At the ordination services last weekend, Bishop Rachel reminded those gathered that “the Church is the Body of Christ, the people of God and the dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit.”
That vision was not simply spoken of – it was made visible, as new deacons and priests were ordained and sent out to serve. In their calling, we glimpse something of the Church as God intends it to be: a people raised up and sent in the power of the Spirit. For the ministry of deacons and priests is rooted in, and exists to serve, the calling given to all God’s people in baptism. They are ordained not to act alone, but to enable the whole Church to live out its vocation – discerning, nurturing, and drawing forth the gifts of all, so that together with their congregations they may share in Christ’s mission to the world. Please continue to hold them in your prayers as they begin this next stage of their ministry, and pray also for those among whom they will live and work.
In a quieter but no less significant way, we saw that same life of the Church reflected just a few days earlier when we gathered in the Cathedral to admit new members to the Company of St Kyneburga. Named after the eighth-century abbess associated with the earliest Christian community on the Cathedral site, the Company honours those whose faithful service has long sustained the Church and blessed their local communities.
Those admitted are people who have given generously of themselves, often over many years, often without recognition, simply out of love for God and neighbour. They are the ones who care for church buildings, enable worship week by week, offer quiet pastoral support, and hold together the fabric of community life. In them we see lived out that same collaborative ministry to which deacons and priests are called: a shared vocation rooted in baptism, where the gifts of all are recognised, encouraged, and offered together in the service of Christ. Through their faithfulness, the Church is built up not by individual effort, but as a body in which each part plays its part.
Together, these celebrations remind us that God’s call takes many forms, yet all are drawn into the same shared life. For some, it is it is a call to ordination; for many others, it is lived out day by day in faithful, often unseen service. All belong equally to the life of Christ’s Church.
As we give thanks for all that we have shared in these past days, perhaps the question is not simply what has God done, but what is God now asking of me? For the same Spirit who calls and equips still speaks – quietly, persistently, faithfully – inviting each of us to offer who we are, where we are, for the sake of the world God loves.
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