Ordination: Re-Entry & Re-Orientation

From 20-22 May

Ordination and Commissioning - May 2011

At half-past eight on the morning of Friday, May 20 the Opening Worship of the Saint Paul Area Synod's annual Assembly began. Accompanied by a mixture of Nordic, Latin, and African music, the processional cross entered the sanctuary at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Burnsville, MN in a celebration of the multi-cultural diversity promised to and expressed by the worldwide community that composes the Body of Christ.

Nearly 45-minutes later, surrounded by family, friends, colleagues, and the gathered community, I was ordained to the ministry of Word and Sacrament in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Commissioned to serve as the Country Coordinator for their Young Adults in Global Mission program in East Malaysia.

Little more than thirty hours earlier I had been standing on the streets of Shanghai.

This logistical technicality had been a cause for concern among the Bishop's staff members who kept tabs on my flights from PVG to JFK to MSP and, so I've been told, shouted with joy when they received the text message that read 'Arrived Safely.'

From here on out, the story of my two weeks in China and that of my Ordination and Commissioning will be forever linked.

Admittedly, in part, this linkage is reflective of the absurdity of the situation as well as its globe-hopping scope; put together the two events do form a pretty epic tale.

Of greater significance, however, is the change in orientation that the pairing of the two events symbolizes. Kneeling there, with the weight of a new stole upon my shoulders (hand-stitched by Hmong Immigrants in the Twin Cities) and the dust of China still on my shoes, I was cognizant of the change in direction underway.

I had entered the sanctuary surrounded by colleagues, friends, and peers who had supported me and traveled with me through East Africa and in my formation as a leader. I left the sanctuary, received by and bound for Southeast Asia.

My penultimate experience at Yale Divinity School (there is still the matter of that pesky thesis) has further stirred up my intellectual interest in the Church as it is expressed in China and its relationship with Christianity elsewhere in Asia. Having that newly kindled curiosity paired with a fresh call and commissioning to serve in that region is more than a little humbling. Imagining where this newly opened path of reflection and practice might lead is also, admittedly, more than a little thrilling.