Professional Dissertations DMin

Date of Award

1979

Document Type

Project Report

Degree Name

Doctor of Ministry

College

Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary

Program

Doctor of Ministry DMin

First Advisor

Norman K. Miles

Second Advisor

Arnold A. Kurtz

Third Advisor

William G. C. Murdoch

Abstract

The study of baptism especially as it relates to the Cross gave the basis for the believer's new life in Christ. This new life having been incorporated into the Body of Christ, makes the Body a living organism. When the Body of Christ lives, it lives beyond its bounds in the spirit of its covenant relationship. God's Holy Spirit gives gifts to each member which are to be used for the ministries of the Church. Giving of these gifts does not depend upon academic training, how rich a person is, how old or young, whether male or female, but rather how dedicated and committed the one is to the principles of God. This being the case, the Spirit of God works in all lives who surrender themselves to the will of God. So that every member who has received spiritual gifts has been ordained into the gospel ministry.

The difference was drawn between ordination by means of baptism and that of laying on of hands. Biblically there is one call into ministry. Whenever a person receives spiritual gifts and uses them effectively for the building of the Body of Christ, the Church vili shows its recognition of the gift and sets apart that individual into a full-time or special ministry (of leadership) in the Church. The professional paper, captioned "Practical Guidelines for the Strengthening of the Seventh-day Adventist Ministry in West Africa", zeroes in on the mandate of the Church to recognize those endowed with spiritual gifts and signify such recognition by the laying on of hands for a full-time or special ministry to the Church. The ordinands thus can lead out as pastors in the Church's work of ministry. Taking the Seventh-day Adventist Church in West Africa, evidence was adduced to the fact that the growth rate of membership exceeds that of its pastoral ministry, and in one conference the ratio of membership to pastor is 1200:1. In the face of this, the proposal was made for ordaining local elders who have proved their calling as pastors of their local congregations. Such a move will help congregations have their own pastors who will nurture and equip the congregations for the work of ministry so the whole Church can prepare this lost world for Christ's second coming.

Subject Area

Baptism--Seventh-day Adventists; Ordination--Seventh-day Adventists

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.32597/dmin/353/

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