Church life · Church word
Ordination
In plain words
The service in which someone is set apart to be a pastor, with prayer and laying on of hands.
The fuller definition
The rite in which the church sets someone apart for the public ministry of Word and Sacrament, with prayer and the laying on of hands, after a call. Lutherans do not usually count it as a sacrament. Women have been ordained in the ELCA and its predecessor churches since 1970.
In Church life: Pastors, congregations, and how the ELCA is organised.