Today one of my closest retreat friends will be ordained. The ceremony will happen right here at Lutheridge. As I have helped her get set up for the service, I've tried to remember if I've ever gone to an ordination service.
I've seen so many pictures of ordinations that I feel like I must have been to one, but as I've reflected, I have realized that I haven't. I've known lots and lots of seminarians who graduated to become pastors, but I never went to their graduations or their ordinations. Hmm.
My friend has been planning this ordination worship service for months, which has been interesting to hear about. She went from thinking about mostly camp songs, but she's shifted to more traditional songs that can be played on the piano. One reason is practical: a lack of a guitarist, which would be necessary for camp songs. But also, she's realized how much the other music has impacted her, perhaps more than camp songs.
She created a special quilt which will be part of the kneeling bench. She's having the service at the Faith Center, not the chapel, because more of her own faith formation has happened there, and she doesn't have a personal connection to the chapel. The banners hung for the Create in Me retreat still hang there, although they'll be taken down after this ordination.
I am looking forward to a well-designed worship service. I am also looking forward to seeing friends who will gather for this celebration, even as I know I will wake up tomorrow wishing that we had had more time to reconnect.
Most of all, I am feeling fortunate that I can be a witness to this ordination. In past years, I wouldn't have had enough vacation time to get up here for an ordination service on a June Saturday. I'm glad that my life is different now.
No comments:
Post a Comment