The Reflectionary

Reflections on attending an ordination service.

This morning, I left for church at 9:40. I returned at 7pm, over nine hours later. The reason? An ordination service at Peterborough Cathedral. I was there supporting two friends who were being ordained deacon, and it was a joy to celebrate with them and to wish them ‘Godspeed’ on this next part of their life-journeys.

The most striking part of the service, for me, was when the bishop says to the ordinands, “In the name of our Lord, we bid you remember the greatness of the trust in which you are now to share: the ministry of Christ himself, who for our sake took the form of a servant. Remember always with thanksgiving that the people among whom you will minister are made in God’s image and likeness. In serving them you are serving Christ himself, before whom you will be called to account.”

Flippin’ Nora! I mean, this is serious stuff. If you are not shocked, go back and read that paragraph again. This is not something to be undertaken lightly. Anyone with an ounce of sense would run a million miles in the opposite direction (In fact, didn’t Jonah …)

Fortunately, the bishop continues, “You cannot bear the weight of this calling in your own strength, but only by the grace and power of God. Pray therefore that your heart may daily be enlarged, and your understanding of the Scriptures enlightened. Pray earnestly for the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Well, I guess that will help. A bit. Still seems like a massively huge responsibility.

My favourite part was the huge round of applause (with liturgical whoops) which erupted as we greeted the newly-hatched revs. Yes, becoming part of the Church of England is something to cheer about, despite the gloom-news that is the permanent litany of the news. (On that topic, they could have shortened the litany. Or made it said, not sung. Or made it audible. Or had a decent tune. Or had a singer with better diction. Any of those would have been an improvement on a laundry list set to a dirge and sung into a sponge.)

But back to the good stuff. I’m glad there was celebration today. In years to come, when the excitement and newness had worn off, and they are having to deal with Mrs Snodgrass on the flower rota and keep the organist 10m apart from the youth leader, they may look askance at heaven and wonder why God sent them here, even if God sent them here. Surely ministry was supposed to be more than a million DBS forms and getting a diocesan faculty for moving the lectern 3 feet to the right? So the high of today may provide a fixed point to hang onto, like a climber’s piton, an anchor, a time to look back on and say, “Yes. That was real, that was true. I know God called me.” Isaiah had one of those moments one of the readings, commonly used at ordinations, Isaiah 6.1-8

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

Interestingly, in my church’s morning service, completely unconnected with the ordination, they gave out copies of the Methodist covenant prayer. If you are not familiar with this, it is a gob-smackingly powerful prayer of commitment. A friend of mine remembers gathering to pray this prayer at a ‘Covenant Service’ held each New Year’s Eve.

The Methodist Covenant Prayer
I am no longer my own but yours.
Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will;
put me to doing, put me to suffering;
let me be employed for you, or laid aside for you;
exalted for you, or brought low for you;
let me be full, let me be empty;
let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things
to your pleasure and disposal.
And now, glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
you are mine and I am yours.
So be it.
And the covenant now made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.

All three of these, the covenant prayer, the call of Isaiah, the ordination, all of these are big asks. No one should enter into them lightly or selfishly, but reverently and responsibly in the sight of almighty God. Hmmn, where have I heard that before?*

(* The Church of England Marriage Service)

Marriage is a big change. Even if, as is fashionable these days, the bride and groom have been living together for years. They wake up the next morning as different people. On the face of it, nothing has changed, other than a couple of rings and a piece of paper. But in the invisible reality, everything has changed.

So too the former-ordinands-now-revs. I guess they’ve been preaching for years, leading services for years, running youth groups for years. On the outside, it’s all the same. But inside, something has changed. Perhaps not what they do, but what they are.

Not that clergy are a different kind of human from the pew-fodder. A dog-collar doesn’t grant you a closer seat to God in heaven. But there is perhaps a different perspective. Like when I was made house captain in junior school. I was still a pupil, still went to lessons, but I was part of the teacher team as well. The teachers trusted me to do things (mostly collecting the house points and adding them up). Like a sheep that helps the shepherd to round up the other sheep. It hasn’t stopped being a sheep, but it has a responsibility to the other sheep and to the shepherd. Bringing God to the people and the people to God.

And if this all sounds too worthy, here’s a video of a sheep that thinks it’s a sheepdog.