I sit in awe and wonder at the journey that has led me to this point having been ordained Priest on the 29th of June. Songs of praise and thanksgiving resound in my head and in my heart...
It was a wonderful retreat before hand, conducted by Bishop Rupert Hoare which lead into a strange day, for we being "Priested", as we left the retreat in the morning and waited until we attended various services either in the afternoon, or, as in my case, in the evening. It was worth the wait, a very powerful and moving service led by Bishop Hewlet-Thompson in Christchurch Skipton, an Anglo-catholic worship setting which had the potential to be quite strange for many of the visitors from the evangelical parish where I am serving my curacy.
No need to have worried (I actually didn't worry about it - too focused on the task at hand) as the service was a wonderful testimony to how different "churchman-ships" can come together in worship and praise and break down any perceived barriers. But actually I am convinced that it is coming together in unity in Father, Son and Holy Spirit with a passion for Christ, that is the key!"
The people of Christchurch Skipton were wonderful (I know I have used that word a lot) hosts who made us all feel warmly welcomed and very much cared for. I was particularly touched by the card I received from the congregation (whom I have never met before) signed by a huge number of them, thank you so much. I was also deeply moved by the number of clergy from the Deanery who came to support and the clergy who traveled from further afar to support me, clergy who have had an impact on my life in one way or another along the way.
It has very much been a team effort, and is a team effort for us all in our walk of life with Christ, and in many ways I felt Jo (and the boys) should have been stood with me receiving the Holy Spirit through the Bishops laying on of hands as ours is a ministry as a family, never the less you know the thanks I can't express in words.
I have felt so much support both in prayer and in person,people from the congregations of all three main churches I have been involved in over the past 17 years and also those who support from different angles of life. I have been over awed by the support of people such as "non-church" people who are clients and/or friends, there is something beyond narrative in these relationships.
So why put this post in an emerging church file? An apparently outdated, institutional and much debated act in ordaining to the Priesthood does not seem to fit, well, for all the reasons above, plus the unity and the emerging relationships not least. But also because not one of the four who were "Priested" in the evening service have a "conventional" ministry setting, we all are trying to work out our journeys in ways that are emerging over time and by walking in faith.
And also one of the things that has emerged for me over the last few years is the fact that the secular/non-churched/ world outside, or whatever you want to call God's world, in my experience, both wants and welcomes people clearly walking and leading in faith that encompass all of life without a secular sacred divide. No agenda, no ulterior motives, but God colours and God flavours shining through...
"God is our country, our environment, the air that we breath,
we are in the perspective of God, of Heaven, of Eternity"
