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This Past Sunday I was ordained. After four years of seminary and 15 years of serving in full-time ministry this service marked a culmination of part of my journey and the beginning all that is to come. Here are couple of impressions from the experience:

1) Take a good look at the picture of me in the robe and the rest of my “pastor clothes” because you probably won’t see them on me very often. It actually meant a lot to me that day to wear them as a symbol of the life and ministry I am committing to…especially to wear the stole (the scarf-like thing that goes around your neck). My friend Kenyon made it out of the cast off material from Japanese silk. He took what someone else considered to be trash or waste and made it in to a symbol of God’s grace. Pretty appropriate. Anyway, I choose not to wear my “pastor clothes” because, while I am called to do a specific role in the church as pastor, I am no different, holier, smarter, somehow more connected to God than anyone else. I do not want the clothes I wear to cause any barrier or confusion in this matter. Also, those suckers are hot and in this Carolina heat…well, you get the point.

2) The most moving part of the service for me was having the opportunity to serve the bread at communion. As people came forward I was struck how there were people there from all along my journey to this point. My parents and Godparents were there who wre present at and made promises at my baptism as a baby. There were family friends there who have known me since my awkward junior high days, one of my high school friends was there, my old roommate, former youth group kids, my old pastor… it was a remarkable experience that I’m not sure I will ever have the words to describe.

Anyway…the service was great and now I look forward to hitting the ground running as we begin Graceway Church. A new journey begins.

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During my ordination service the Bishop told a story about when he first began as a pastor he put a stack of specific books in the place where he did his sermon preparation to serve as a reminder of who he was and how he wanted to be as preacher and a pastor. I am a very visual person and I thought that sounded like a good idea so as I was setting up my office last week I thought I would put my own little slant on the idea.

I took some things that might appear to be just simple chotchky items and put them on the hutch on my desk where I would see them each day. Each one might be considered junk by some, but to me they all have a story and serve as a reminder of who I am and where I hope o be headed as a person and as a pastor. 1) There is a little poseable artists mannequin with it’s arms raise high to remind me that in the good and the bad all praise and glory goes to God. 2) There is a really bad crayon drawing of a road headed into the unknown that I did at the Arts Conference at Willow Creek Community Church before going to seminary. This picture reminds me to always be headed somewhere, but that I don’t always have to know exactly how things are going to turn out. 3) There is a stuffed pig named “oinker” to remind me to remain humble. Let’s just say it all goes back to a game of “Pass the Pigs” gone horribly wrong and leave it at that. 4) There is an action figure/replica of the flying machine from the movie “Chicken Run” to remind me that even things that should never fly can soar when God is in it. There is no reason that any of this new church stuff should. It is all above my capcity to make happen, but I believe that it WILL FLY! 5) there is a Martin Luther bobblehead to remind me of who I am and where I am grounded theologically, but also not to take myself too seriously and remain open to and in coversation with people who think and believe very different than myself. 6) There is a certificate of my ordination to remind me of my call.

Oh… there is also a thing full of paper clips, but those don’t mean anything. They are just for clipping papers together.

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Sunday I was blessed with the opportunity to preach and preside at communion at The Well in Pineville, NC.  What a great experience.  As a new pastor the experience of leading communion was extremely humbling.  What a privilege to have the opportunity to invite the people who gathered to come to the table and receive the bread and wine, doing as Jesus commanded his disciples to do so long ago.  I’m not sure I will ever be able to adequately describe the experinece of leading this for the first time.