On the Festival of Ss Peter & Paul the Church throughout the world gathered to witness ordinations to the priesthood. They were moments rich in symbolism and hope – a reminder that while the Church continues to change and grow, its deepest calling remains rooted in something timeless.

Although ordinations often carry an air of grandeur, they should also stand out in our memories for their sense of clarity. Ordination is not about elevating one person above others, but about recognizing a particular calling within the shared life of the Body of Christ.

At the heart of an ordination service lies a powerful charge. Although ordained into the Church of England,  I would like to offer you a reframing of the ordination charge as constructed by the Methodist Church of Singapore …

• We are NOT ordaining you to ministry; that happened at your baptism. These opening words set the tone. A priest’s ordination did not mark the beginning of his or her ministry, but a deepening of it. Like every Christian, he or she has long been called to love, to serve and to care. Baptism, not ordination, is the foundation of that calling.
• We are NOT ordaining you to serve the Church in committees, activities and organisations. that is already implied in your membership of Christ’s Church.
• We are NOT ordaining you to become involved in social issues, ecology, race, politics or revolution. That is laid upon every Christian.

In a world that often measures significance by visibility and scale, these words offer a gentle but firm correction. The Christian life – whether lay or ordained – is already one of profound responsibility and engagement. Ordination is not an expansion into importance, but a narrowing into focus. It is here that the true weight of priestly calling becomes clear …

• We ARE ordaining you to something smaller and less spectacular:
  • to read and interpret the sacred stories of Scripture, so that they speak a word to people today;
  • to remember and practise those rituals and rites of meaning that in their poetry address people at the level where change operates;
  • to foster in community, through word and sacrament, that encounter with truth which will set men and women free to minister as the Body of Christ.

This is the quiet heart of priesthood. Not performance, but interpretation; not control, but cultivation; not prominence, but presence.

The newly ordained priests are now entrusted with the ministry of Word and Sacrament, and with the pastoral care of God’s people. These are ancient responsibilities, yet they remain urgently relevant. In a fragmented and distracted world, the priest stands as one who gathers; one who reminds; one who points beyond the immediate to the eternal.

The Charge continues …

• We ARE ordaining you to the ministry of the word and sacraments and pastoral care. God grant you grace not to betray but uphold it; not to deny but affirm it, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

These are not light words. They acknowledge both the beauty and the burden of priestly ministry. To ‘uphold’ and ‘affirm’ the Gospel requires courage, humility and perseverance. It is a calling that cannot be sustained by human strength alone, but only by grace.

Importantly, the service of ordination also served to remind all present that ministry is never the possession of the ordained alone. Rather, it is a shared vocation …

• Ministry is understood as a partnership between lay and ordained, and the role of the ordained is focused on equipping lay people for their ministry.

This vision is both liberating and challenging. It calls every member of the Church to recognize  their own role in God’s mission. Ordination into the priesthood, therefore, is not an endpoint but a beginning – a commitment to help others discover and live out their own calling.

As hands were laid on the new priests, and as prayers were offered, there was a palpable sense that something holy had taken place. Not because a new status had been conferred, but because a life had been set apart for a particular purpose within the larger story of God’s people.

The newly ordained now into a ministry that is, in many ways, ‘smaller and less spectacular’. And yet, as the Church knows well, it is precisely in such smallness that the Kingdom of God so often takes root.

May all priests be granted wisdom to interpret, faithfulness to serve and grace to shepherd. And may the Church continue to grow into the fullness of its shared calling – one body, many members, united in Christ.