An Ordination Anniversary

 Yesterday Ruth noted that I was coming up on the anniversary of my ordination as a United Church minister, eons ago. She was there on that auspicious day at Queen's University's Grant Hall, an unusual location back then. Nearly always ordination and commissioning service took place in churches, supplanted by dreary arenas as time went on. 

As you can see from the insert in my ordination bible, this took place in 1980 and I'd actually begun the process as a teen before my undergraduate degree, so more than 50 years ago. I spent the 37 years before my retirement in congregational ministry across three provinces and hither and yon in Ontario. 

My first pastoral charge was in outport Newfoundland with five congregations. It was something of a maritime Green Acres experience for a young Ontario couple who'd moved directly from downtown Toronto where I attended seminary and Ruth worked next door to the newly opened Eaton Centre. While I ended up serving larger urban congregations along the way we loved Newfoundland and have returned many times, as we will later in the summer. 

I was blessed to be a pastor in congregations with lots of young families and children until almost the conclusion of my active ministry. Yet from the get-go I could see that the United Church was entering into decline, as has been the case with other mainline/old-line denominations. I was determined not to accept becoming what British Anglican priest and theologian termed a Cheshire Cat congregation, where all that is left is the grin. 

What frustrated me most through the decades was the reluctance of what has been a fairly bold denomination to recognize that some of the core aspects of Christian life were fading away, even as we chose to be "progressive", a term I've never really liked. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful that the UCC led the way when it came to women in leadership, including ordination, and for acceptance of the LGBTQ2S community, even though we became the denomination that others loved to hate. We finally had the scales fall from our eyes in regard to our shameful treatment of Indigenous peoples in Canada and we've been supporters of Palestinian autonomy since the 1960s.

This was the best of the United Church but I always figured that we took these stands and made these decisions because we wanted to be faithful to Jesus, crucified and risen. It's clear in scripture that God loves the poor and the dispossessed, and God help those who claim to be religious but are contemptuous of those pushed to the margins. 

I think it was a job interview with a congregation about 15 years ago that clarified how we were losing our way at times. I asked the search committee if they felt that their's was a Christ-centred congregation. This seemed to stop them in their tracks and the clergy representative said matter-of-factly, no, and that others in the area would probably answer in the same way. For me this was regressive, not progressive, a sad commentary on what was unfolding in the United Church. 

In the past couple of decades hundreds of United Church congregations have disappeared. Of the five Newfoundland congregations only three are left with a couple of those on life support. I think of the many wasted hours in meetings where I urged what were mostly old men that they should loosen the purse strings on hoarded funds for the sake of worthwhile ministry. Most of those geezers are dead and the monies have been used or redistributed. 

Here's the curious thing. Now that I'm a geezer I have no regrets about my vocation as a minister of Christ's gospel nor about choosing to accept different understandings of what that Good News represents. In retirement I'm still a Christian seeking out my places of service and growth, even though I'm an "out to pasture pastor." We are part of a congregation seeking to be faithful and compassionate despite the challenges. Our son is the minister and his faith is strong.

I have no plans for a party tomorrow, not even a cupcake, but this anniversary has given me "cause for pause" and reflection. [I was inadvertently two days early in writing this!]