Ordination. Ordination in the early church seems to have been regarded as a formal induction into the ministerial office and as having more significance than a mere bestowment of the authority of the church. The clergy were at first elected by the people; and Clement of Rome speaks of them as having been appointed by other distinguished men, with the approbation of the whole church. But the fact that the special ordination of the presbyters or the bishop was considered necessary seems to imply that