Participating In An Ordination

random
This past weekend an ordination occurred at my church. I’ve never been to one, nor has my church hosted one in its history. It really was an incredible event. Perhaps the fact that the person being ordained is a friend of mine gives me this opinion. The gathering of a congregation, an array of pastors and bishops in a ceremony to confirm a person’s call to ministry seems like a great event. Apart from my emotions for my friend, however, I couldn’t quite explain my feelings about the experience, so I went to the ELCA’s website and looked up ordination. I found two papers, one by Thomas H. Schattauer and another by Maria Erling, which brought up the role of a congregation in an ordination.
Thomas H. Schattauer states:
"As we consider the principal relationships symbolically enacted at ordination—the person ordained, the church in its assembly, and God—we note again the thoroughly communal nature of what is taking place. The presence and participation of a local assembly is essential to the rite of ordination. Apart from a gathering of the people of God, there can be no ordination."

Maria Erling writes:
"Many would argue over whether the Lutheran reforming movement intended a complete restructuring of the church or whether it aimed instead to retain structures as long as they served to convey people to a rightly ordered faith, but all would agree that the principle interest of the reformers was to examine and foster the ways in which people came to faith, and that this lead them to concentrate their attention on the work of the ministry in congregations. Their singular focus on the workings of faith in hearers has meant that Lutherans almost exclusively place the ordained ministry in a congregational context."

I actually participated in the ceremony by helping serve communion. However, reading these articles explains a further participation of the congregation I was a part of. I think this gave me the feeling of it being an incredible event. Everyone there played a role.

Randy at the church after his ordination

Randy at the party afterwards

runnings
I ran the Reindeer Run Saturday. I think there was a negative windchill. The breakfast several of us gathered for afterwards could be the only reason I got up and braved the cold.