Educators now seek ordination as ministers By Robert P. Mills The Layman Online Friday, June 16, 2000 For at least two decades Presbyterians have resisted adding to elder, deacon and minister a fourth ordained office, Christian educator. A report coming to the Long Beach General Assembly looks to overcome this historic opposition. The Work Group on the Role and Status of Christian Educators in the Presbyterian Church (USA), comprised almost entirely of Certified Christian Educators, is proposing that Christian educators now be ordained as ministers of word and sacrament. In place of the current two-year master's degree, Christian educators would be required to complete a three-year master of divinity program. Key issues The group outlined as its key issues "the call to ministry, accountability, empowerment, educational requirements and advocacy for those who serve in this capacity." It also commissioned the denomination's office of Research Services to survey other Christian educators. Among the findings were that 87 percent of Christian educators favor ordaining Christian educators. According to the work group, there are now 414 Certified Christian Educators and 106 Certified Associate Educators, with 279 individuals currently seeking certification. Standards for certification are established in the Book of Order, G-14.0700-0705. The work group's rationales for ordaining Christian educators as ministers of word and sacrament include that "Ordination has little to do with status or even honor. It has everything to do with recognition in service to ministry, with accountability, advocacy and justice." Another approach An eight-page overture from Chicago Presbytery offers an alternative to the work group's proposal. It overtures the General Assembly "to establish a fourth ordination, that of 'Minister of Education,' and that persons ordained to this office have voice and vote at session meetings, presbytery meetings, and when elected as commissioners, at synod meetings and General Assembly." Overture 00-57 argues that "certified Christian educators are called not to a ministry of word and sacrament, but to a different, equally important ministry within the body of Christ, ministry of education." The overture further notes that proposals that would not create a fourth ordained office, "while moving in the right direction, are inadequate to meet the needs of our certified Christian educators who, by training, are well prepared for an ordained ministry of education and who, by call, believe they are called to that particular ordination."

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