A Very Moving Experience

On Sunday afternoon I had the great pleasure of participating in the ordination of David Scarlott at Hurstbourne Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. It is an awesome thing when the congregation ordains someone for Christian Ministry and says to the rest of the church that this person is qualified to be a pastor.

There is always some minor problem in proceedings like this. The church ordered a robe and stole as a gift for the new pastor. They were to be part of the  ordination service. The robe arrived in time but the stole did not. As I have a whole set of stoles I offered the loan one of mine for the ceremony.

The stole was one I purchased in 1999 when I stayed at the Episcopal Cathedral in Jerusalem. It is silk and made by the Cathedral Alter Guild as a fund raiser. My host the Archbishop of Jerusalem was pleased that I purchased the stole and laid it up on the alter and blessed it for me. To see it used in an ordination was a moving experience.