Cons. Anabaptist ordination practices

[mike]

Mike, in your experience, could the presiding bishops basically override the congregation’s choice of nominee?

Do you mean by replacing a nominee with someone else who didn't receive enough votes to qualify?

[steve-in-kville]

On the Brethren side, we do not use the lot. One person needs to get 2/3 majority of a vote. Very rarely is this deviated from.

[Neto]

On the Brethren side, we do not use the lot. One person needs to get 2/3 majority of a vote. Very rarely is this deviated from.

Is this done with written ballots? In a regular service, or a special meeting?

[steve-in-kville]

On the Brethren side, we do not use the lot. One person needs to get 2/3 majority of a vote. Very rarely is this deviated from.

Is this done with written ballots? In a regular service, or a special meeting?

Written ballots. I've seen it done during a regular meeting, Wednesday evening or during counsel meeting (our version of church business meeting). Depending on the church, results may be announced at the end of a service, or later down the road. If votes are too scattered and no one person gets the 2/3, they announce it and try again in six months, typically.

[Neto]

On the Brethren side, we do not use the lot. One person needs to get 2/3 majority of a vote. Very rarely is this deviated from.

Is this done with written ballots? In a regular service, or a special meeting?

Written ballots. I've seen it done during a regular meeting, Wednesday evening or during counsel meeting (our version of church business meeting). Depending on the church, results may be announced at the end of a service, or later down the road. If votes are too scattered and no one person gets the 2/3, they announce it and try again in six months, typically.

So they would not narrow the options, by having a 'vote' on a the top names, like 3 or 5, or whatever?

[In the MB congregation where I grew up, congregational 'offices' were filled through voting in a quarterly business meeting. Nominations were taken from the floor, then written ballots were collected (sometimes after discussion), and repeated until a decision was reached. But this was not for an ordination process. That congregation had adopted a paid pastorate before I was old enough to know what was going on, and the only ordination out of the congregation had been in place before I can remember, possibly before I was born. (He was officially the assistant pastor, but I only ever heard him preach one time. In the cases where the pastor was going to be absent, he (the assistant pastor) would arrange for a visiting minister to preach. I think it was on one of those occasions that I heard my dad preach. (He had prepared for the ministry, but was never called to a specific congregation. As far as I know, he only candidated in the Fresno California area, where he received his pastoral training.)]

[Josh]

Mike, in your experience, could the presiding bishops basically override the congregation’s choice of nominee?

Do you mean by replacing a nominee with someone else who didn't receive enough votes to qualify?

Yes, such as for example:

- One of the bishops or overseers nominates a person they like. Now they have 1 vote.
- They decide the threshold for being in the lot is just 1 vote.
- They decide to skip the lot and just pick the nominees they want.

[steve-in-kville]

So they would not narrow the options, by having a 'vote' on a the top names, like 3 or 5, or whatever?

Nope. All men that were in good standing were eligible. Now granted, I am told that more often than not, the ministers counting votes would most likely see the same names over and over.

[Josh]

On the Brethren side, we do not use the lot. One person needs to get 2/3 majority of a vote. Very rarely is this deviated from.

It is interesting that Holdemans and Apostolics do it almost identically.

Does your group share the total vote numbers?

[mike]

In our conference, I believe everyone of a certain age votes in an ordination. Are there any CA churches where voting is restricted in any way other than by age?

[Josh]

In our conference, I believe everyone of a certain age votes in an ordination. Are there any CA churches where voting is restricted in any way other than by age?

Hutterites restrict it to men over age 25 or married men.