""These essays, spanning four decades of Ferguson's scholarship, sum up major discussions of ministry and canon in early Christianity. Especially useful for exploring the terminology surrounding ordination, these essays are vintage Ferguson."" --Elizabeth A. Clark, Duke University, Durham, NC For Volume 2: ""This volume is another great contribution by Everett Ferguson toward a better understanding of the practices of the early church. Because of his vast and thorough knowledge of the original documents, as well as scholarly studies that contribute to one's understanding of their context, Ferguson's essays in this volume are an indispensable contribution to this field of study. Ferguson's style of weaving his commentary with original and supporting sources is masterful. I look forward to using this and the first volume in several graduate courses I teach in historical and present-day ecclesiology."" --Earl D. Lavender, Lipscomb University, Nashville, TN Everett Ferguson is Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Abilene Christian University. He was editor of The Encyclopedia of Early Christianity (2nd edition 1997) and is author of many works including Early Christians Speak (2 volumes 1999, 2002); Backgrounds of Early Christianity (3rd ed., 2003); Inheriting Wisdom: Readings for Today from Ancient Christian Writers (2004); Church History, vol. 1: From Christ to Pre-Reformation (2005); and Baptism in the Early Church: History, Theology, and Liturgy in the First Five Centuries (2009). Ferguson received the ""Distinguished Service Award"" from the North American Patristics Society (2008) and the ""Vestigia Award for Excellence in Early Christian Studies and Service to the Church"" from the Wheaton Center for Early Christian Studies (2020).