Ordination is the solemn designation of a person to ecclesiastical office with the laying on of hands . . . In its outward form it consisted of three things — fasting, prayer, and imposition of hands. The imposition of hands was used when spiritual gifts were conferred (Acts 8:17; 19:6).

Thomas Witherow, I Will Build My Church: Selected Writings on Church Polity, Baptism, and the Sabbath, edited by Jonathan Gibson, 114.