Vocations & Formation
Below, we offer for your consideration, an outline of the steps in the process.
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VOCATION
Vocation or a call to ordained life starts with a person hearing or sensing that God is calling him or her to seek a more intimate and deeper relationship with Him?​
Isaiah 43:1
… I have called you by name, you are mine.
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DISCERNMENT
Once a candidate has accepted that they have a vocation, a period, often referred to as Discernment, follows. This is a marked period of time in which the candidate evaluates several aspects of religious life under the guidance of a Spiritual Advisor. Should the candidate so choose, postulancy follows.
Jeremiah 1:5
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.
POSTULANCY
EVERY step is taken to insure that a candidate is well paired with the community they intend to join. A Postulant is a person who has been accepted by the bishop as a candidate for ordination, and is in the process of being trained.
1 Timothy 5:22
Do not lay hands upon anyone too hastily & thereby share responsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin.
LICENSED LAY READER
A licensed lay reader or lay minister is a person authorized by a bishop in the Anglican Communion to lead certain services of worship, to preach, and to carry out pastoral and teaching functions. They are formally trained and admitted to office, but they remain part of the laity, not of the clergy.
Ecclesiastes 3:1
For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.
TRANSITIONAL DIACONATE
A category of clergy who are ordained deacon in preparation for being ordained priest. Clergy in the transitional diaconate tend to spend up to six months serving as deacons, after which ordination to the priesthood takes place following further review and inquiry.
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PERMANENT DIACONATE
A category of clergy who are ordained as deacons and intend to remain as deacons for the rest of their lives, without being further ordained to the priesthood. Such people recognize their vocation to be that of ministry and service, rather than presiding.
Acts 13:3
Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.
ORDINAND
A person who is in the process of being ordained. Preparation is done, and the day of ordination has arrived. Before, during, and after the liturgy, the brand new, freshly robed priest is correctly called an “ordinand.”.
Acts 6:6
And these they brought before the apostles; and after praying, they laid their hands on them.