Ordination Among Australian Baptists

Abstract

"T HAT there is "pervasive uncertainty"2 in many denominations today about the nature and task of the Christian ministry isgenerally acknowledged. Within that general uncertainty there is for Baptists (as others) a particular confusion about the meaning and practice of ordination. In seeking to resolve this uncertainty Biblical teaching and precedent are of fundamental significance for Baptists. The complexities of this evidence are all too familiar. But the history of Baptist practice, and indeed of other traditions, is also important in providing the church with a wider and self-critical perspective from within which responsible pastoral decisions in the present may be made. "