Ordination is one purpose of the laying on of hands, a symbolic act that sets individuals apart and signifies the imparting of spiritual blessings, authority, and power. The clearest example is Acts 6, where seven men became deacons when the apostles prayed and laid hands on them (verse 6). The ceremony shows that God works through His ministers. It belongs to a wider biblical pattern in which hands are laid on people to confer blessing, as Jacob did with Ephraim and Manasseh, or to impart the Holy Spirit after baptism, and to accompany prayer for the afflicted. Hebrews 6:2 lists the laying on of hands among the basic doctrines of God's church.

Ordination is God setting a person apart for a holy use through the laying on of hands, and it always comes with a special commission and the giving of special authority. In the Old Testament, Moses laid his hands on Joshua to transfer some of his authority to lead the nation (Numbers 27:16-23; Deuteronomy 34:9), and the Aaronic priests were purified for service through the laying on of hands on a bull. In the New Testament the church follows this precedent. Through a formal ceremony it commissions selected people into new service, as with the seven chosen in Acts 6 and Barnabas and Saul in Acts 13. Ordained elders perform the laying on of hands during prayer. Paul counsels that it should never be done hastily, only after the entire matter has been properly and prayerfully considered (I Timothy 5:22). Ordination also bestows spiritual gifts. Timothy received gifts such as wisdom and teaching from the hands of the elders, and Paul reminded him to stir up God's Spirit so that he would use them. The church uses the rite to ordain ministers, among its other purposes.