Ordination


Along with four other ordinands who were trained at Wesley House, I was ordained as a Presbyter '..of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church of Christ' at 4:30 on Sunday the 6th of July 2008 at Toll Gavel United Church in Beverley. Past President of Conference Ian White presided and past President of Conference Inderjit Bhogal preached. For those who know Inderjit Bhogal, it was hardly surprising that he preached on justice, inclusivity and interfaith dialogue: a message that my non-church going husband appreciated very much.

One of the scariest bits of the ordination service for the ordinands comes early in the service when the congregation is told to declare 'they are worthy'. This is something that is hard to hear because, of course, no individual is 'worthy' of any kind of ministry in and of themselves, but only through the grace of Christ. This sounds overly-pious as I write it, but one thing that came home to me on the retreat is my own inadequacy for this office and how much I genuinely need to rely on the grace and power of God in order to serve God and my neighbour.

The laying on of hands happened after the sermon and the recitation of the Nicene Creed and before the prayers of intercession and communion. We were asked to declare our lifelong commitment to ordained ministry, to affirm scripture as revealing all things necessary for salvation through Jesus Christ, to affirm that we believe in the doctrines of the Christian Church, that we accept the discipline of 'this church' and that we will be faithful in worship, prayer and in receiving Holy Communion.

I was officially ordained by past President of Conference Ian White - who represents the entire Connexion in this service. I had hands laid on me by a Bolivian bishop and my assisting minister and friend, Mark. Hands were laid on the five of us whilst we knelt and it was done carefully and thoughtfully - not a rushed job! I had my eyes closed, but it was a moment that I will never forget for the rest of my life. Perhaps the most special bit was the fact that, after having hands laid upon me, Ian White put his hand on my shoulder and said 'Bless you' as a father might have done to a beloved daughter; it felt very personal and warm.

Following the laying on of hands, close friends and family of each ordinand came up to the communion rail and took communion with 'their' ordinand; this was also very special.

As you might expect at a Methodist service, there was lots of rousing hymn-singing. The traditional ordination hymns as laid out in The Methodist Worship Book were sung as well as a number of more contemporary hymns and songs during the distribution of communion. My two Roman Catholic friends who attended the ordination had not heard of the Methodist reputation for hymn-singing and were somewhat surprised - albeit pleasantly, I think.

Just like the service of Reception into Full Connexion, this was a very special service. The whole day felt joyful and perfect and, personally, I enjoyed having the two very different sorts of services.

(I have posted photographs of both the Reception into Full Connexion and the Ordination on the 'web but I don't want to give a link here. Please email me and I will send you the URL for the photos.)

Durham Retreat 2

Today we had a morning of silence from about 10:00 am until lunch time at 12:30. I went out for a walk on my own and took some nice photos of the countryside. It was supposed to rain today but it didn't and the weather was - to my mind - perfect for walking.

Then I accidentally went to Mass at 12:00 in St. Cuthbert's Chapel (second picture above). I thought I'd go pray there for a bit and I arrived just as the priest was walking in. It seemed like the best course of action to join in! I didn't take communion as the centre obviously knows that they have a bunch of Methodist ministers this week and I didn't want to put the priest in an awkward position. There were only three other people there besides the priest: two sisters from the resident community and a deacon. A sister and the deacon greeted me warmly afterwards and we talked a bit.

Otherwise, the day held some surprises/challenges, particularly in the evening when I was put out of my comfort zone three times. I went up for anointing at our communion service. Something I'm uncomfortable with because I don't like going up to bare my feelings to people I don't know well and then get prayed at for two minutes; somehow it seems contrived to me. I felt that God told me 'Just say you've come up because you're out of your comfort zone and just receive what I have to give you.' So I did. (Please note that this paragraph is a personal reflection about my feelings and not a theological reflection on how anyone 'should' or 'must' think or feel.)

Durham Retreat 1

Thought I'd post two photos and a few thoughts. (I know I don't usually post personal stuff, but hey, it's my blog! *grin*)

Along with a number of other ordinands, I'm here at Ushaw College for a retreat before our ordination in Scarborough on Sunday. Above are some photos of Durham Cathedral from the outside (no photography allowed inside) and of Ushaw College where we are staying.

