Extraordinary Ordination through CWACM
Word-Order-Sacrament-Service
Since 2002, The Church Within a Church Movement (CWACM) Coordinating Team has been praying for and planning the process of Extraordinary Ordination of qualified people denied ordination in the United Methodist denomination because of sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, or inclusive progressive theology.
Building upon the March 2006 Coordinating Team decision in Nashville to establish a CWACM ordination to word, order, sacrament, and service; the CWACM Coordinating Team in Denver, October 2006, established process and responsible parties to evaluate candidates.
The first Extraordinary Ordination candidates, Rev. Annie Britton and Rev. Jenna Zirbel, were ordained to Christian Ministry in Baltimore, Maryland, October 19, 2008.
Since 1972, injustice has prevailed in the name of biblical interpretation and tradition as gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people and their allies have been excluded and punished for their honesty and integrity whenever they have refused to participate in the "don't ask, don't tell" practices of the United Methodist Church. To right that wrong, CWACM offers an "Ecumenical Ordination in a Methodist Tradition Minus the Closet!"
The Extraordinary Ordination Work Area is the ordained ministry board making recommendations while the Coordinating Team constitutes executive session for final approval.
As an association of churches, CWACM Ordinations will be by ecumenical participants invited by the national CWACM Coordinating Team, who embrace the core values of the Movement.
Candidates will be ordained for Christian ministry and consecrated for specific areas of practice. The newly ordained ministers will stand credentialed for working in new church starts, associate pastorates in existing settings, hospital chaplaincy, university chaplaincy, industrial chaplaincy, administrator or executive roles and other positions. The ministers will not be part of the United Methodist itinerant system.
Ordination packets are available.
Contact us:
Extraordinary Ordination Work Area Coordinator
Colleen Riley
Phone: 785 760 1185
Email: colleenriley48<at>hotmail.com
Extraordinary Ordination Work Area Registrar
Ed Hoar
Email: hoar<at>columbus.rr.com
Church Within A Church Movement, Inc.
cathy knight
Executive director
PO Box 578524, Chicago, IL 60657
Phone: 773 248 3225
Email: JustChurch<at>cwac.us
CWACM holds first “Ecumenical Extraordinary Ordination in a Methodist Tradition Minus the Closet!”
The first Church Within A Church Movement’s "Extraordinary Ordination in a Methodist Tradition Minus the Closet” took place in Baltimore, Maryland, October 19, 2008 at Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church.
A service of Christian ordination themed, “Living Tomorrow Today” was experienced by several hundred people who celebrated this historic and sacred event.
The service began with these Words of Centering:
Calling Us To Worship
In April 2002, 40 Methodist people gathered in Atlanta responding to a call for new thinking and approaches in church. Church Within A Church Movement took root. We shared needs for moving into the future with actions modeling ways to be the inclusive Methodist church today. That spring inspired many dreams to bloom.
Spirit of the living God, fall fresh on us.
In 1787, around 100 Methodist ministers and other friends gathered at Christmastime in Baltimore. Many had been ordained to ministry by Anglican priest John Wesley because his Bishop of London would not ordain them for work in America. They assembled to pave the way to meet the needs of faithful people in the American colonies and wilderness. Methodist bishops were elected for the first time.
Spirit of the living God, fall fresh on us.
Today, we are gathered after many years of work to do a new thing in a historic place. We are creating another extraordinary way for the future church to BE inclusive church. There is expressed need in the world for Methodist ministers and churches who are not hindered by closet-bound legislation. As followers of Jesus Christ, our mission is to transform lives for the better. We are called to prepare ourselves and prepare the way for One and all to live abundantly in God’s dream.
Melt us, mold us, fill us, use us.
So we now gather with approved candidates for “ecumenical ordination in a Methodist tradition minus the closet.” We gather claiming open hearts, minds and doors to welcome into ordained Christian ministry ones who were blocked. We open our hearts and souls and minds and strength to love God and receive the power of the Holy Spirit in these moments and the many years to come.
Spirit of the living God, fall fresh on us.
Shalom. Salaam. Ping-an. Paz. Peace. AMEN.
For information on "Extraordinary Ordination in a Methodist Tradition Minus the Closet" send an email to JustChurch<at>cwac.us or see the 2008 Extraordinary Ordination or the 2011 Extraordinary Ordination articles to see photos and additional resources.
Ordination is an affirmation and an authorization. It is an affirmation that recognizes that, just as God calls the faithful to other ministries, God calls some persons to the ministry of the ordained. Ordination is an affirmation of that call and authorizes those persons to ministries of Word, Order, Sacrament and Service. Such an affirmation and authorization is given, not to create hierarchy or special privilege, but as a sacred trust to enable community.