Transfer of Ministerial Standing – One Person’s Story…

Amy Hoyt – December 2012
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ALREADY ORDAINED, SEEKING INTERFAITH?
When individuals sense a call to ministry, they may choose to seek ordination from their faith community. Through ordination, a faith community consecrates an individual for ministry and affirms her/his calling to ministry.
Sometimes, however, ordained clergy sense that they are no longer in alignment with the faith group that ordained them, or that while they are still in alignment with their ordaining body, they also resonate strongly with other faith traditions. For these ordained ministers, The ChI Interfaith Community, which is the spiritual community of The Chaplaincy Institute, offers a Transfer of Ministerial Standing/Dual Ministerial Standing Program.
Through this program, ChI is not ordaining ministers again. Rather, we are affirming their previous ordination and receiving them into our community as Interfaith ministers. Those successfully completing the program become Clergy in Good Standing with The ChI Interfaith Community and are received into our community as interfaith ministers.
TRANSFER OF MINISTERIAL STANDING
When a faith group ordains clergy, those individuals have “Ministerial Standing” within that faith group. Most faith groups will also have ongoing requirements for ordained ministers to maintain their good standing. Transfer of Ministerial Standing is intended for ordained clergy who feel called to transfer their clergy credentials from the faith group that ordained them to ChI ’s Interfaith Community. They sense that their theological and ministerial identity has shifted from a singular faith tradition to an Interfaith worldview that guides their personal and professional path.
Those who transfer their Ministerial Standing are received into The ChI Interfaith Community as Clergy in Good Standing and are required to complete an annual process to maintain that status. This standing has both spiritual and vocational implications. Some employers require proof that any clergy/chaplains who apply for a specific job (or wish to retain that job) currently are in good standing with their faith group.
DUAL MINISTERIAL STANDING
Dual Ministerial Standing is intended for those clergy ordained by a faith group who want their clergy credentials to remain with their ordaining faith community and also wish to add another clergy affiliation, namely ChI ’s Interfaith Community.
For instance, an ordained Protestant minister may wish to retain Ministerial Standing with his/her Christian denomination and also have Ministerial Standing with The ChI Interfaith Community as an Interfaith minister. Such dual standing reflects the minister’s identity as both deeply rooted in a particular faith tradition and also wholeheartedly committed to the Sacred Truth experienced in all faith traditions that nourishes and guides them spiritually and vocationally.
By completing this program, ministers are received into The ChI Interfaith Community as Clergy in Good Standing. Proof to an employer/potential employer of current Ministerial Standing could then be provided by either their original ordaining body or by The ChI Interfaith Community. They will be required to complete an annual Clergy in Good Standing process to maintain their Ministerial Standing with ChI . Maintaining Ministerial Standing with their original ordaining body is the responsibility of individual ministers and is not monitored by ChI .