Ordinance (Christianity)

Ordinance is a Protestant Christian term for baptism, communion and other religious rituals. Some Protestants, like the Mennonites[1], 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).

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