Ordination in general religious usage is the process by which a person is consecrated (set apart for the administration of various religious rites). The ordination of women is a regular practice among some major religious groups, as it was of several religions of antiquity. It remains a controversial issue in religions or denominations in which the rite of ordination, or the role that an ordained person fulfills, has traditionally been restricted to men, either because of cultural prohibition, theological doctrine, or both.

In Ancient Egyptian religion, God's Wife of Amun was the highest ranking priestess; this title was held by a daughter of the High Priest of Amun, during the reign of Hatshepsut, while the capital of Egypt was in Thebes during the second millennium BC (circa 2160 BC).

Later, Divine Adoratrice of Amun was a title created for the chief priestess of Amun. During the first millennium BC, when the holder of this office exercised her largest measure of influence, her position was an important appointment facilitating the transfer of power from one pharaoh to the next, when his daughter was adopted to fill it by the incumbent office holder. The Divine Adoratrice ruled over the extensive temple duties and domains, controlling a significant part of the ancient Egyptian economy.

Dwight K. Nelson is a Seventh-day Adventist evangelist and author.

He has been the senior pastor of Pioneer Memorial Church on the campus of Andrews University since 1983. Before coming to Andrews he served as a pastor in Oregon for ten years. He was the preacher for the Adventist satellite evangelistic series The NeXt Millennium Seminar in 1998. In 2004 he, along with former BBC News presenter Gillian Joseph presented a discussion-style series called Evidence: Through My Experience held at Newbold College, Berkshire. Later that same year he hosted another discussion series at Newbold College called Mind The Gap. He currently hosts the television program The Evidence Nelson serves as adjunct professor of homiletics at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary.

Born in Tokyo, Japan, of missionary parents, Nelson converses in Japanese. He attended Far Eastern Academy in Singapore and graduated from Southern Adventist University, Collegedale, Tennessee, where he received a bachelor's degree in 1973. He attended Andrews University where he received a Master of Divinity (MDiv) degree in 1976 and a doctor of ministry degree in 1986 from the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary. His books include Outrageous Grace, Countdown to the Showdown and Built to Last. In 1994, the Pioneer Memorial Church hosted ABC Television's National Christmas Eve service. He is the speaker for a weekly radio and television program, New Perceptions. He is married to Karen Oswald Nelson, a registered nurse. They have a son Kirk, and a daughter Kristin. In 2010, Kirk graduated from Andrews with a BA in Communication.

Stephen Geoffrey Cottrell BASCP (born 31 August 1958) is the Church of England Bishop of Chelmsford since 7 October 2010.

Born in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex on 31 August 1958, he was educated at Belfairs High School and the Polytechnic of Central London.

After a period of study at St Stephen's House, Oxford he was ordained in 1985. His career began with a curacy at Christ Church, Forest Hill, after which he was Priest in charge of St Wilfrid's, Chichester then Diocesan Missioner for the Diocese of Wakefield and finally (before his elevation to the Episcopate) Canon Pastor of Peterborough Cathedral.

He was nominated Bishop of Reading on 6 January 2004, after Jeffrey John controversially withdrew his nomination to the post in 2003. Cottrell had been a supporter of John's original appointment. He said of his nomination:

I believe my work in mission and evangelism has prepared me well for the challenges facing the church in this new century.

He was consecrated on 4 May 2004, following confirmation of the appointment by Letters Patent.

Rowan Douglas Williams FBA, FRSL, FLSW (born 14 June 1950) is an Anglican bishop, poet and theologian. He is the 104th and current Archbishop of Canterbury, Metropolitan of the Province of Canterbury and Primate of All England, offices he has held since early 2003.

Williams was previously Bishop of Monmouth and Archbishop of Wales (making him the first Archbishop of Canterbury in modern times not to be appointed from within the Church of England) and had spent much of his earlier career as an academic at the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford successively. His primacy has been marked by much speculation that the Anglican Communion (in which the Archbishop of Canterbury is the leading figure) is on the verge of fragmentation and by Williams's attempts to keep all sides talking to one another. On 16 March 2012, it was announced that he has accepted the position of Master of Magdalene College at Cambridge University, beginning in January 2013. He is expected to stand down as Archbishop of Canterbury in December 2012.