Levels of Ordination by Bishop Charles Sommer
Here is an outline of the Madonna Ministry’s three levels of ordination.
Level One-Minister
Ordination The Madonna Ministry Certificate of Ordination is not a license per se, it is an acknowledgment of one’s proven ability to administer Love through service to others in ways that they are prepared. It is also a Sacrament of Empowerment to aid in the expansion of one’s ministry under the auspices of Spirit. The interpretation and implementation of Spirit’s plan is left to the individual. We understand that Divine Revelation of Truth is open to all to freely interpret. We are an intuitively guided, legally constituted association of ministers, practicing the Presence. We admit, we need practice to be perfected in Christ and we welcome the Holy Comforter whom we feel is the Divine Mother in all of us. Teaching Only Love by living it, is the aim of all who serve as ministers. (please refer to Pre-Ordination Memorandum and Agreement for more specific information about qualifications and one’s relationship to the Madonna Ministry.
Level Two-Priest/Priestess
The Priestess/Priest ordination is for those who are administering the sacraments. Our sacraments in whatever form they take, the emphasis is placed on recognizing the Principle of Essential Divinity. Ritual is dead unless the celebrants bring to the altar of awareness the energy of Life, Liberty in the pursuit of happiness for all beings. Holy-Come-Union is the seeking, discovery and expression of Essential Divinity in the celebration of Life Itself. “The revealer of truth is the revealer of the divinity that is in all of us. “Work on yourself and serve the whole.” * There is only One Mind, One Power, One Presence to those who know the self as One. The celebrant works on oneself and serves the Whole. In Holy-Come-Union we celebrants in the Priesthood of Melchizedek, in the Discipleship of Jesus the Christ. The Divine Mother is the nurturer of our strength and wholeness and She brings to birth within us, the true seekers, the enlightenment of Buddha, the compassionate heart of Jesus. We have chosen to join in the apostolic succession, in the discipleship of our elder brothers and sisters who teach Divine Love through sacramental living. The word Sacrament connotes sacrifice, “We surrender the old and take on the new” according to St. Paul. We sacrifice separation for Unity. Our selflessness identifies with wholeness. Jesus and the Father are one, in that consciousness we are all priest and priestess of the Most High. Intuitively we are awakened and we are learning to sacrifice the illusion of seeming separation from the Nameless Whole.
Level Three-Bishop
Bishopric is an office of empowerment, a consecration into the arena of selfless service for the good of the Whole, in a limited contexts the Whole means all the kingdoms of the Earth-Mineral-Vegetable-Animal-Humankind. In a broader context we support the “Plan” of Love-Light-Power working out to bring Heaven to Earth, so to speak, through the revelation of truth. Truth is augmented through intuitive guidance and by our willingness to surrender to and use the gifts of the Spirit for the Good of the Whole. Bishops are leaders by the right of consciousness and dedication to the “Plan”. Bishops are ministers that understand the value of group endeavor and have caught the essence of the Madonna Ministry as a growing network of world servers. The Divine Mother beckons us to teach only Love as exemplified by Jesus the Christ, Buddha, Mother Mary, and all the saints and sages of every age. Bishops bring us together through group endeavor and empower others who recognize that they too are under Holy Orders to support the “Plan”. Bishops of the MM administer Level One, Two. For Level Three to be administered by the Bishop, the bishop candidate first must meet the requirement and approval of the Elder Bishop’s Committee and by the Board of Trustees of the Madonna Ministry.
Madonna Ministry International Annual Fees
All MMI Ministerial fees/dues to be due on January 1st of each year. This is so we can plan our budgets for our activities and projects such as our regional and semi, conferences, newsletters, aid to our Madonna Ministers in need, etc. Remember, these fees are charged to support our administrative costs and to support the Madonna Ministry and our activities and projects.
THE ANNUAL FEES/DUES ARE $75 FOR ALL ORDAINED MADONNA MINISTERS, PRIEST/ESSES & BISHOPS, AND AFFILIATES.
The Sacramental Life by Frances Adams Moore published in the Beacon by Lucis Press Limited, N.Y, March of 1978 Recommended reading.
* Madonna Ministry is a trade mark and the name of the non-profit corporation doing business as The Madonna Interfaith Community.
