Saturday, June 21, 1997

Ordination was more than overwhelming; it was splendiferous

(EDITOR'S NOTE: The ordination of The Rev. Lauren R. Stanley took place Saturday, June 14.)

By Lauren R. Stanley / Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service

VIENNA, Va. - The 12th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia stood in the front of the congregation of family, friends and supporters, and asked them two questions:

"Is it your will that Lauren, Carla and Timothy be ordained deacons?"

"Will you uphold them in their ministry?"

The answers came back like rolling thunder:

"IT IS!!"

"WE WILL!!"

Standing in front of the congregation, facing Bishop Peter James Lee, unable to see the throngs, I felt a thrilling shiver. What a response! The people seemed to take a deep breath and shout their support for the three of us being ordained as deacons of the Episcopal Church.

To quote an ordination card sent to me by a friend, "Hot damn and hallelujah!"

For four-plus years, my two friends, Tim Cherry and Carla Thompson, and I had walked a journey from people aspiring to Holy Orders to seminarians to, on this glorious June morning, deacons of the Church. To hear that resounding support for our ministries was ... well, overwhelming is too mild a word.

It was, I realized later, simply splendiferous!

When I finally had a chance to look out over the congregation - to see the Church of the Holy Comforter packed with people who were present because of their love and support for us - I nearly wept with joy. Friends from all walks of my life - from Peace Corps, from my neighborhood, from seminary, from Knight-Ridder, from the church that sponsored me, the church where I was an intern this past year and the church where I will be serving first as a deacon and then a priest (God-willing!) - joined with our family members to witness this day.

Passive witnesses they were not. The Episcopal Church requires the participation of the people in ordinations, because ordinations do not take place in a vacuum. Those being ordained as deacons are called to "serve all people, particularly the poor, the weak, the sick and the lonely," all in the name of Jesus Christ. And once a deacon, always a deacon, even when a deacon is ordained a priest, and even when some of those priests are ordained bishops. The most important ministry always is one of faithful service, which requires the support of the people of the Church.

On this splendiferous June morning, the people shouted out that support.

Later in the service, Carla, Tim and I stood in front of the bishop again, answering questions directed only to us:

"Do you believe that you are truly called by God and his Church to the life and work of a deacon?"

"Do you now in the presence of the Church commit yourself to this trust and responsibility?"

"Will you be guided by the pastoral direction and leadership of your bishop?"

"Will you be faithful in prayer, and in the reading and study of the Holy Scriptures?"

"Will you look for Christ in all others, being ready to help and serve those in need?"

"Will you do your best to pattern your life and that of your family in accordance with the teachings of Christ, so that you may be a wholesome example to all people?"

"Will you in all things seek not your glory but the glory of the Lord Christ?"

We responded in unison:

"I believe I am so called. ... I do. ... I will."

And then we knelt for the consecration, for that moment to which we have been looking for so many years. Bishop Lee stood before us and prayed:

"O God, most merciful Father, we praise you for sending your Son Jesus Christ, who took on himself the form of a servant, and humbled himself, ... that you have highly exalted him, ... and that, through him, we know that whoever would be great must be servant of all. ... We praise you for the many ministries in your Church, and for calling this your servant to the order of deacons."

Then Bishop Lee set aside his prayer book to lay his hands upon my head:

"Therefore, Father, through Jesus Christ your Son, give your Holy Spirit to Lauren; fill her with grace and power, and make her a deacon in your Church."

I felt that thrilling shiver course through me again, combined now with a sense of peace and a welling-up of joy.

There was no sense of accomplishment on my part, only that peace and joy. "Ah, God," I prayed, "so THIS is what you meant when you came calling so many years ago. THIS is what you meant when you said to Jeremiah, 'Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.' Wow!"

When a friend came forward to place a red stole - the symbol of my diaconate - over my left shoulder, we cried and hugged. And at the exchange of the peace, there were more hugs when two little girls - friends of mine - ran forward to the altar to jump up and celebrate with me.

A friend asked what ordination felt like. I had my answer ready: "Splendiferous! Simply splendiferous!" The moment - the whole service - was blessed by the grace of God, gorgeous and thrilling, and wonderfully peace-filled.

My sister-in-law and dear friend, who never before had seen an ordination, summed up the moment well: "I could really feel the power present this morning!" Others agreed, calling it "incredible."

Indeed, there was much of God present on that splendiferous June morning, when three of us were ordained as deacons of the Episcopal Church.

Thank God.

(The Rev. Lauren R. Stanley, a former assistant news editor for the Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service, is a deacon at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Burke, Va. Readers may write to Stanley care of Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service, 790 National Press Building, Washington, D.C., 20045.)

(c) 1997, Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Information Services.