This examination covered the candidate's Christian experience, sense of call, and theological beliefs. This step usually occurred when there was a call to a specific church or place of ministry. Persons 4 to be ordained were formally set apart by a service of ordination with the laying on of hands. As stated earlier, the laying on of hands did not signify to early Baptists a belief in apostolic succession, the conveying of a special power to administer the Lord's Supper, or elevation to a superior status before God. Rather, it was a public recognition by a church that a person had appropriate qualities of mind and spirit, dedication to Christ and the Church, and the necessary preparation, was set apart for ordained ministry.
Ordained ministers share in the common ministry of all believers.
All Christians are called to ministry both within the church and in the world. We are called to proclaim the gospel in word and deed, thereby bearing witness to churches. Baptist churches began ordaining women in the 1880's. God's reign includes inviting persons to faith in Christ, nurturing one another in Christian discipleship, respecting human dignity and rights, working for peace and justice, and advocating stewardship of the earth's resources. Ordained ministers are those who are called by the community of faith to be leaders in the stewardship of the gospel, particularly in proclamation and worship.