A recurring theme for me during this retreat seems to be Psalm 139. My prayer group has been praying through this psalm for about the last month. I and another woman have sometimes found it challenging because, for those of us who grew up in authoritarian church structures, this psalm is often used as a threat, rather like George Orwell's 1984 television screen that spies into people's homes to make sure that they are thinking and behaving properly.

I have, however, been finding both consolation and challenge in this Psalm and it was used again today by one of our retreat leaders. I prayed through the psalm again on my own this evening using the 'Common Worship' translation. I was hit by the first part of verse 2: 'You mark out my journeys and my resting places'.

Methodist Ordination

On the 6th of July five Probationer Ministers (including yours truly) will be 'received into full connexion' (see the article below for what this means) at the Methodist Conference in Scarborough. Then, at 4:30, five of us who trained at Wesley House will be ordained at Toll Gavel United Church in Beverley. I am particularly pleased that we will be ordained at a church which has a united Methodist and URC congregation as my 'sending church' is a united Methodist/URC congregation.

The article below is one that I wrote for the church newsletter to try to explain a bit about the process of ordination. If I got anything wrong, I'm open to correction by more knowledgeable readers of this blog.

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If you are reading this July edition of the newsletter during the first two weeks of July, chances are that I will be away; first on retreat in Durham, and then at the Methodist Conference in Scarborough.

Along with four other Probationer Ministers who studied with me at Wesley House, Cambridge, I will be ordained at Toll Gavel United Church in Beverley at 4:30 pm on Sunday the 6th of July. A dozen or so people from Kidderminster will be there at Beverley for the ordination.

A number of people have asked me why I have to go all the way to Beverley to be ordained. The answer is that every year The Methodist Church holds an annual Conference somewhere in the country and all the ordinations happen during that Conference. This year, Conference just happens to be in Scarborough. There will be about 50 new ministers being ordained and we can’t all fit into one place with our guests, so we are divided up into different church locations according to the college or course we attended during training: for us, the nearest available church was in Beverley!

So what is so special about Conference? If we were a company, it would be like our Annual General Meeting, except that Conference has more authority than that. Conference decides not only what our procedures will be but also what our doctrines and disciplines are. We are a ‘connexional’ church (‘connectional’ in today’s language): neither a dictatorship nor strictly a democracy, but a community of Christians who seek to govern their affairs nationally as a connected community of congregations. This is why local congregations are part of a circuit and circuits are part of a District and the Districts send representatives to Conference.

If you understand the Methodist Church in this way, you can begin to see why ministers are ordained at Conference. Ministers may be called by God, but we are called to serve others: to serve the Church community as well as the community at large. The Church helps ministers to recognise our call in the first stages and it trains us. By being ordained at Conference, it is the entire Methodist Church of Great Britain that ordains us and not just our local church or circuit.

On Sunday the 6th of July, two things will happen to those of us about to be ordained. First, we will be ‘received into full connexion’ when Conference holds its morning worship service at Scarborough Spa. This means that Conference recognises us as brother and sister ministers and it is only from this point forward that the Church is obliged to ordain us! Then, we will all travel to the locations where we will be ordained later that afternoon.

The ordination for those of us who trained at Wesley House will take place at Toll Gavel United Church in Beverley. The Revd Ian White will preside at communion and the preacher will be the Revd Inderjit Bhogal; they are both former Presidents of Conference. Each of us Ordinands will have hands laid upon him or her by the Revd White and by a representative of Methodism abroad; in our case, this is Bishop Carlos Poma from the Methodist Church in Bolivia. In addition, a minister who we have each invited to assist us will lay hands on us; I have invited my friend, the Revd Mark Wakelin, to be my ‘assisting minister’.

The journey to ordination is one that each individual takes with the support of the Church and of many Christian brothers and sisters. I am grateful to all of you for your support and your kindness and the tolerance that you have shown me when I have put a foot wrong or come up with some wacky idea! May I take this opportunity to thank everyone for your love and prayers; please be assured of my prayers in return.