Monday, December 24, 2007

Question for Mike Huckabee and for Baptists in General

Question for Huckabee: if elected, will you continue to preach a sermon every Sunday? The POTUS should be at Church most every Sunday. I like that idea. But I am still warming up to the idea of the POTUS giving sermons. It seems to erode the appearance of separation of church and state.

Question for Baptists: I understand that Mike Huckabee is an ordained Baptist minister. I have to say that I don't really know what that means. As an ordained minister, has Huckabee made a commitment to preaching a sermon every Sunday? What else is involved in being an ordained Baptist minister which might affect his ability to serve as POTUS?

CNN.com - CNN Political Ticker Huckabee unapologetic for religious tone �

2 comments:

Jason D said...

I'm unsure of what would specifically apply to a Baptist minister.

But usually "ordained minister" simply means they have completed a degree in theology from a seminary (usually the equivilent of a master's degree but not necessarily) and "ordained" simply means that you are associated with a specific church, in Huckabee's case Baptist, as a preacher. According to wikipedia ordination is "the process by which one is consecrated (set apart for the undivided administration of various religious rites). That is, it is the process in which clergy, monks or nuns are set apart and authorized by their religious denomination or non denominational seminary to perform religious rituals and ceremonies or otherwise to minister in a clerical capacity."

It is my understanding a commitment to give a sermon on Sunday comes from leading a specific congregation for Sunday services. But even if Huckabee had his own church he would likely have a lower ranking minister who would be able to assume his responsiblities - if he so choose to take time away from weekly responsibilities.

Bradley Ross said...

I don't get the impression that Huckabee preaches with any regularity. I think the sermons in the article were more campaign stops than anything. As far as I know, Huckabee doesn't currently have a congregation that he is over.

Slate had a good "Explainer" column about being a Baptist minister.