this is no longer my blog

So I attended the ordination. It was neat, and because it was a synod-wide event there were a lot of pastor types there. Four people were ordained, and I was the only intern that was in the procession. I saw several others in the mix of the congregation, and talked to one (who said she was very glad that she was only there in jeans), but I'm really glad I got the experience of actually participating in an ordination. The whole procession was really cool... We came up in our line from the basement, and the congregation started singing "For All The Saints" (which is one of my favorite hymns, although somewhat depressing to me, because my dad has said he wants it sung at his funeral... and we sang it at my Grandpa's funeral), and we processed in, and the pews were full. We walked up to the front and filled in the first two rows of pews on each side. It was neat to see a friend get ordained, and to run into a lot of people that I know. There was a bishop from our partner synod in Tanzania present, and that was neat, but they asked him to say a word of greeting from his synod... Now the service was plenty long on its own, but when you ask a bishop (of any nationality, really) to say a word of greeting then you know you're in for something not very short. And you wouldn't have been disappointed. It makes me think about the day two years from now when I will finally be up for ordination (assuming all goes well on my internship and senior year of seminary) and I just think it will be an amazing day. And I really enjoyed the multiple pastor ordination, which I had been very against before. I used to think that when I got ordained I wanted the ordination to be special, to have songs and prayers and a preacher that were meaningful to me... But really, ordination is not about me. It's about the call of God and the call of the Church and me responding to that call. It's about celebrating that call with the Body of Christ and (here's a part that's about me) rejoicing in the fact that I made it through candidacy and seminary and there was a church out there somewhere that wanted me. I really enjoyed that it was a synod-wide celebration, which resulted in more pastors present and more people in the congregation. So I'm really not against multiple person ordinations at this point, in fact I think it would ease the stress and pressure on me, to not be in charge of all of the particulars... Although I can really appreciate the idea of having someone who knows me and knows my story preach at my ordination, and to preach a sermon that speaks more directly to me, but I think all I would need are the people who have been meaningful in my faith journey there, and maybe my godfather or dad as my sponsor up front with me when i get that amazing red stole placed on my shoulders and they announce that I am now an ordained pastor and the people respond "Thanks be to God!" and break out in applause... It'll be cool. I'll probably cry.
Anyway, after the ordination I went downstairs to the fellowship hall and ate some food with Supervising and oh man... he's in the Adventures of Pastor Intern Mark in the Land of the Professional Leaders Conference, but I don't remember what his code name was... Anyway, he was there, too, and then the three of us went out for drinks afterwards and once again I was the recipient of free drinks. I love being an intern.
In other news, tomorrow is my day off. I am so excited and elated and happy that really I cannont find the words to explain it. Perhaps "Afrolicious" comes close, so I will leave that up. But now I am tired... so I'm going to go sit in front of the tv and contemplate going to bed.
Oh... at the ordination there was a woman who read the Gospel in Spanish... and I'm not entirely sure she knew what she was reading... I don't know a whole lot of Spanish but I know enough to know that she butchered some of the words and read it with little to no inflection. I silently wept for any of my Hispanic brothers and sisters who may have had the misfortune to be present and listen to that bastardization of their mother-tongue. Outloud I mocked her with the person next to me.
So in the spirit of that last paragraph I will close with this:
Vaya Con Dios!