Ordination simply refers to the process of consecration, i.e., an individual being given the right to perform religious ceremonies. The process itself involves a variety of methods based on each type of denomination and religion. Those that are in the middle of learning the various rules involved in ordination are known often as ordinands.

Basically, there are three kinds of ordination, namely the priest, bishop, and deacon, but there have been alterations and modifications of these types in the past. In most cases, the levels involved in ordination take place sequentially, and typically the first stage is a deacon, then priesthood, and lastly a bishop. Most clergy belong to a 'transitional deacon' status, and soon they will go on into priesthood. And because of this transition, married men are able to be ordained inside the Roman Catholic Church. Even though deacon-cardinals and priest-cardinals have existed in the past, there were mainly cardinals, popes, and archbishops, which all belonged to the bishop status.

In an Apostolic Succession, ordination is set-forth, and the Roman Catholic Church insists that bishops maintain consecration with a popes blessing in order to be accepted. For he will guarantee that there is unity within the church. Even though there are many Eastern churches that view Anglican ordinations as acceptable and valid, The Roman Catholic Church does not see it in this way whatsoever. So Anglicanism accepts the church and the orthodox connection, and therefore, the clergy in the process of converting to Anglicanism is not going to be re-ordained.

As far as the Anglican churches and the Roman Catholic Church, the ordinations take place on Ember Days, but there is no limitation as far as the exact amount of clergymen that can be ordained at one time. In regard to the Eastern Orthodox Church, there are variations amid the ordinations, as the sub-deacon and readers belong to the lesser class, and the priest and bishop are at the higher end of the class spectrum. And a reader normally makes three reverences in front of an alter, at which point, he or she will turn all the way around and perform a reverence in front of the bishop. After this initial process, the bishop prays aloud over the reader's head; then the bishop makes a cross in the recently shorn hair, then he opens the book of Epistles to a random page whereby the reader reads the entry. After this step, the bishops hand is placed atop the readers crown, making a sign of the cross. It is important to understand that becoming a part of a religious order of sorts is not the same thing as ordination. They should be viewed as distinctive entities altogether.

As far as the majority of protestant churches are concerned, the following acknowledgments insure that an ordination effectively takes place: the recognition that an individual has been summoned by God to a form of ministry, the idea that an individual has performed all of the necessary rigors and proper training in order be given rites, and lastly the individual has to decide to become a part of the office of ministry. It appears that the majority of protestant churches have to be ordained in order to properly carry out the sacraments and become a pastor of a parish.

Certain protestant avenues will allow other offices of ministry in which individuals can be ordained, namely the pastor, deacon, and elder are found in churches of this nature. And for those denominations that carry the office of bishop, this is not viewed as a separate ordination. Yet bishops are of the similar order to additional pastors, but they have been consecrated, and there are still additional Lutheran churches that have an equally valid succession process.

Jehovahs' Witnesses certainly do not have an additional clergy class separate of the others, but an adherent's baptism that meets their standards is known as a lay minister, and so governmental entities have recognized these types as qualifying ministers. The religion empowers itself in a category known as "ecclesiastical privilege," but it is only appointed for the class of elders, and only adult males that have won the approval from the church can perform all of the duties involved in baptisms, funerals, and weddings.