Ordination vs Certification in Chaplaincy

Author: Matty Waterman, Vice President of Enrollment

Along the path to religious and spiritual leadership, there are various terms that are similar, yet specific to certain pathways – two of these terms are Ordination and Certification.

To be clear, both are options. Neither are necessarily required but both can help support you into the ministry you’re called to do.

Ordination is the formal process and ritual by which a community authorizes a person to serve in a form of ministry for that community. Ordination comes from the Latin ordinare, meaning “to appoint” and originates from a time when ministers were appointed from the people. Ordination is one of the most important traditions as it represents a congregation or faith community’s support for a new minister.

Leading up to Ordination, there is a credentialing process that is required to vet a person for ministry – and often includes a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE), a Master of Divinity, letters of reference, among other things. This is to ensure that the community that is ordaining the person is confident in the abilities of the person to act as a minister for their faith tradition. During these public ceremonies, the community approves and affirms the Ordinand (the person being ordained) into ministry. While the celebration of Ordination may look different in differing traditions, at the end of this, the person is ordained as a minister, and the Ordinand is further titled as a Minister or Reverend.

In some cases, Ordination isn’t required, but Ecclesiastical or Faith Group Endorsement is required. This still follows a process through which your faith community affirms their endorsement of your religious or spiritual leadership.

Certification is a different form of credentialing, but a step that is quite important to many paths. Generally, for credentialing folx go through BCCI (Board of Chaplaincy Certification, Inc). While Endorsement or Recognition isn’t a requirement (like Ordination or denominational endorsement), they do have more requirements such as ordination plus a minimum of 2,000 hours of work or volunteer experience as a chaplain following completion of required CPE units (four for Board Certified Chaplaincy or two for Associate Certified Chaplaincy) and professional competence.

Many folx seek both, as they tend to be the best way to get into a career path of Chaplaincy. However, depending on the geographic area that you might live in, they may not be needed.

Whether you are seeking Ordination, Certification, or Endorsement – we can help. If you’re interested in learning more, please schedule a time to connect.