Why you are ordained ...

I came across this (htt Richard Sudworth) and offer it to all those I know who are ordained, particularly those newly ordained. The words are actually by Ray Gaston:

'We are not ordaining you to ministry; that happened at your baptism. We are not ordaining you to serve the Church in committees, activities, organisation; that is already implied in your membership. We are not ordaining you to become involved in social issues, in ecology, race, politics, and the search for justice and peace; for that is laid on every Christian.

We are ordaining you to something smaller and less spectacular; to read and interpret those sacred stories of our community, so that they speak a word to people today; to remember and practice those rituals of meaning that address people at the level where change takes place; to foster in community, through word and sacrament, that encounter with truth which will set people free to minister as the Body of Christ.

God grant you grace not to betray but uphold it, not to deny but to affirm it, through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Distinctly Welcoming: Pioneer Ordination: more tea, vicar?