4th July 2025

If you’re a regular reader of our Thoughts for the Day, you may be aware of my interest in anniversaries, and this coming Sunday (6th July) is for me a biggie as I celebrate the 50th Anniversary of my ordination to Christian ministry, to the date and day. It took place at my home church in Sunderland, and I believe it was the first time they’d ever held such a service, so it had both novelty and instructional value. Some were surprised that I wasn’t sporting a clerical collar – not at all my thing – but I was wearing a brand-new, made-to-measure suit that was to serve me well on formal occasions for almost another twenty years.

Gathering for Worship (2005), currently the nearest thing we have to an official Baptist prayerbook, states that, ‘Ordination should only take place when the call of God has been tested and affirmed by the wider church and due formation and training has occurred.’ I think all those boxes had been more or less ticked by the time we’d arrived at that hot summer’s day, but, of course, my real learning was only just beginning; that would be seen to by the three local churches I would pastor, the college where I would eventually help others in their theological formation, and by experience gained in everyday life.

There are those in our denomination not convinced that we need ordained minsters trained as previously, and I do accept that it’s an expensive, time-consuming business, but I fear there’s a danger we could end up with ministers under-prepared for the responsibilities their own ordination will undoubtedly place upon them.

Ken Stewart