Cathedral Church of St. Michael and All Angels,
Douala: Ordination Service (deacons and priest)
June 16th 2013.
Readings: Ezekiel 34, 1-10
1 Cor 3, 1-9
John 21, 15-19
Greetings in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Greetings from my parish, and greetings to you and in
particular to Bishop Dibo, from my bishop, Michael,
Lord Bishop of Gloucester, who has met with Bishop
Dibo in the UK and spent some valuable time in a
walking pilgrimage together in our beautiful English
countryside.
I am grateful to our bishop, here in Cameroon for
inviting me here. I say 'our bishop' because he is also
my bishop, and as Canon Theologian of this Cathedral
Church of St. Michael and All Angels, I owe to him
canonical obedience in Cameroon. As well as bishop,
he is a good friend here in Cameroon, and I value our
correspondence between visits. I hope very much he
will be able to visit my parish in England again when
he can speak about the needs and opportunities of the
Anglican church in this country.
I pray for your bishop, for Mother Estelle, and for this
diocese every day, for it is a biblical priority based on
the ministry of St. Paul, that we give thanks for each
other, and pray that we may be sustained in the
fellowship of our Lord, and in the power of the Holy
Spirit. The New Testament reminds us constantly that
we are united in fellowship as the Body of Christ. Our
unity dwells in Christ, not in our human agreements,
and where we as Christians differ in opinions or
interpretations of scripture, we must subject that
human disagreement to the overpowering obligation to
be united in Christ.
It is in this unity, this focussing on Christ, that we
become an authentic Christian witness to a world that
so easily allows difference to lead to division; division
to lead to prejudice, bigotry, or even worse – religious
sectarianism, that in some places is tearing apart
people of God . It must not be so with us.
Throughout the world the authentic Anglican tradition
is seen as one that seeks to reconcile; seeks to speak
words of peace; seeks to restore the lost, the fallen, and
the weak. All of us are God's children, and as
committed Anglican Christians we must do all in our
power, with God's grace and help, to live genuinely in
our communities, as Christ himself would live in our
communities.
Christ's ministry is one of reconciling, of restoring, of
reaching out to those in need, of strengthening the
weak and marginalized, of disturbing those aspects of
religion that keep God's people oppressed by rules and
regulations. He removes the blindfold that makes
people blind to the signs of God's kingdom; he restores
hearing to those who have become deaf to the cries of
the poor and suffering innocent especially children; he
extends the strength of his open, wounded hands, to
grasp with love those who are diminished or exploited
by abusive power; Christ cuts through cultural
injustices as a knife cuts through butter, and he shows
to the world, that children, women, and men are all and
equally recipients of the love of our God.
This is a picture of the type of 'Christ-like' church that
Oliver, Humphrey, Divine, and Denis, are called to
serve as ordained ministers (deacons and priests).
It is a great privilege for me to have spent the last few
days in the company of these men, and all the other
diocesan clergy and their wives, sharing in the work of
a conference which was one of Bishop Dibo's visions.
The clergy benefit from all opportunities to develop
their learning, their pastoral skills, and their priestly
lives. The whole church gains something when the
church's ordained leaders are open to collegiality,
working together as pastors, prophets, and leaders of
our public worship. The clergy conference we have just
had should make a difference to all of you; it is not just
a benefit for a privileged few. The more opportunities
the Anglican diocese of Cameroon can enable the
clergy to study and develop, the stronger the whole
church will be in this country.
These four new clergy are of course a focus of our
worship today, because today the church universal will
act according to ancient tradition and mark them out
for particular responsibilities in the life of Christ's
universal church, but we must remember that it is not
they, but Christ who is the centre of our worship. All of
us, through worship, prayer, and patterns of living, are
called to be like Christ in the world.
This is a big challenge for all of us, whether we are
ordained or not, and we all need the prayers of each
other, mutual support, fellowship in the Spirit, and
bucket loads of God's grace, for we cannot do this
alone. We can only achieve this as his church.
The 1st Letter of Peter reminds us of how the early
church of the New Testament understood its calling –
its vocation.
You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy
nation, God's own people, in order that you may
proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of
darkness into his marvellous light.' 1 Peter 2,9
That is who we are – together that is what we are
called to be – all the baptized together committed to
this holy witness in the world. It is a huge demand that
is made of you and me. It is Christ's demand, for he
died and rose for us, and as Christians we live and
proclaim the mystery of the cross.
Some are called by God to minister to God's people in
the life of the church. They are called by God to serve,
and to lead through serving the church. This is why
today we ordain Denis, Divine, Humphrey, and Oliver.
Because of the great challenge that this brings them,
they need the prayers of their wives and families, their
congregations, their bishop – all of us. Today's
ordination service includes everyone here in an active
ministry of prayer, a ministry of mutual love, a
ministry of fellowship in Christ. Also, each one of us is
called to share in a ministry that St. Paul speaks of.
I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you
in my prayers. Ephesians 1, 16.
