ReformedEducation

Article

How a minister is called and ordained: Presbyterian and Reformed compared

Step by step, how a pastor comes to serve a congregation in a Presbyterian church and in a continental Reformed church.

By reformededucation.org · Written 2026-09-30

In a Presbyterian church (the OPC as an example)

  • The presbytery examines a man for licensure and ordination (Form of Government XXI.4).
  • A congregation needing a pastor forms a committee, which presents a candidate; the congregation votes to issue a call (XXII.6).
  • The presbytery approves the call before it is placed in his hands (XXII.10).
  • The presbytery ordains him: “ordination shall be performed by the body which examines the candidate” (XX.5).
  • He becomes a member of the presbytery and is governed by it, not by the local session alone (VI.4).

In a continental Reformed church (the URCNA as an example)

  • A man aspiring to the ministry is supervised by his own consistory while he trains (Article 3).
  • He is examined at a meeting of the classis, in the presence of his consistory, and declared a candidate (Article 4).
  • A calling church’s council elects him after prayer and after hearing the advice of the congregation (Article 6).
  • Delegates of the classis examine his doctrine and life (Article 6).
  • He is ordained publicly before the congregation, signs the Form of Subscription to the Three Forms of Unity, and has hands laid on him by the ministers present and by the elders (Article 6).
  • An ordained minister who moves to another congregation in the federation consults his current council and may accept a call only with their consent (Article 7).

What stands out

In both systems the congregation has a voice and the wider church has a check. In the Presbyterian pattern the presbytery approves the call and does the ordaining. In the Reformed pattern the classis delegates examine, but the ordination takes place in the calling church with its own elders present. Who ‘owns’ the minister differs too: the presbytery in the Presbyterian pattern, the local church in the Reformed pattern.

Related articles

Sources

Written for this site. It describes the two systems as their own governing documents state them and does not settle debates between churches. Always read your own church’s book of order.