Ordained Pastors and Commissioned Pastors Compared

Some have asked about the differences in duties, responsibilities, and rights between ordained pastors and commissioned pastors. The following summary is derived from the Seventh-day Adventist Church Manual, 18^th edition (2010). For perspective we have included a comparison to the ordained local elder for the related areas of responsibility.

Ordained pastors (limited to males)

• May conduct all rites and ceremonies
• May conduct communion
• May conduct baptism
• May administer marriage vows/declarations
• May preside at business meetings involving member discipline
• May ordain elders, deacons, and deaconesses
• May organize or unite churches
• May serve as conference presidents

Commissioned pastors (may include females)

• May conduct communion
• May administer marriage vows/declarations, if they are local elders
• [May serve as conference presidents (only in the North American and Trans-European Divisions by recent actions)]

Local elders (males and females)

• May conduct communion
• May conduct baptism, with permission of conference president
• May preside at business meetings involving member discipline, with permission of conference president