At around 4:00 p.m. today, we wrapped up annual conference with the ordination service. The ordination service is always one of the highlights of annual conference. In fact, one of my favorite parts of the service is at the end when the Bishop invites people from the congregation who sense that God may be calling them to (servant-leadership) ministry. I love watching people respond to the leading and prompting of God’s Spirit.
The ordination service was a particular highlight for us today as Joleen and I were both commissioned as Provisional Elders in The United Methodist Church (I recently wrote about the process we’re in for the next two years.)
Twelve people were commissioned and five were ordained as Elders. If everything stays on track, we expect to be ordained in 2011. There could be a large ordination group next year (2010) as we have an overlap of Provisional Members in the former 3-year process with those in the current 2-year process. There may also be a few candidates from the Pennsylvania churches of the Wyoming Conference (which are uniting with the churches of the Central Pennsylvania Conference in 2010).
Well, as I suggested last night, Ethan was ready to come home today. He woke up early this morning — about 5:30 a.m. On top of that, he missed his afternoon nap, playing in child care during the ordination service. But he did sleep for nearly two of the three hours on the road home.
In the near future, after I’ve had a chance to process my experience at Annual Conference, I will try to blog some of my reflections. The final results (of members of all conferences) will be announced by the Council of Bishops at their fall meeting later this year.
Now, I need to get some rest before tomorrow’s worship service!