Ordination Resources

Austin Seminary is located in the Austin Capital District of the Southwest Texas Region of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The ordination process begins with a member of a congregation speaking to their pastor. Once the call into ministry is acknowledged, the candidate is admitted into the Board of Examiners (BOE) of their respective conference during its annual conference. Candidates go through a four-year process with the BOE, and they are given instructions regarding the ordination process in their third and fourth year classes.   

In the AME Church, there are two kinds of ordinations: Itinerant Deacon and Itinerant Elder. The candidate must have a bachelor's degree to qualify for the Itinerant Deacon's ordination.  Itinerant Deacons are limited in performing certain rituals in the AME Church. The second ordination is the Itinerant Elder, which is the highest ordination and has unlimited authority to perform the rituals in the church.  The candidate must have a master’s degree from an accredited seminary to qualify for the Itinerant Elder's ordination.  The ordination process and service can be found in The Doctrine and Discipline of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, a copy of which can be found in Austin Seminary’s library or through Sophi Search.  

Austin Seminary is located in Area V (Texas and Louisiana Region) of the American Baptist Churches of the South (Region 30). While individual churches ordain ministers, they do so in coordination with their regional Department of Ministry and Ordination Councils. Typically, ordination requires an MDiv, being licensed in a congregation for a minimum of six months, and a course in—or approved independent study of—Baptist history and polity, a course in professional ethics, and an examination by the Ordination Council. Clinical Pastoral Education is not listed as a requirement but may be recommended by one’s local congregation. 

You can read more about ordination in the American Baptist tradition here: 

Microsoft Word - Recommended Procedures FINAL.doc (abc-usa.org) 

Austin Seminary is in the geographic region of the Cooperative Baptists in Texas. For the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF), the highest authority in denominational life is the local, autonomous congregation. Each CBF partner congregation bears responsibility for calling their pastor, other staff members, and local church leaders. The path to ordination in the CBF context is located in the local church that affirms God's calling and gifting of a person for ministry. Typically, though the process can vary by location, a person sensing a call to ministry would voice their call to their local church. The church would then create a process to test the calling, usually through creating an ordination council composed of ministers in the church, lay people familiar with the giftedness of the ordination candidate, and sometimes representatives from other CBF-related congregations. The role of the ordination council is to examine the candidate through questions or written submissions and then recommend to the church ordination of the person. The church would then affirm the candidate with a vote approving the recommendation for ordination and plan a service of ordination. Because the local church is the ordaining body, most CBF partner churches invite everyone from the church, and guests, to participate in "laying on of hands" in order to bless the ordinand. Baptist churches of similar faith and practice tend to recognize the ordination of ministers from other churches. Typically, Clinical Pastoral Education is not a requirement for ordination in CBF, but an individual church may require it. 

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in Texas – Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (cbf.net) 

Austin Seminary sits within the Southwest Region of the Disciples of Christ. To begin the ordination process, one should contact the regional minister for a conversation. To be ordained one must have an MDiv, take Disciples History and Polity (3 semester hours),  Healthy Boundaries for Clergy Training, Pro-Reconciliation/Anti-Racism for Clergy Training, among other requirements. Whether Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) is required varies by candidate, so if you are unsure, it is a good idea to take CPE as an elective while a student at Austin Seminary. Information about the ordination process in the Southwest region can be found here: Ordination Process — Christian Church in the Southwest (ccsw.org) 

Austin Seminary is in the Southwest Texas Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The ordination process (called the ELCA Candidacy Process) has four stages. In the first stage, Pre-Entrance, the interested person does a period of reflection in context with their community of faith. If admitted into the next stage, Entrance, the person begins to work with the synodical Candidacy Committee. At this point, among other steps, a student attends seminary. In the words of the Candidacy Summary, “Normally, once a Candidacy Committee grants an applicant Entrance, he or she will select a seminary and apply for admission. In some cases, an applicant may apply for Entrance after being enrolled in a seminary. For candidates attending non-ELCA seminaries, affiliation with an ELCA seminary will normally occur soon after Entrance.” During this stage, a student will complete Clinical Pastoral Education. If all goes well, the person will advance to the Endorsement stage, a second point of discernment. Typically, candidates will complete a year-long internship. Austin Seminary does have a one-year SPM in its catalog. The final step is Approval at which point the Candidacy Committee will discern a readiness for service based on many different components of the candidate’s experience and reflection. 

Information about the ordination process in this region can be found here: Candidacy (swtsynod.org) 

A Candidacy Process summary can be found here: Summary of Candidacy - ELCA Resources 

A more detailed manual can be found here. 

