Ordination Sunday - a year on

This weekend I was in the big city, and this time I don't mean Kiddy!  All the way to London and back, the national Methodist Conference is there this year and I had a ticket for the ordination services. The main Conference worship at Westminster Central Hall was brilliant. Opening with a young girl guiding us in a chant of the opening of John's gospel (In the beginning was the word) that others led into a cascade around the great hall. The later drama on the chapter was excellent quality but a bit overlong.

Conference worship can be played here - only seems to be working on Chrome

 

The dramatic retelling of Moses aka the 'Father of freedom' talking to God aka 'the Great I Am' was very meaningful to me and made me reflect on what seeing God's back but not his face might mean in practice. Now don't try logic with this next bit, I know it doesn't work, but these were my thoughts in the service. We see God's back as we follow, we see where God has been as he has passed by us, but we don't  see where he is going to be next. We try to predict but instead we should follow, not for us to dash along trying to get alongside or ahead of God. Let him lead the way.

 

That was a service that inspired and refreshed me. The ordinands were gathered and received into 'full connexion' with the Methodist Church. (That is they and the Church signed the dotted line with each other, ordination later in the day being to the worldwide Church) worship was creative and used the space well. The evening ordination service was another matter.

 

This is always a more formal affair with set order and hymns year by year but there was an additional formality at Wesley's Chapel. I am definitely more for the informal approach. The presider was someone who I know can be informal, I once renamed him in an embarrassing, to me, incident at college worship. However he is old school and in a long service rattled through the communion prayer with little action or inflection. It takes time and logistics to serve a full place but we could have waited for the last few and for the remaining bread and wine to be returned to the table before finishing.

 

The ordinations themselves were moving and strange to watch when I have been there myself. And the sermon was better and more memorable than at my ordination last year. Ministry may leave us bewitched, bothered, and bewildered in many ways but the promise is always Jesus saying 'Peace be with you'.

 

We were due to have been in London last year but were diverted to Cornwall. It may not have been at the grand prestigious venues but my ordination was in the heart of a local Methodist community who unused to hosting  such things pushed the boat out in welcome. It was a shared celebration. Given the choice I will always chose people over place, and not just because they gave a better  'do' though they did!!

(Ps written on the train with my new toy tablet and sync'd to the computer to post #emerginginto geekdom)