“ ORDINATION, the act of conferring holy orders, or of initiating a person into the ministry of religion, or setting him apart for performing ecclesiastical rites and duties. All the Christian denominations which have a special ministry use some kind of ordination, but their opinions greatly differ respecting the authority by which it is conferred, its essence, and its effect. The Roman Catholic, the eastern (Greek, Armenian, Nestorian, and Jacobite) , and the Protestant Episcopal churches agree in maintaining that ordination is a prerogative of the bishops. ”

“ The society of Friends reject all ceremonies of ordination. In the Anglican church and other Protestant Episcopal churches, a candidate must be 23 years of age before he can be ordained deacon, and 24 before he can be ordained priest. ”