Becoming an Ordained Minister in Indiana

Becoming ordained in Indiana is accomplished either through the traditional path of working with local churches and its church leadership or through the non-traditional method of obtaining credentials online. Ordained ministers in Indiana can begin non-profit organizations, officiate at weddings, perform funerals, pray with people or volunteer for organizations that want the help of an ordained minister. If you have college credits in divinity or theology, you may want to use the traditional method. If you do not have any college background in religious studies, you might consider the non-traditional method.

Traditional

Consult with your local church's pastor or other leader and inform them you want become ordained. Church leadership may have you fill out an application or interview you more to determine if you are good candidate for ordination. The interview will also give the leadership an idea of what stage of the process you would need to begin at to complete the faith's ordination requirements.

Obtain a bachelor degree in divinity or theology. The faith may require you to attend seminary training to be schooled in hands on ministerial functions. This process will take as long as it needs to take to finish the schooling and or seminary training. With hands on learning, you learn about the ins and outs promoting and managing a church and or how to begin your own ministry if you seek ordination for other reasons outside of working with a church. For example, if you wanted to become an independent minister that simply wanted to distribute informational and spiritual pamphlets in public places, you would learn that individuals or organizations need to first seek approval from the Office of Tourism in Indiana. Only certain types of pamphlets and brochures can be distributed and even then only under certain circumstances according to the Indiana brochure distribution policy. Seminary training would be responsible for making you aware of state specific laws, unless your chosen faith did not require seminary training. In that case, the leadership of the place of worship you attend would need to train you in those things.

Finalize your ordination paperwork and attend any final interview processes the church wants you to take part in. You will be awarded ordination at a ceremony where you are presented to your church congregation and committed to ministerial service.

Non-Traditional

Log onto the Internet and review different ordination services or churches that provide ordination online. Some organizations may charge you for ordination and processing. The organizations in the resource section of this article provide ordination for free but may charge you to ship official credential paperwork to you.

Fill out any application paperwork and pay any applicable fees required.

Check your email for official confirmation of your ordination in Indiana. If you do not have email, this information will be sent via regular mail to you.

It is a good idea to order official ordination paperwork with original signatures at the same time you request ordination. This will allow you provide official documents outside of an email to any who may ask to see the documents sooner than if you waited. Make sure you check with your local county courthouse to see if you must register your ordination paperwork prior to officiating at a marriage ceremony. Keep in mind, if your county requires ordained ministers to register the ordination paperwork prior to officiating at a marriage, do not present only your email confirmation to the clerk. It may not be acceptable. Some religious denominations do not consider online ordinations valid and may not let you act as a minister when working with the denomination.