Ordinance (Christianity) (Paperback)

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Ordinance is a Protestant Christian term for baptism, communion and other religious rituals. Some Protestants, like the Mennonites, do not call them "sacraments" because they believe these rituals are outward expressions of faith, rather than impartations of God's grace. While a sacrament is seen as something in and of itself sacred, an ordinance is a practice that merely demonstrates the participants' faith. The ordinances are observed in remembrance of Jesus, primarily his baptism and the last supper (communion or eucharist). A sacrament is a sacred rite recognized as of particular importance and significance. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines the sacraments as "efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us.