At the first General Assembly of the London Particular Baptists, held in 1689, the following question was proposed by a church and answered by the assembly.
It is important for churches to recognize the gifts of the exalted Lord Jesus Christ (i.e., deacons and ministers–Eph 4:8-12). Having recognized such gifts, it is equally important for the church not to then throw them by the wayside or abuse them. Ingrown and self-blinded churches have turned away and thrown away good men for foolish reasons, and in so doing they have discouraged and dissuaded some men from the ministry, whether they are the candidates themselves or those who ponder pursuing the ministry.
If one can say, as a very general observation, that Presbyterian ordinations can be overly mechanical, ordaining men who pass examinations but do not possess God-given and homegrown preaching and pastoring gifts, then it can also be said as a general observation, that Baptist ordinations can be self-serving, lazy, and overly demanding.
The church as a whole needs actively to seek, recognize, pursue, promote, and prepare men for the offices of deacon and elder, knowing all the while that our King, Jesus Christ, will gift the same to his beloved spouse, the church. To do otherwise is “omission of an ordinance of God.” It is sin.
Petty France 