Shannon Larratt is Zentastic

First of all, the potential minister must agree with the mission and doctrine of the church, and must be willing to fulfil the duties of minister (see below). In addition, they should meet all or most of the following requirements. Some people who do not meet the requirements fully may be offered the role of deacon:

• The potential minister should be a body modification or body rites practitioner (ie. piercer, tattoo artist, suspension artist, brander, body building coach, plastic surgeon, sm master, etc.), and should have at least three years of hands-on experience.
• If not a practitioner, the potential minister must have been actively involved in the body modification/manipulation community for an extended time, and must have made active and significant contributions.
• While the potential minister does not need to have heavy mods, or be actively involved with heavy ritual, they are expected to have enough hands-on knowledge and experience to be able to meet the spiritual needs and counselling needs of their congregation.

Applications must be filled out truthfully. Ministers who are caught lying on their application will be immediately stripped of their minister status.

What is a Deacon, and what are the requirements?

Another word for deacon would be “junior minister”. A deacon assists ministers in their area on church tasks, as well as performing full minister duties in areas or times when no minister is available. Effectively they are ministers, and have the same duties as ministers. The requirements are the same as for ministers, but they are slightly reduced (for example, a person who meets the basic requirements, but has not been involved in body modification for long enough might be made a deacon rather than minister).

What are the basic minister duties?

The primary duty of a minister is to facilitate the mission of the church in their area, as well as co-ordinating nationally when needed. That said, the following are also very important:

• Ministers must maintain current contact information and make themselves available to their congregation.
• Ministers should work to facilitate the growth of the church's congregation both locally and nationally.
• Ministers should work to facilitate the spiritual growth of the church's members locally (and nationally when possible).
• Ministers must keep current with church events and policies.
• Ministers should take part in church campaigns (letter writing, protests, etc.), and should work with their congregation on the same.
• Ministers must be willing to speak openly and candidly about their personal spirituality through body modification.
• Ministers should listen to and acknowledge the viewpoints and beliefs of the other ministers and members within the Church, and must keep personal politics out of Church matters and vow to respect and consider the opinion of all fellow ministers.
• Ministers should defend the dignity of the Church and its members at all times in the public eye.
• Ministers should honour the Church's beliefs and defend the right to practice those beliefs.

What if I'm not from Canada?

Potential ministers and deacons from outside of Canada are encouraged to join their local branch. We do accept foreign ministers to act as liasons between branches — in general there must be a CoBM in your area for us to ordain you as such. We are not at present ordaining foreign deacons. You should contact your local branch if this is your interest.