Ministerial Paths and Titles

There are two major ministerial paths in the A.M.E. Church, Itinerant and Local.  The Itinerant ministry is a traveling ministry.  The Local ministry maintains its ties to a local church. The start of both the Itinerant and Local path calls for the person seeking ministerial orders to be licensed to preach.  When licensed, they are considered Licentiates.  The next two steps in the ministry are ordained Deacon and ordain Elder.  These steps are common to both the Local and Itinerant paths.

The following are some of the Ministerial Titles of the A.M.E. Church and a short definition of each one:

Bishop - The Bishop is the chief administrative and executive head of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.  The authority of the Bishop is given by the General Conference and may be taken away by the same body or its appropriate i9nterim agency. The bishop is responsible for overseeing the spiritual temporal affairs of the church, including presiding over annual conferences , making pastoral appointments, ordaining deacons and elders, organizing missions and promoting the interest of the denomination. To be eligible for election to Episcopal Office (to be a Bishop) the minister must be an Itinerant Elder in good standing.

Exhorter - A person who encourages through personal testimony, explaining and interpreting the scriptures, employs his/her talents as a teacher, leading groups and conducting prayer services. An exhorter is examined and licensed by the Quarterly Conference.

Itineracy - The traveling ministry.  The system utilized by the A.M.E. Church by which traveling ministers are appointed to their charges by the Bishop, each appointment for a one year term.  The Bishop seeks in a Godly way to provide as best as possible, a qualified minister for each congregation under his guidance. There are two levels of ordination in the Itinerant Ministry the Deacon and the Elder.

Itinerant - A traveling Deacon or Elder

Itinerant Deacon - The first level of itinerant ordination in the A.M.E. Church.  The ministerial candidate is brought into the Annual Conference on trial as a Licentiate.  If after serving two years on trial, and achieving the level of education as dictated by the Discipline and having attended and passed those duties brought before them by the Ministerial Institute, the candidate is reviewed and if approved is ordained a Deacon.  As a Deacon, the ministerial candidate can do everything but consecrate the elements of Communion.  They can marry, bury, serve communion once it is consecrated, and if needed, Pastor a church. Their main function is to assist the pastor of a local church in any way deemed needed.

Itinerant Elder - The highest level of ordination for the Itinerant minister in the A.M.E. Church.  A ministerial candidate can be ordained an elder, after they have achieve the ordination of  Deacon and have served an additional two years on trial under the observation of the Ministerial Institute.  They are eligible for the ordination as an Elder when they have achieved the educational standard set by the discipline, successfully completed their ministerial institute training and upon reviewed been judged worthy of  the ordination by the Board of Examiners of the Ministerial Institute.

Licentiate - A preacher who has been granted a license to preach by the Quarterly Conference of his local church, under the guidance of their Presiding Elder.

Local Deacon - A minister who serves at the pleasure of the local church, and under the guidance of the local church's pastor (under most circumstances) who has achieved their first level of ordination.

Local Elder - A minister who serves at the pleasure of the local church, and under the guidance of the local church's pastor (under most circumstances) who has achieved their second and final level of ordination.

Pastor - The official head of every local congregation.  He is appointed to his position by the Presiding Bishop of the Annual Conference in which the church is located and is held responsible for th total program of the church to which he has been appointed.

Presiding Elder - The Presiding Elder is responsible for ensuring that each local church under his supervision understands and complies with the policies and programs of the A.M.E. Church. He presides over the Quarterly Conference sessions at which time he gets all the information necessary to inform him that the local congregation is operating in harmony.  The Presiding Elder is appointed by the Bishop.