I realize that the idea of a local church issuing and holding the credentials of their pastor may be a bit unique, but it is both practical and beneficial for those who do it this way. Here are some things to consider:

    In terms of autonomy, leaving this responsibility with the local church best honors the ideal of local church autonomy. It also requires the congregation to become spiritually and legally responsible, which is growth in the right direction. 

    In terms of accountability, I have sat on a denominational credentialing committee for almost 10 years, and have realized that they could never really get to know the pastor who was being ordained or the needs of the church as well as the local church board could. For the most part, it was a shot in the dark on our part. No one can convince me that those who served on this committee were any more spiritual, discerning, or concerned, than those would sit on the board of a local church. Our level of risk was also far less than the leaders of the local church. After all, they would be the ones who had to live with the decision of who their pastor would be. Finally, we did not have any more authority from the Lord to do this than those in the local church have. 

    I know a number of pastors whose credentials lie with some distant group, but they do not know each other at all. They admit this does not ensure any accountability, which is central to the idea of having credentials in the first place.     

   Somehow, having credentials with a denomination can give a false sense of connection. We all know that it is possible to have this legal bond, but not be in real relationship with the group that issued the papers. One may argue that issuing credentials could give the larger body the authority to make sure the pastor conformed to a certain standard in his ministry. We think the desire to conform should come out of relationship and respect, rather than the threat of having our papers revoked. 

    I have a number of handbooks and policies that I have collected from various organizations that covers all the manifold regulations pertaining to the credentialing process. While some of it is well written, it could all be reduced to a single piece of paper if the local church were the ones who held the responsibly for the pastor’s credentials. 

   The credentialing committee I worked on always had difficulties knowing when their authority came into play in the process of selecting a pastor. For example, if a church decided to call a pastor, they could not do it without our involvement. By the time all the parties gathered together to work at it, the process within the local church was well under way. If the church found a pastor they really wanted, and our committee did not feel good about him, there was not much we could do about it. In fact, there were times we consented to a pastor being ordained that we didn’t feel good about coming to a church, but there was little we could do about it because the local church wanted him.

    Finally, if the people who hold the credentials are not pleased with how a pastor is performing in his role, they can do more about it than a denominational board can. It was always interesting to note that no matter how big our handbooks were, they really did not have many teeth in them. This is not the case when a local church holds the credentials. 

HOW TO ORDAIN THE PASTOR OF A LOCAL CHURCH 

    Any incorporated church body (in the State of New York) can ordain their own pastors, so long as their constitution makes provision for it. All a church has to do is include a line in the opening paragraph of their constitution stating that this is one of the purposes of their church. Here is how one church constitution reads: 

Ordination: We are to choose and ordain our Pastor(s), and appoint other officers and fill those positions that pertain to the life and function of our church. 

     If asked, Word of Grace Elders could assist in the discerning process of a church calling a new pastor. We would also be willing to assist in the credentialing ceremony. 

   We have ordination certificates printed and available for churches to use, if they would like. 

   Finally, we will provide credentials on a temporary basis for pastors in transition or for churches that have not developed to the stage where they can do this themselves.