I am now an Associate Pastor

[Magic 8-Ball]

You don't have to have some kind of religious degree for ordination?

Acts 4:13 "When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus."

Most denominations require one to go through seminary and earn a Master of Divinity.  I found it odd that Southern Baptists don't.

You don't think that a minister would benefit from having studied the sociology and the context of the passages, the often complex symbology of the various books, the original Hebrew/Aramaic/Ancient Greek/whatever to identify possible mistranslations or more literal translations that could help to shed light on a passage's meaning?  Were I to seek counsel from a minister, those are the kinds of things I would want to pop up during the conversation's course.

I wouldn't go under the knife if the surgeon wasn't board certified, I wouldn't hire a lawyer were he not in good standing with the Bar, and I wouldn't trust my taxes to an accountant who hadn't sat for the CPA exam.  It strikes me as a bad idea for people who value spirituality to turn to someone who hasn't done the above and is therefore more prone to mistake the spirit in which the passage was written for something else.

'Courage' and knowledge aren't the same thing, so the quoted verse doesn't really apply.

Yes the quote does apply because it is stated that Peter and John were “unschooled”…they weren’t schooled, rather they were just going about their business one day when Christ came into their life and called them into his ministry.

After reading the verse in context, I see what your point was, though I still think that 'courage' is poor word choice.  I would also draw a distinction between the disciples and those trying to make sense of it all two thousand years later.  The former had direct instruction from the professor; the latter have, at best, a TA, and, at worst, a poor study buddy.

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That's fine, and those qualities in a good minister are kind of a given, but that isn't what I'm getting at.  If a minister is to lead a congregation, shouldn't he have a specialized knowledge that suits his position?  If not, why not ordain everyone who leads a Bible study?  Or everyone in general, for that matter?  Why have ministers at all?

In any case, it is a fact that most contemporary denominations require that their ministers have gone to seminary, so I don't know why you keep throwing up Bible verses as though that's going to contradict reality.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

so I don't know why you keep throwing up Bible verses as though that's going to contradict reality.

New here, aren't you.

[Magic 8-Ball]

so I don't know why you keep throwing up Bible verses as though that's going to contradict reality.

New here, aren't you.

Haha.  No, I'm just a guy who hasn't slept in awhile.

[Coburn In 2012]

Congradulations and may the lord bless your ministry.  Remember to stand up for the unborn and for family values.  And may God bless and keep you!!!

[Hash]

Remember to stand up for the unborn

Why?

[afleitch]

Congradulations and may the lord bless your ministry.  Remember to stand up for the unborn and for family values.  And may God bless and keep you!!!

Yeah...I'd better remind my mum and dad that I'm undermining the family

[JSojourner]

Congradulations and may the lord bless your ministry.  Remember to stand up for the unborn and for family values.  And may God bless and keep you!!!

Yeah...I'd better remind my mum and dad that I'm undermining the family

I dunno, Andrew.  Ever since you and Chris announced your engagement, I've been staring much less at the wife's big boobs and much more at the neighbor's dog.  Perhaps there was something to what Senator Santorum was suggesting!  ~~~

[Joe Biden 2020]

I completed step 2 of my ordination process tonight, and now I am going to enter a one-year evaluation period before I am actually ordained.  I am what they would call "ordained-elect".

[J. J.]

Ignore most of the people here.

Yes, I expect you're getting tired of being the only one this happens to.

You do so only at your own peril. 

[J. J.]

And in related news, I have ceased being a lay reader.  I also resigned from the board of a public health center.