[Mad Dawg]

It's interesting. In the Episcopal Church if you wanna get ordained at least it used to be that you had to have a local Church (of which you were a member) sponsor you - both the priest-in-charge and a committee of lay-folks.

I don't know exactly the ins and outs in the RC Church. There's probably one one-sentence rule and then 50 pages of exceptions.

[Forest Keeper]

It's interesting. In the Episcopal Church if you wanna get ordained at least it used to be that you had to have a local Church (of which you were a member) sponsor you - both the priest-in-charge and a committee of lay-folks.

In our SBC church, the local church itself ordains those deemed worthy, and approved by the laity, to both the deaconate and "to preach the Gospel". The latter usually happens when someone is preparing to go off to seminary. I don't know if SBC seminaries require it or not, probably not, but it's nice to go off with the support of one's church.