There is a book about pastoral ministry called “this odd and
wondrous calling.” That title phrase
captures so much of what my pastoral experience has been, so far. There have been odd moments. There have been wondrous moments. And there have been many moments that are
both odd and wondrous: someone sharing how the Holy Spirit spoke to them through a
sermon I didn’t think was that good, kneeling to pray on the floor of a
Nepalese family’s apartment to pray after an exhausting and scary day, and giving
the charge to a friend at her ordination.
When my friend asked me to give the charge, I said yes
immediately. The charge is one of the
last parts of the ordination service, when another pastor encourages the newly
ordained pastor in keeping the weighty ordination vows they have just
taken. It is often one of the most personal
parts of the service. I was excited and
honored to have this part in her celebration.
And then I started to think about what I would say. I started to get cold feet, wondering how I
could possibly say something worthy of the occasion. It seemed like a job better suited to someone
with thirty years of ministry experience, not someone who is at the beginning of their ministry journey.
But I said I would do it, so I prayed for words and settled
into writing it. I wrote lines, deleted
them, and wrote more. As I wrote and
edited, I found one of those odd and wondrous moments. The charge is a formal encouragement in
ministry, in remaining faithful to the vows you have taken. But as I was writing I realized that we give
each other informal charges all the time.
We encourage each other as we share experiences and ask “what would you
do?” or “what do you think I should do?”
We encourage each other as we pray for the difficult and messy
situations we face. We encourage each
other to stay faithful to our vows and grow in love for God and his people as
we simply spend time together.
As I wrote and then gave the charge, I discovered that it actually
made sense for me to give this charge and not someone who has been doing this
forever. We’re going to live this out
together--encouraging, challenging, learning, and discovering. I’m looking forward to discovering more odd and
wondrous moments in the midst of our calling together.
Personal photo, February 2013
