At Saturday’s Ordering of Ministry worship service, members of Annual Conference and many special guests, friends, and family assembled to celebrate and honor 52 people who said to the Lord, “Here I am, send me.”
Bishop Leonard E. Fairley celebrated the call to ministry being answered, “Here we are gathered brothers and sisters, to give witness that in the community of faith, there are men and women, young and old, who have heard the answer to a deeper calling!”
He then asked all gathered: “If you had to say what is the most defining moment of an Annual Conference, what would you say? Is it passing the budget? Is it nominations? Is it resolutions and debate or reading of appointments? Let me suggest that this service is our defining moment – sending men and women into the world to take authority, to administer the sacraments, to order the life of the church and bridge the gap between the church and the world.”
Throughout his sermon, Bishop Fairley spoke of the relevance of theotókos (God-bearers) like Samuel and Mary who said, “Here I am.” He reminded those gathered of Isaiah’s Ministry of God when the Lord asks, ”Whom shall I send?” Isaiah responded, “Here am I; send me.”
Fairley reminded the candidates, “God will never cease speaking into your heart and in your soul and in your spirit. Please do not allow the distractions to make you miss the voice of God saying, ‘Do you love me more than these? Feed my sheep. Tend my lambs.’…Because the sheep belong to Jesus, you do not get to choose who is in and who is out. Remember, as my grandma used to say: ‘You have no Heaven or hell to put anyone in.’ Jesus has chosen you. Feed his sheep.”
As part of the service, candidates who were to be licensed, commissioned, certified, and ordained were introduced by leaders in their respective areas. Anggie Thompson, lay minister, and John Hall, Conference Lay Leader, presented the lay ministers. Brenda Brown, Deaconess, presented the candidate for deaconess (a vocational ministry for laity).
Rev. Laura Fine Ledford, Chair of the Board of Ordained Ministry, presented to Bishop Fairley those whose call to ministry was recognized and who had been approved by the Board to be licensed as local pastors, commissioned as part of the process of becoming ordained, and those who had completed that process and were to be ordained as deacons or elders.
“You have heard the call of God upon your life for this work, the voice of God saying to you, ‘Look! I have made you for extraordinary purposes,’” noted Fairley. “Today, we celebrate with joy that each of you have simply replied, ‘Here we are Lord. Send us.’ You have simply answered, ‘Speak Lord for your servant is listening. Here we are, servants of the Lord. Let it be according to your Word.’”
During the ceremony, Bishop Paul L. Leeland extended greetings on behalf of the denomination’s Council of Bishops. He referenced the spiritual gifts of Isaiah, and wished the Ordering of Ministry candidates wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength to do the right thing, spiritual knowledge, and fear of the Lord.
In keeping with the week’s emphasis on celebrating the diversity within our conference, Rev. Edith Salazar-Veliz, Rev. Tyler Muller-Yoder, and Rev. Seyun Hwang read Philippians 1:1-6 in Spanish, English, and Korean, respectively.
Bishop Fairley closed with this challenge, “Please don’t chase an appointment. Please don’t chase a pension. Please don’t chase a salary. Chase the more excellent way. Be God-bearers. Be theotókos.”
Commissioned as Deaconess
Josey Bridges Snyder
Certified Lay Ministers
Raymond Burkart
Sherry Coombs
Judith Curtis
Ann Davis
Jeanne Murray
Pattie Porter
Michelle Taylor Skipper
Ken Smith
Susan Usher
Licensed for Pastoral Ministry
Elias Ballew
William Radford Frazier
Coy Edwin Garrett, Jr.
Donna Hammond
Earl Hardy, Jr.
Amanda Hedden
David Helbig
Marisol Hernandez
Krysha Jamis
Kudakwashe Kagura
Eunsoo Kang
Michael Larbi
Kate Locklear
Pete Mace
Joshua Nichols
Tammy Taylor
Rebecca Turner
Jennifer Wise
Commissioned
Stephen Travis Bazan
Jacob Marshall Dye
Mark Edward Gustafson
Rachel Elise Kwashe
Stephan Thomas Margeson
Kathryn Michelle Medinas-Lockley
Rachel Marie Meyers
Brandon Jesse Miller
Willie Elmer Murray, Jr.
Catherine Earle Neal
Tobi Anne Nguyen
Donald Clayton Parker
Damion Taj Quaye
Elijah Mick Raynor
Cassidy Anna Salter
Britney Ann Toner
Ordained as Deacon
Hannah Nicole Bryn
Adam Kenneth Ledbetter-Bock
Ordained as Elder
Ernesto Enrique Barriguete
Constance Spence Belmore
Hope Elizabeth Ledbetter-Bock
Jason Bradley Leighton
Garrett Michael Rea
Jamie Lee Thompson