Microsoft Word - Candidacy Manual-2016-FINAL (elca.org) 

Austin Seminary is located in the Diocese of Texas, though everything southwest of Austin, including Buda, sits in the Diocese of West Texas. The ordination process will differ depending on one’s diocese, so read diocesan materials carefully. Typically, the Episcopal process begins with a conversation with one’s rector. A person must be a confirmed communicant in good standing to enter the discernment process. Once a person has been approved by a rector and a parish discernment committee, the vestry will vote on whether to send the person forward in the process. If approved, the person will apply to become a Postulant on the diocesan level.  It is at this point that students are sent to seminary. Bishops have input on where aspirants attend seminary, so if you are already in process at Austin Seminary, be prepared for your bishop to require you to do an “Anglican year” at an Episcopal Seminary. We recommend talking with your bishop about the possibility of taking courses at Seminary of Southwest in lieu of an Anglican year. Typically, both Clinical Pastoral Education and Supervised Practice of Ministry (SPM) are required for ordination and you will want to consult your Committee on the Priesthood about whether they have particular expectations for your SPM placement. 

Diocese of Texas: Ordination Process - EDOT (epicenter.org) 

Diocese of West Texas: Ordained Ministry (dwtx.org) 

Austin Seminary is located in Mission Presbytery. The ordination process in the PCUSA typically begins with a conversation with the pastor of the church of which you are a member. If you do not have a sponsoring congregation, it is a good idea to choose a local congregation and become a member as soon as you can. There are two phases of the PC(USA) ordination process (to the ministry of word and sacrament): Inquiry and Candidacy. One may be in the Inquiry process after having been an active member of a congregation for six months. The entire process takes around two years. 

The body in each presbytery responsible for the ordination process is called the Committee on the Preparation of Ministry (CPM). Requirements for Clinical Pastoral Education vary from presbytery to presbytery, but both CPE and Supervised Practice of Ministry are typically required. Please be in touch with your CPM about your chosen SPM site to ensure it is suitable for your denominational internship requirement. 

The PC(USA) has a series of ordination exams for ministers. The Bible Content Exam (BCE) is a multiple choice exam that covers biblical content. It is typically taken the first or second year of seminary. Austin Seminary is a host site for the exam. Senior ordination exams are taken when given permission by one’s CPM, typically senior year or earlier if a student is already a candidate. This handbook has very helpful overviews of the exams. https://www.pcusa.org/resource/handbook-ordination-examinations/ The seminary provides workshops and other resources to prepare for ordination exams throughout the year. 

You can find guidelines about the ordination process in this handbook:  

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) - Resources - Advisory Handbook for Preparation for Ministry in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (pcusa.org) 

To learn more about the ordination process in Mission presbytery, visit here: 

Committee on Preparation for Ministry | My Site (mission-presbytery.org) 

Austin Seminary is in the South Central Conference of the UCC. Some of the UCC churches in Austin share affiliation with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ.) The ordination process in the UCC begins with the formation of a Local Church Discernment Committee (LCDC). If the lay committee believes the person is called to ministry, they will recommend them to the Commission on Ministry. Candidates need to go through a variety of preparations including  mentoring by local pastor, lay leadership courses, Seminary – M.Div. or equivalent, Coaching, Psychological Assessment, UCC History, Theology, and Polity Course, Practical Experience, Boundary Training, Criminal Background Check and Cultural Competence Training. Committees on Ministries have different requirements for Clinical Pastoral Education, so check with your committee before making a decision. 

Manual on Ministry - United Church of Christ (ucc.org) 

Austin Seminary is within the boundaries of the Rio Texas Conference of the UMC, but we are very close to the Central Texas Conference. The first step when discerning a call to ordination in the United Methodist Church is to contact one’s pastor after being a member of a congregation or campus ministry for one year. The UMC Process is a complicated multiyear one and can best be understood by reading the checklist linked below.  

It is important to note that the UMC has two ordination tracks—the Local Pastor track and the Provisional Elder/Deacon track. Local Pastors are ordained to a specific congregation. Provisional Elders/Deacons may serve in a variety of contexts. Very often United Methodist students are appointed to congregations by their Conference. In that case, contact the director of the Office of Ministerial Formation and Advance Studies about doing one’s Supervised Practice of Ministry through that congregation. 

Austin Seminary is an approved seminary of the United Methodist Senate. United Methodist Students must take a UMC Doctrine, Polity, and History courses which can be done online through Iliff or through the Austin Seminary course. 

Rio Texas Conference: Board of Ordained Ministry — Rio Texas Annual Conference 

Rio Texas Conference Candidate Formation Checklist: Candidate+Formation+Checklist+3-27-18.pdf (squarespace.com) 

Central Texas Conference: Board of Ordained Ministry (ctcumc.org) 

Unitarian Universalists are congregationalists, which means members can be ordained by individual churches. However, students must go through UUA's Fellowshipping process if their ordination is to be recognized beyond the local congregation. If one gets fellowshipped, one is a Unitarian Universalist Minister, and the ordination is transferable to other contexts. 

The first step is achieving preliminary fellowship, which allows one to be ordained. After a person is ordained, they get three renewals via a committee created while working full-time, and then one is fully fellowshipped. Becoming fully fellowshipped does not happen until after seminary graduation.   

This page has information for seminarians working on their preliminary fellowship. The requirements are several forms the person or their sponsors fill out, information on the $2000 career assessment (the UUA will pay for half), a list of everything one needs to turn in for the interview (pg. 9), and ends with the competencies packet (this needs to be filled out with classes and an essay to show you have met each competency. This has been updated recently.  

Internship information can be found here. The Internship Manual can be found below: