Article 23
a. Ministry associates shall be acknowledged as elders of their calling churches with corresponding privileges and responsibilities. Normally, their work as elders shall be limited to the ministries in which they serve as ministry associates.
b. Ordinarily, the office of ministry associates who serve in emerging congregations will terminate when a group of believers becomes an organized church. However, upon organization and with the approval of the newly formed council and the classis, ministry associates may continue to serve the newly organized church until an ordained minister of the Word is installed or until they have served the newly organized church for a reasonable period of transition. Ministry associates who continue to serve a newly organized congregation beyond this reasonable period of transition must seek the permission of classis with the concurrence of the synodical deputies.
c. Ministry associates may also serve in organized congregations along with a minister of the Word and may serve as chaplains in institutional settings in the community. Ministry associates who have served an organized congregation along with a minister of the Word may, in exceptional circumstances, with the approval of classis and the concurrence of synodical deputies, continue serving that congregation as a solo pastor after the minister of the Word has left.
d. Ministry associates may be called to serve as solo pastors in organized congregations if the classis, with the concurring advice of synodical deputies, ascertains that such congregations are from a ministry context where the standards for pastoral preparation required by Articles 6, 7, or 8 are not presently practical.
e. Ministry associates who desire to serve beyond their specific field of labor must secure the approval of their consistories and classes.
Church Order Supplement
Article 23-a
General Regulations
The office of ministry associate is applicable to a variety of ministries, provided that these ministries fit the guidelines adopted by Synod 2001 [see p. 6 of this handbook] and that the other Church order and synodical regulations for the office of ministry associate are observed. These include ministries such as education, evangelism, pastoral care, music, and ministries to children, youth, adults, and others within or outside of the congregation. Before examining a person for the office of ministry associate or granting permission to install a previously ordained ministry associate in a new position, the classis, with the concurring advice of synodical deputies, will determine whether or not the position to which the person is being called fits the guidelines adopted by Synod 2001. In addition, the candidates for the office of ministry associate must have proven ability to function in the ministry to which they are called.
[Note: for the remainder of C.O. Supplement, Article 23-a, see page 10 and pages 7-9 of this handbook.]
Article 23-c
The mandate, characteristics, and guiding principles that define chaplains ordained as ministers of the Word are applicable to chaplains ordained under Article 23.
Article 23-d
Guideline for calling a ministry associate to an organized congregation
The ministry context is ordinarily one in which cultural differences (e.g., ethnic, social, economic, educational, language) between the congregation and its ministry context on the one hand, and the dominant culture of the denomination as expressed in the seminary, other leadership development entities, and broader denominational life on the other hand (a) present significant obstacles to raising up indigenous leadership in ways that are sustainable by the respective congregations and communities, and (b) have resulted in limited –or non-availability of competent indigenous leaders trained for ministry via one of the prescribed routes for ministry of the Word.
