parish is without a priest, you will be assigned an advisor from the OEP admissions committee.

• Your advisor will work with you to set up an interview with a small OEP admissions committee. The committee will review your application materials and help you reflect on your sense of call to ordained ministry in light of the needs and realities of the Church. Following your interview, the committee will prepare a report to the Bishop.

• All application materials and interviews must be completed by January 30 of each year. Otherwise, admission will be held for the following year.