So as you pray for Humphrey, Divine, Oliver and
Denis, remember always to give thanks for those in the
ordained ministry – including especially your bishop –
and don't forget your 2 canons in the UK, Fr. Mark and
me. We need this prayer because the call to ordination
is a great privilege. That privilege is not because the
individual is specially blessed by Christ, but because
Christ's church also decides who will be the pastors,
the preachers and the priests – the call has its origins in
Christ, but this is confirmed by Christ's church. And so
the privilege is to be treasured – it is a call to holiness,
a call to minister 'God's holy gifts for God's holy
people'.
We must remember, however, that we hold the
treasures of God in clay jars. We are all frail, all weak,
and all need the forgiveness of a forgiving community.
Nonetheless, a high example has to be set by those
who are ordained. In our clergy conference we have
been considering this as one of our subjects.
Clergy have to represent Christ-likeness in their
standards – they must set the tone, the example for
holiness, for spirituality, and integrity. They must deal
always with truth – for us this means a life fully
focussed on Christ's way; the way of the cross; the
way, the truth, the life. It is the Holy Spirit that leads us
into all truth, so unless our clergy are fully open to the
Holy Spirit, they cannot guide us to truth.
Often in scripture those called into the service of
leadership are likened to shepherds. In the ordination
service the new clergy, in particular priests, are
encouraged to be shepherds of Christ's people, his
flock, for he is the Good Shepherd.
In our Old Testament reading (Ezek 34,1-10), the
prophet is inspired to condemn the 'false shepherds' of
the people of Israel. We are to understand shepherds as
the religious leadership of the day. These are self
serving shepherds, who grow fat on the exploitation of
God's people. They are a professional class, who carry
out the religious rituals to a fault, but they have
neglected the poor, the weak, the sick, those who have
strayed. As a result God's people are in disarray,
because their leaders are not matching the
responsibility of their calling – they disappoint God,
and they disappoint the flock. They fail to proclaim
and live according to the demands of the Kingdom of
God. They make themselves redundant, and God will
by-pass them and make them of no account.
Our clergy have to be highly professional in the
ministry, and in their ministry development – but they
are not a professional class that sets them apart from
the flock; they are not a religious superior 'caste' that
allows them to look down on God's people. If this
temptation creeps in then the church will pay a price,
and the clergy will find that God is against them, just
as he said he was against the corrupt shepherds of the
people in the day of Ezekiel.
The clergy profile, the job description, is well
expressed in this passage of Ezekiel, and we should
take heed of those words.
Oliver, Humphrey, Denis, Divine – take good heed of
these words from the prophet. Bishop Dibo, fellow
priests and deacons, take heed of these words. I must
take heed of these words. We must all be united in the
life of the Good Shepherd, who laid down his life for
his sheep.
This unity is a strength. Nothing makes the church
weaker than disunity. The bishop and his college of
priests together must minister faithfully for the wellbeing and unity of the flock.
Our reading from Corinthians (1Cor 3, 1-9) expresses
so well the fruits of any labour that is undertaken
together – one plants, another waters, God gives the
growth – but all are engaged in a common purpose, for
we are all called to work together for the common
good. If the leaders of the church are divided, carried
along by a personal arrogance or self importance, or if
the church is fractured by some following one leader
while others follow another, then we are working
against the Holy Spirit. It will not do. We must all
work together and then God will grant the growth.
The spirit of co-operation in the life of the church is
modelled by the relationship between the clergy and
the bishop, and this is an inspiration for the unity of all
God's people. The shepherds together are charged by
Christ himself to feed Christ's flock.
Nowhere in scripture is this more beautifully expressed
than in the one of the Easter Narratives of St. John,
which was our gospel reading today. (John 21, 15-19)
The Risen Christ commissions the task of pastoring the
church to St. Peter. There are many interpretations of
this passage, but no one can deny the trust that the
Risen Christ
places on Peter's shoulders. My
goodness, if ever there was a clay pot into which
treasures were placed, it is St. Peter. Yet he is chosen
by Christ to inherit the care of God's people – 'feed my
lambs', 'tend my sheep', 'feed my sheep'.
Today we are present to pray for 4 clergy (deacons and
a priest) who are called by God, a calling confirmed by
the church, who will have apostolic hands laid on their
heads as they receive the Christ-like charge, 'feed my
lambs', 'tend my sheep', 'feed my sheep'.
Christ is entrusting his 'high priestly ministry' to them;
you are entrusting the ministry of the church to them.
This ministry will assuredly be sacramental, in the
sense that the clergy baptize, marry, reconcile, minister
to the dying and departed, celebrate the eucharist when
they are priests; but also it must be sacramental in the
sense that the prophecy of Ezekiel refers to: to feed the
sheep, to strengthen the weak, to heal the sick, to bind
up the injured, to call back the wanderers, to be gentle
and not harsh, to gather and not scatter.
Divine, Denis, Humphrey, Oliver, you are members of
the Body of Christ. Christ has called you to be deacons
and priests, and the Body of Christ confirms this
calling and will accept your ministry among them. You
are called along with your bishop and colleagues to be,
among other things, shepherds of Christ's flock.
Receive this ministry with humility and in Christ-like
service, for it is him you are serving in every person
you meet.
Do all in your power to gather the flock and be fellow
workers with God's Holy Spirit. Keep before you
always the Kingdom of God, and keep your eyes
focussed on Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd.