Ordination Reflections

It was a real pleasure for me to spend a couple of days with my friend Chris and his wife, particularly to participate in his ordination on Sunday afternoon. Chris had a bang-up weekend, receiving his Ph.D. on Friday and being ordained a minister in the United Church of Christ on Sunday. It was a time to celebrate.

And I was thrilled to be able to celebrate with my friend. He deserved this weekend, with all of the hard work and headaches that have been a part of the journey. And there have been many headaches, especially with the church. Without going into details, I should simply say that Chris should have been ordained long before I was, but was not, due to an astonishing array of obstacles.

For all of its lovingness, the church (as it is manifested in various places and at various times) can be unbelievably unfriendly and unsupportive. For having the wisdom of the ages in its tradition, the church is often stunningly short-sighted and maybe even willfully ignorant. For many years, this was a part of the church experience of my friend, as it has been the experience of countless others.

In the face of this, many gifted individuals have walked away from the church. They have decided, understandably, that life is too short for such nonsense. If the church does not value their opinions, knowledge, service, etc., so be it -- there are many other places where such gifts are gratefully accepted. And so they leave the church, seeing only the politics or stubbornness or foolishness, and forgetting the grace made manifest in Christ.

My friend did not leave the church -- though he did leave one denomination for another. Instead, he persistently worked, believing that God had a purpose for him to serve within the church, and kept seeking out opportunities to serve in churches. He caused some people headaches along the way -- people who thought his ideas were too far out there, people who thought his approaches were wrong because "we've never done it anywhere close to that way before."

I was proud to celebrate that on this day, such persistence was rewarded with the human recognition of something prepared by God long ago. My friend became an ordained minister. I was pleased to witness this day. And I am pleased that others will know, by the "Rev. Dr." that precedes my friends name, that the church recognizes and affirms his many gifts, as he endeavors to preach the gospel and challenge the darkness, to serve those in need and encourage others to join him, to model faith in Jesus Christ.

But I also know that others, long frustrated and ostracized and criticized -- if not emotionally hurt -- by the church and by Christians in the name of the church, will not endure such slings and arrows indefinitely. And I wonder if that's why our pews are emptier than they should be on Sunday mornings. People who've tried to serve but have been told, maybe just by one sharp-tongued critic, that they should not cause such turmoil with their new ideas. People who've tried to love people different from them only to be shown a consistently cold shoulder.

And what of the other people these people meet? Do those who've been disappointed in and by the church keep their mouths shut, or do they share their frustrations, testifying to the needless (even hypocritical) agony the church has caused them? And do those people just shrug it off, or do they heed the fair warning that "the church" (for these criticisms of single congregations become criticisms of us all) is not as welcoming or as loving or as hopeful as it professes itself to be.

I do not know. Perhaps these are cloudy thoughts for another time. But I worry about it, having seen it firsthand with people (and not just my friend Chris). And I celebrate all the more when someone has faced these trials and persevered, not just for their own good, but for the good of us all.