The Montifiore Manse

Post-Ordination Reflection

Dear friends & family,

Many different ministers have reported different experiences at their ordination. Some felt a strong sense of the Holy Spirit's presence. Some felt a great sense of strengthening and equipping. Others have felt a great sense of their high calling following the Lord Jesus who went before. Some felt the acknowledgment, encouragement, and support of their brethren and fellow office bearers. Some have felt nothing in particular. These experiences, feelings, and impressions are wonderful and each of them valid in its own way; the Holy Spirit does not mandate any particular working of feeling or experience for ordination (and for much of the Christian life, other then misery, deliverance, and gratitude). My experience was different from any of these, but it is indeed mine and I am thankful for it.

I did not want to pray for any specific feeling or experience that might come along with my ordination, but I certainly did make my ordination and all that it signifies a matter of prayer. Ordination is the public confirmation of the Church that a man has indeed been called by Christ to His ministry. It is not the Church that determines if a man is called, but the Church does recognize the work and voice of her Lord in the calling of a man. I wanted to keep this objective focus as much as possible because I found that it put the emphasis squarely on my relationship to my Lord, where it must be. My work in the ministry is ultimately about being faithful to my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and only from there, in a derivative fashion, to the souls of the SPC Launceston and the souls of the people of Tasmania.

How I felt should not have been surprising to me, but it was. Rather then experiencing some of the things I mentioned above, I was struck by my own sinfulness and my inability to perform the very task I was being ordained to and confirmed in. It was if the Lord was saying in the ordination and installation that I was the man He had chosen to labor in this place, and at the same time reinforcing to me that I am not able to do this work. At first I found this disconcerting, but upon reflection it was truly a blessing from the Lord.

The blessed perspective that if I am to serve the Lord here in Tasmania it must be all of Him is the best and only way for me to proceed in the ministry. This is true for several reasons:

1. All flesh is as grass (Isa 40:6) and without Him we can do nothing (John 15:5).

2. This must be my constant perspective if I am to be kept from pride.

3. The fact that I cannot do it but the Lord can is truly my only sound source of strength. All of the work of the ministry, and every aspect of a believer's life, must be in Him (Gal 2:20).

4. My own ability and the sufficiency of the Lord is what gave me strength during my internship in Chilliwack and the months I spent in the Reformed Church of Yelville.

5. It is the right attitude for me to have in my marriage to my Lord and it will be my right attitude in my marriage to Martha in due time, DV.

6. The Lord has done me a tremendous favor in showing me my sinfulness so that I may mortify them now at the beginning of my ministry and marriage and not have to discover them later in the ministry and in my relationship with Martha. I must fearfully say that there is no way I will not ever sin and fail in my ministry or my marriage, but by the grace of God I will not sin and fail as much.

Reasons could be multiplied, but I trust the point is clear. I may not have had the "traditional" ordination experience, but it is mine and I know it has been given to me from my Lord.

I once again request you keep Martha and I in your prayers, especially that the Lord would make us both more and more in the image of His Son so we can serve the people of Tasmania, and one another, in a way that pleases Him.

Love through Christ,
terry

The most beautiful view in Tasmania. Returning in August, DV.