Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Ordination

So, what is the point of ordination ... anyway? A little over a year ago I was asked to officiate a wedding for a young couple who have served us at Camp Squeah. I felt privileged and wanted to support them in this way. It was a wonderful experience and I truly felt the good weight of solemnity and importance of the covenant and commitment that marriage is through that experience. I loved it!! And I got to rejoice with this young couple.

Since then I've been asked to do a number of other weddings including my mother-in-law's (she has been twice widowed) and my brother-in-law (my wife's only brother). It has been an incredibly rich experience in every case. My wife and I are encouraging another young couple in their journey to become married, now engaged, as I will also officiate their wedding this coming May. I'm allowed to do so by requesting a temporary license to marry through the Camp denomination through which I am considered clergy through my title/position. It's a neat perk (to some) and I've taken advantage of it. Through this experience I started wondering about the process of ordination and asking what exactly it is. I've received a variety of responses in my search. Some think it's rather useless ... like testing someone in geography when they've already traveled the world, and others think it's imperative - the only true sign of a committed worker in God's Kingdom.

I'm still wrestling (in a good way) as I walkt the path to become ordained. The really cool thing (in my opinion) is I'll get to essentially be clergy for two denominations at the same time (Mennonites of British Columba and the Nazarene's). The positive implications are I get to take a few classes in theology and biblical studies that I've never had the chance to (never been to a bible college) and I'm pumped to dive into this and write a few papers ... which is weird because I don't usually like writing papers. Plus I get the benefit of having a whole denomination keeping me accountable for my actions as a minister of Jesus. Though in truth I already am and have been for a good chunk of my life.

So what is Ordination? It's considered a sacrament to the Catholics. I have likened it to the wedding ceremony and the baptism ceremony as well ... though the analogies don't always quite transfer. But if the wedding is the agreement of the community and the church that what the couple have ALREADY chosen to do and be to each other is right and good ... and baptism is the symbolic assertion and confession of faith that is ALREADY alive and active in a believer, then it seems reasonable to view ordination as the careful & thoughtful recognition of a believer by the community of the church as an ALREADY committed worker/minister in God's Kingdom. The implication in all these statements is that what they are agreeing to that is good has already happened - marriage, salvation and ordination. So, in honesty and humility I am committing myself to the journey of ordination through the Nazarene's, not because I don't think I'm ordained (I believe I am), not to become a pastor or worker in a church institution (I am committed to and love being a program director at a camp), but to grow deeper in my faith and understanding of my part in the Kingdom and to learn more of this mystery called faith in the Life of Christ and to seek to tie myself closer with other Christians both for accountability but for loving support and encouragement for the rest of my life. This is an encouraging thought.

So ... what do you think of ordination?

A return to blogging

Hello blog lovers and readers,

My apologies for the extended hiatus from blogging. My life is full and this is a good thing ... for the most part. I will begin blogging again and I would love to continue to hear your thoughts as I explore and discover the mystery of the great thing called life. And this great person called Jesus.

Over the last few months a lot has happened. My oldest son (Griffin) turned 3 years old. He's now truly testing the limits of our sanity and our love and he seeks to know that we care for him even when he chooses (continually) to NOT eat his food at the dinner table :). He has also, miraculously, begun using the toilet! How this happens I'm not certain but essentially from one day to the next he goes from refusing to the fiber of his being to choosing to empty the fiber from his being into a proper waste disposal system. Hallelujah.

Maerk turned 1 in November and is loving life. He's getting more teeth ... again. He has lots of words, but none of them are in English. Well, very few of them, anyway. He certainly enjoys making sounds. Sometimes he'll talk whole sentences without opening his lips. It's like trying to read muted tonal inflections. VERY difficult. He's a cutie.

Kari is doing well - ever the beautiful and wonderful woman I've loved and grow to love. She continues to sew her baby sleeping bags for people (if you're interested, let me know!). She has helped in facilitating a number of great book studies for friends and other women in town and has had a great time doing that. Among the books they've studied are Dr. Laura's 'The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands' (very good book) and a book study on Esther called 'Esther'. Not sure who writes that one. We're also still having people over regularly for open house brunch potlucks once a month and whatnot.

Personally, I've jumped into a few different things over the last little while. Along with being a member of our local fire department I have been helping to organize the British Columbia Camping Conference this coming week, becoming a member of the BCCA executive taking the position as Accreditation Chair for all summer camps in BC (with some help), moving forward in becoming an ordained minister through the Church of the Nazarene and otherwise working my buns off for Camp Squeah with everything we do through this time of the year.

Christmas was great. We spent it at home and enjoyed a relaxing time together as a family.

Posts are a comin'!