This Charge I Entrust to You

In general I tend to keep both Church and State on the sidelines in this blog.  I'm not a particularly confrontational person and public debate, be it religion or politics, has never been my thing.  If pressed unrelentingly I will 'fess up my general leanings, but, right or wrong, I rarely feel the urge to take the initiative.  But this Sunday has been so special in the life of our family and our church that it would be somewhat historically remiss of me not to chronicle it in some fashion.

Our church, Grace United Reformed Church, celebrated our twelfth anniversary this Sunday.  That in and of itself is a significant milestone.  But we almost forgot the anniversary and the reflection on our past in light of the events of the day and their implications for the future.  Last month, after several months of consideration, our Elders Board (our "Consistory") issued a calling to a recent seminary graduate, Mr. William Godfrey.  Mr. Godfrey accepted the call, and this Sunday, in a wonderfully rich and meaningful service, our church ordained him as Minister of the Word and Sacrament.  Mr. Godfrey is now the Reverend Godfrey and has taken on, quite literally, the mantle of service as co-pastor of our congregation, along side our veteran, Pastor Greg Bero.

This has been the culmination of several months of preparation where Mr. Godfrey has been preaching and serving in our church in an internship of sorts to see if the fit was there.  It was indeed and our family, along with (I am convinced) the entirety of our church congregation, have grown to love and appreciate Bill immensely.  We are ecstatic to have the day finally arrive to welcome Bill formally into our congregation.  We've been richly blessed and we are looking forward to the next dozen years with Pastor Godfrey helping chart the course.

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

-- Isaiah 6:8