SECC’s ‘More Proactive’ Ordination Process Bearing Fruit

By Chris Moon 

Southeast Christian Church is taking seriously its responsibility to train up new people for ministry.  

In addition to its five-year-old 215 Residency program—which we profiled in an article yesterday—the church three years ago created more structure around its efforts to ordain people to ministry. It has ordained 90 people for ministry since then. 

“It’s much more of a proactive process,” said Dennis Britt, an elder at the Louisville megachurch. 

Previously, the church’s ordination process consisted of simply waiting for folks to come forward seeking to be ordained. Ordination is not required for every member of the church’s staff. And so many were not ordained, said Ben Cross, who oversees SECC’s 215 Residency Program. 

But if a member of the staff wanted to become ordained—if they sensed God’s call and wanted to expand their ministry—the church would work with that person on an individual basis. The same process was in place for lay ministers in the congregation.  

An elder would meet with the candidate, and he or she would write a doctrinal paper outlining their understanding of the church and ministry. 

There was nothing wrong with that process, said Cross, SECC’s pastor of residency and theology. “That’s a process used by my home church when I was ordained.” 

But the church sensed the need to add more pastoral development and equipping to its ordination efforts.  

So, SECC in 2020 launched a new process that is bulked up with more intentionality; it focuses more on training ministers in doctrine and church matters. 

The church now offers a broad invitation to staff and lay members to join a series of ordination classes held over the course of the year. Candidates meet once a month for four to six months.  

The sessions focus on a range of topics—from hermeneutics to an overview of the Bible to Restoration Movement history to preaching and teaching. Sessions also have included question-and-answer panels with Southeast’s elders. 

Britt, an elder who is helping oversee the ordination process, said the idea is to combine the “head” aspects of ministry with those of the “heart.” 

Elders mentor each candidate; they have two or three conversations about ministry and talk through the ideas that will go into the candidates’ faith and doctrine papers.  

“We don’t just want to rush this through,” Britt said. “We want it to be a very valuable and intentional process.” 

During the first year of the new ordination process, the church ordained 43 people. The next year, it ordained 32. Most recently, in August, the church ordained 15 people.  

Among those ordained have been staff members working in student, small groups, and women’s ministry. Some members of the facilities team also have come forward for ordination.  

And a handful of people who aren’t on staff at Southeast have sought ordination. Some are working in ministries inside and outside the church. 

Cross said Southeast will continue to adjust its ordination process as it goes along. Several people have expressed interest in being ordained in the future.  

“We kind of have an eye on the list,” Cross said. 

Chris Moon is a pastor and writer living in Redstone, Colo.