Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Thank you to all of you who helped, who served, who showed up on this past Easter Weekend. Between Good Friday, the Easter Family Festival (which over 700 people attended), or Easter Sunday (and the 89th Baptism service), it was a joy to celebrate Christ’s death and resurrection with you.
This Saturday, April 11, CBCGL will be holding an ordination service for Minister Katherine Lu (our Children’s Minister who has been serving at CBCGL since September of 2019). That begins at 2 pm in the Main Sanctuary, with refreshments to follow. But I have come to see that there are a number of misunderstandings related to ordination or Minister Katherine’s ordination, which I hope to clear up.
First, at CBCGL, ordination to pastoral ministry signifies CBCGL’s recognition and confirmation of the gift of pastor-teacher, as well as the calling to Gospel ministry for the pastoral ordination candidate. Ordination is something found in the OT – done for priests who were appointed to the role of priest. So the ordination this weekend will be confirmation of the gift of pastor-teacher and the calling to Gospel ministry as a pastor.
Second, CBCGL recognizes that women are eligible for ordination to specific ministry areas within the church, such as pastor for youth ministry or pastor for children’s ministry, but not as pastor for adult congregations.
Third, for the ordination this weekend, it will not change the roles, responsibilities, or general benefits that Minister Katherine has. She already can preach to kids and adults (in congregations permitted by the congregational pastor and the Senior Pastor). She already leads sacraments – like communion and could baptize others. She already could officiate a wedding. She already has authority as a minister of the church. She already receives the benefits of pastoral staff as stated in our Personnel Policy. Her ordination changes her title and (I assume) financial renumeration.
Fourth, what ordination is not. Ordination is not a promotion. Ordination is not a merit-based achievement. Ordination is not a recognition of years of service. It is a confirmation of the gift and calling to the role of Pastor, which is one of the three offices recognized by CBCGL (Elder, Pastor, Deacon).
If you have questions or comments, I’m glad to talk with you further!
And save the date for April 18! In the Community Hall, we will have the Next Gen Fellowship, Hobby Bunch, and in the evening, at 5 pm, take time to have a CPC fellowship meal, while also packing care packages for College Students who will be taking Finals in the first week of May.
Please continue to pray for the nations of Iran and Israel/Gaza and Ukraine/Russia and Sudan. Here is a suggested list of prayers if you are at a loss for words in how to pray: https://send.org/story/hh_pray_for_ukraine. And https://worldrelief.org/blog-prayer-for-israel-and-gaza/ And here are other prayers for peace in general: https://worldrelief.org/prayers-for-peace-in-the-world/ Thank you for kneeling on behalf of the people of Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Gaza and Lebanon, and Sudan, and Iran and taking a stand (or a knee in prayer) against the forces of darkness in this present age.
Further announcements can be found in the weekly spotlight. And other church wide announcements can be found in our weekly bulletin.
For Prayer:
1. From Bishop J.C. Ryle – “To be prayerless is to be Christless, Godless, and in the high road to destruction…It will always be found that when prayers are few, grace, strength, peace, and hope are small.” Please join our Wednesday night prayer meeting (7:45 – 9:00 pm) even if you can’t participate the whole time.
https://zoom.us/j/758587937?pwd=aS9sZUdxcm1janNNM2I2aXJ6Smx2QT09
Meeting ID: 758 587 937
Password: 030086
Join by phone: +1 929 436 2866 US (New York)
2. We’d be glad to pray for you. If you need prayer, you can submit your prayer request via the following link: https://www.cbcgl.org/pray/
In Christ, your servant, SDG,
Pastor Nathan Willems
Associate Pastor of CrossPoint Community – A Ministry of CBCGL