Officially Reverend
I was ordained as an Elder in the United Methodist Church on June 11, 2021. We drove back to GA on Saturday, church on Sunday, and now it is Monday morning before I'm able to begin processing.
We are the ordination class of 2020, ordained in 2021. As you can imagine, the unpredictability of COVID had an impact on all the things. Over the last year, our disappointment and grief of not having the service we thought we would, faded. I did not know what to expect for Friday, but if I'm honest--it was feeling a little anticlimactic. I can't speak for my colleagues, but I think over this last year the mission became more clear. The pomp and circumstance became less important.
Many of you know that Iām serving as a pastor on loan to the North GA Conference. I'm so grateful for the ways North GA welcomed me, has mentored me and allowed me to step into leadership roles. I'm also excited to explore where Spirit leads in the years of ministry to come.
But Mississippi is home. The MS conference, those clergy, my home church (Southaven First UMC)-- they loved me and supported me even when I had nothing of real value to offer. I cannot begin to name all of the people who acted as a means of grace to get me here. People who empowered me to lead as a young female, spoke words of encouragement into my life and cultivated my call to ministry. God is so good!
Though it was not the service I had imagined, as soon as I knelt at the altar tears began to stream down my face. Bishop Swanson placed his hands on my head, and my senses were immediately heightened. In every fiber of my being, I could feel the love of those surrounding me. God's grace at work. I don't think I have ever been more present in a moment or felt the Spirit more powerfully. My heart is so full!
Thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey. I'm not going to try to name you; the list is too long. This feels like an ending and a beginning all at the same time.
