Stoddard was recently featured in The Washington Post for being ordained as a licensed minister at his family ministry, Fullness of Time Church, in Capitol Heights, Maryland. Though Stoddard's parents are the pastors of the growing ministry, he studies the bible at least 13 hours a week on his own accord and says that he was called to preach the Gospel at eight years old. Stoddard is home schooled by his mother, Adrienne Smith, who says, ”He can go to the bible and pull a text and prepare a sermon. That’s in his heart. That’s how he feels about the ministry, about Jesus, about the community.”
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While Stoddard and his mother may feel confident about his being licensed as a minister, others have a different opinion. When the question of whether a child should be ordained as a minister was posed online, several people weighed in. “God can use anyone, says Tee from Pennsylvania. ”Jesus was 12 or younger. I know a young man who was ordained at the age of nine or ten, and now he’s a pastor in North Carolina.”“I believe if God used a burning bush, a whale, a jackass, and a little boy like David he can use whatever and whoever he wants,” says Shane from Indiana.
In many church affiliations, licensed ministers are able to marry, perform funerals, counsel people, and eventually pastor a church. “I don’t think an 11-year-old is ready to be an ordained minister. Are we saying that he is now ready to marry and bury someone?” asks Terrelle from Maryland.
“There is nothing wrong with him being called to preach,” says Elder Ralph Johnson, from Maryland. Johnson has been preaching around the world for more than 20 years, pastored a church in Bosnia, and is the senior Elder at Work In Progress Ministries in Millington, Maryland. God’s word says, let him not be a novice; at 11-years old he is still a novice. God holds you responsible for the people when you Pastor. I believe it is difficult for an eleven year old to lead a church by himself.”
Stoddard understands the concerns of people regarding his age and calmly responds, "A lot of grown-ups will look at me like I'm just a joke and I need to sit down," he said, sounding unperturbed. "But what they need to realize, It's not just me just getting up for fame and everything. It's for me to minister the Gospel. That's what God inspired me to do."
See this article on the Examiner: http://www.examiner.com/article/ezekiel-stoddard-becomes-licensed-minister-at-11-years-old
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