Lauren gets ordained!
Every member of our staff team is awesome. I love each one of them and I am so thankful that we enjoy working together, that we work together well and that we work for the glory of Jesus every day. I could easily spend the next ten minutes telling you about great things every one of them have already done this year. They really are fabulous, and I am so thankful that you encourage them in the work week by week in word and deed and generosity. They give themselves fully to the work of the Lord, knowing that their labour in the Lord is not in vain. But today I just want to draw your attention to the fact that Lauren Dewhurst, our Children’s Minister will be ordained as a Deacon on 22nd February at 10am at St Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney.
Now it would be fair to say that we don’t make a lot of formal Anglican things at our church but that does not mean we are not influenced or governed by Anglican formularies and history. Indeed, the whole way we do church is very “Anglican” - which at its core means, serving Christ by sharing his word is at the centre of what we do. We are part of an Anglican Diocese which is just a collection of Anglican churches in a certain region and our region is Sydney - we are part of the Sydney Diocese. But as Anglicans we look beyond Sydney, for Anglican also indicates our historical link to the Church of England and our global missional partnership with millions of Christians around the world who are all seeking to share the gospel and see the world won for Jesus.
I am sure you are all onboard with that but what is ordination and why do it?
Well, ordination is the Diocesan expression of confidence in a person as a minister of the gospel. This presupposes their life-commitment to the ministry of the word of God and their desire to work in fellowship with the Anglican church. You are ordained to a ministry not to a status and in being ordained, you are being set aside for a lifetime of ministries.
On our staff team we have both ordained and lay ministers. The fundamental difference between the two is that seeking ordination expresses an intention to undertake Anglican ministry for the rest of your working life. It ought not be assumed however that a lay minister on our team does not have that intention - it may be that they just have not yet applied for ordination!
Ordination also involves a diocesan rather than just a parish endorsement, therefore Bishops are always the ordaining ministers - and that makes it an important moment of recognition as it is not only about the Sydney Diocese but also about the wider Anglican communion.
In Sydney we ordain people as Deacons, Presbyters, Archdeacons and Bishops. A deacon is a full-time minister of the gospel in whom the Archbishop has expressed such confidence in their convictions, character and competency, shaped by their knowledge of God, that he has agreed to appoint them to a lifetime of the ministry of the word of God. Generally, a deacon assists the Senior Minister (Presbyter) in a church in a range of ministry roles teaching God’s word in group and public contexts.
So back to Lauren, she is being ordained as a Deacon in our church to teach the word of God. In preparation for this moment, you might want to pray this prayer for her and for all who serve as deacons and ministers in our church.
Almighty God, giver of all good things, of your great goodness you have accepted these your servants into the office of Deacons in your church. Make them, we ask you, O Lord, modest, humble, and faithful in their ministry, ready to observe every spiritual discipline. Give them the testimony of a good conscience, and enable them to continue steadfast and strong in your Son, Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and honour, now and forever. Amen.
