Commission

on

Ministry

The Very Rev. Tim Watt is our chair of the Diocese’s Commission on Ministry.

The COM is comprised of clergy and lay leaders from around the diocese to help review and implement formational tools and programs ensuring the highest level of competency and commitment to our churches and worshipping communities.

If you are interested in helping in a worship service (reader, eucharistic minister or visitor, preacher), serving officially in the community, or pursuing ordination, the first thing you should do is contact your Rector, Priest-in-Charge or Senior Warden. This begins the Discernment Process.

Dean Tim and the COM are available to help you and your church leader with programs, forms, licensing requirements, Safe Church information, and more.

Email the office for more information: office@episcopalnevada.org

Do you feel called to ordained ministry?

About Ordination
Ordination Checklist

  • Either you or someone you trust feels you might be called to ordained ministry. The first thing to do is contact your church or worshipping community leader. They will help you with the next steps.

  • Your Rector/Priest-in-Charge will put a Discernment Committee together using resources from the Diocese. This group should meet at least monthly for 6-12 months.

    After your Discernment Committee meets, the church leadership decides whether or not to nominate you for ordination.

  • After some meetings are concluded and forms filled out, the Bishop may accept your nomination to be considered for ordination. The two of you will meet either by phone or in person.

    When you become a Nominee you will be asked to spend a year at another church nearby (if possible), spend time monthly with a certified Spiritual Director, and possibly get a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education.

  • After your Nominee Year, the Bishop may or may not decide to put you forward to be a Postulant. Postulancy is the time of formal formation and discernment. This is when you go to seminary.

    In the Diocese of Nevada, all priests will be required to get a Master in Divinity from a seminary approved by the Bishop.

    Deacons will go to Deacon School - a local formation program where you will bring the church to the world and the world to the church.

  • Usually, if the Bishop decides and the COOL and Standing Committees agree, a Postulant becomes a Candidate before ordination to the diaconate (transitional of vocational).

    You will be required to do another Background Check and Psychological Evaluation. In addition, there might be a couple of other things to do before entering this stage. Think of it as, “other duties as assigned.”

  • You should immediately go to page 537 in the Book of Common Prayer and read through the ordination service. If you plan to be a vocational deacon, pay particular attention to The Examination that begins on page 543.

    If you are to be a transitional deacon, it is important to spend some time here in addition to the ordination vows for being a priest.

  • Well, you’ve got a unit of CPE, an M.Div., you passed the GOE’s, and finished your contextual theology assignment. You’re almost there. The final step is getting a call at a church, school, hospital, or other place that wants a priest.

    Now it is time to talk about your ordination to the priesthood. Go to page 525 of the BCP and make sure you still feel called to this vocation. It is a lifelong vow!