An
Inkling
I
was so disappointed in my ordination – not in God’s call to me, or in the
Spirit’s empowering to pursue that call, but in the institutional expression
thereof. My 1981 ordination service was
led by three ministers and three elders from the Louisiana presbytery where I
first pastored. They were earnest in
their task, but the sermon was pro forma, and the prayers were so droning and
dry that I felt less equipped to pastor after the service than I had before! Nonetheless, that service ordained me in the
eyes of the church, and opened an institutional path that would facilitate
ministry in years to come.
My
disappointment in the service arose largely because it suffered so by contrast
with a moment that had no ecclesial authority, but which overflowed with the
Spirit’s presence. The prayer group that
had sustained Sarah and me spiritually through our seminary years, and had
prayed with us for months as we sought a pastoral call, gathered with us in our
apartment to celebrate with us and pray for us one last time before we moved to
Louisiana. It was nothing official in
the eyes of the church, but the Spirit showed up in power right there in our
living room as they prayed and prophesied over us.
In
the providence of God, both moments served to equip me to pastor. But it was the informal prayer meeting that
was marked by the Spirit’s power.
I
was reminded of that blessed Spirit moment Monday evening, at the end of Art
Thomas’ final lecture. A son of our
church and a church historian, he was here for the crowning weekend of our 75th
Anniversary celebration. Art delivered wonder-filled
accounts of how the Spirit brought renewal to and through St. Giles through the
years.
We
were also blessed to have Louis Skidmore with us for these lectures. “Skid” was a key pastoral player in the
Spirit’s powerful work in the ‘70s and ‘80s.
At the end of his lecture about the Spirit’s renewing work during Skid’s
season here, Art reported that the Lord had directed him to ask Skid forward
for prayer. Art, Sarah Marsh, my Sarah,
and I then prayed with thanksgiving for Skid’s ministry and its legacy. Then Skid prayed for God’s renewed anointing
for us, that we might minister in the Spirit’s full power, and be part of the
new things God would do in and through St. Giles.
And
it happened again: the Spirit came in
power, and prayer became prophetic. There
was nothing formal or official about it – just some moments of prayer at the
end of a lecture. But it was very real, Art
having done what the Spirit prompted him to do.
And
I believe I just heard the wind again, blowing not just upon the pastors, but through
the midst of the congregation. Ready or
not…
Here
we go!
Keith
