As I mentioned in my recent post, 30 Days Till Ordination, we had two final requirements for ordination to complete: 1) a retreat with the Bishop for those being commissioned or ordained, and 2) one last session with our regional Learning Covenant Group. We completed both of these requirements within the past week!
Last week, we attended the overnight retreat with Bishop Middleton. The retreat took place at Mount Asbury Retreat Center. We were there with the group to be commissioned two years ago.
It was a nice, meaningful, celebratory 24-hour period. It was good to hang out with others who are on the journey—eleven for ordination, six for commissioning.
We were given some details about ordination-related activities at annual conference, what it means to be part of a covenant (particularly as part of the Order of Elders), and on Thursday evening, each of us told the story of our call to ministry in a 4-minute nutshell. We’ve had lots of practice telling our stories over the years (although it never seems to be told the same way twice)!
Yesterday, we attended our third/final meeting with our regional Learning Covenant Group. Future groups will meet eight times over two years, but since this was a new requirement this past year, we only got to participate in a group for one year. Even though our experience was limited, it was a good experience!
Well, we can finally say that our work for ordination is all done. Now we wait for annual conference to begin in less than two weeks!
Thanks be to God!