Presentation of the Ordinand:
P: ____________ has been certified by Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ as one to whom the public ministry of the Gospel may be committed. I therefore present him/her for ordination to the public ministry of Word and Sacrament.
C: Thanks be to God.
P: The Lord be with you.
C: And also with you.
P: A reading from Scripture: 1 Timothy 2:5-6.
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, the testimony to which was borne at the proper time.
P: Let us pray.
P: Create in me a clean heart, O God,
C: And renew a right spirit within me.
P: O God, who enlightened the hearts of your people by sending the Holy Spirit, grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things and to rejoice in His comfort and power, through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord.
C: Amen.
P: Their sound went forth into all the earth,
C: And his Word to the ends of the world.
P: A reading from Scripture: Romans 10:14-17.
But how are men to call upon him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? And how can men preach unless they are sent? As it is written,“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ.
P: Will you proclaim the gospel that salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone as the heart and center of Holy Scripture?
O: Yes. by the help of God.
P: Will you preach the gospel and administer the sacraments according to the Holy Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions?
O: Yes, by the help of God.
P: A reading from Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:5-7.
For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness, who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. For we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us.”
Pastor addresses the Ordinand:
P: May Almighty God, who has entrusted you with this public ministry, enable you to fulfill by his help what you have begun by his favor. Amen.
Are you ready to serve as (a) pastor of _________________?
O: Yes, by the help of God.
P: _______________ is called and ready to serve. As he kneels, let us ask for our Lord’s blessing:
Lord, the Giver of every good and perfect gift, we ask you to bless your servant, ______. Strengthen him with your Spirit that he may preach your Word in season and out. Guide him, forgive him, guard him, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
(Ordinand stands.)
P: Pastor ____________, we give you this Bible, the manger, as Luther wrote, in which the Christ child lies.
P: Pastor ____________, we give you this stole, a sign of your public calling to proclaim the Word of the cross.
P: Pastor ____________, we give you this staff, but first we break it (***) to show that the power of the Word is not in the shepherd here ordained, but in the Good Shepherd.
P: Let us honor Pastor ___________ by standing and applauding.
P: Benediction: “Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you without blemish before the presence of his glory with rejoicing, to the only God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” (Jude 24)
P: Let us sing (#161 O Day Full of Grace, or #294 My Hope is Built on Nothing Less)