Saturday 15th August
Opening slides:
Bro Celynnin logo
Ordination of Eryl Parry to the Priesthood
Hen Eglwys Llangelynnin 10th August 2020
Photos of the walk with music subtitles:
The Spirit of the Lord has anointed us to speak Good News;
the example of the Lord has inspired us to be Good News.
The favour of the Lord flows through His church to the world He loves;
the compassion of the Lord, seen in Jesus’ life, will be known through us.
We are sent to love the broken hearted,
sent to pray that the sick are healed,
bring your freedom to the captives,
walk in Jesus’ power and authority.
Ryan’s video: https://youtu.be/dNn17fT3ibE
Slide: John chapter 13
After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord – and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.”
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
Slide: Right Reverend Andy John, Bishop of the Diocese of Bangor (The Church in Wales)
Priests in the Church of God are called to work with their bishop, their fellow priests and all the people of God, as servants and shepherds. You are to proclaim the word of the Lord, to call people to repentance, and in Christ’s name to absolve those who are penitent. You are to bless, baptize, and preside at the Holy Eucharist. You are to teach the faith that comes to us from the Apostles and proclaim it afresh.
You are to lead the people of God into holiness of life, and encourage the ministry of all God’s people. You are to minister to the sick and prepare the dying for their death. You are to pray and to admonish, to counsel and encourage, and guide God’s people through the temptations and confusions of this world, that they may be saved through Christ for ever. You are to explore new ventures in mission and work for peace and justice.
Remember with thanksgiving that this ministry now to be entrusted to you is a sharing in the ministry of him who died on the Cross. It will require sacrifice and bring suffering, but, lived faithfully, it will also bring you joy and peace.
You will need determination and perseverance, and because you cannot fulfil this ministry in your own strength, pray that each day the Lord will renew your calling that you may follow the Good Shepherd wherever he leads.
My sister: pray without ceasing; labour in the Lord’s service; be of good courage; let no one suffer hurt through your neglect; serve the Church of Christ; build the kingdom of God; rejoice in the Lord.
And now, in order that we may know your mind and purpose, I ask you to affirm your commitment to your calling and to this way of life.
Do you believe the doctrines of the Christian faith as the Church in Wales has received them, and will you uphold them?
I believe them and will uphold them.
Do you accept the Holy Scriptures as containing all things necessary for salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord?
I do.
Will you be faithful and diligent in proclaiming the Gospel for the sake of the kingdom of God?
By the help of God, I will.
Will you be diligent in prayer, in studying the Holy Scriptures and in continuing to equip yourself for ministry in the Church?
By the help of God, I will.
Will you accept the discipline of the Church and give due respect to those set in authority over you?
By the help of God, I will.
Will you endeavour to promote unity, peace and love among those you serve, and to lead by encouragement and example?
By the help of God, I will.
Will you strive to make the love of Christ known through word and deed, and in celebrating the sacraments of the New Covenant?
By the help of God, I will.
Will you help the Church discern the needs, concerns and hopes of the world?
By the help of God, I will.
Will you work with the bishop, priests, deacons and all God’s people to reform, revive and strengthen the mission of the Church?
By the help of God, I will.
Will you seek to recognise in God’s people the gifts he has given to them, that every member may be equipped for the work of ministry so that the body of Christ may be built up in love.
By the help of God, I will.
May God who knows the secrets of your heart give you strength to do all these things through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
People of God, do you believe and trust that Eryl is worthy to be ordained?
We trust that she is worthy: thanks be to God.
Will you support her in her ministry?
By the help of God, we will.
Slide: Venerable Mary Stallard
Speak to us Lord, for your servants listen. Amen. Please be seated.
It’s such a privilege to able to speak today; thank you Bishop and thank you Eryl for the invitation. I am my own sermon illustration: short.
We’re here in this beautiful old church, the old church of Llangelynnin. A place where prayer has been offered probably since the 6th Century, in a building that has been here since maybe the 12thCentury. A place where prayer has been offered, a place of tradition, an ancient place.
And in this place, we’re doing a new thing. I’m not sure if anyone has looked through the service registers to see if anyone has ever been ordained here before. I doubt it. I’m quite certain no woman has been ordained priest before in this building. We are doing a new thing: and how appropriate for a Pioneer ministry.
Pioneers, you will all know, are those called by the Church to help the Church do new things. To be on the lookout for where the Holy Spirit is speaking, especially in places where the Church hasn’t spotted the Holy Spirit’s presence before.
And Pioneers are such a gift because they awaken, they nurture, they notice and encourage faith beyond the Church. And they help the rest of the Church to do this too. To help the Church to be renewed, to be new.
And we’re learning so much about this at the moment aren’t we, in the pandemic. So much we’re having to learn about how to be, how to live, the Christian faith in new ways. There’s so much we can’t do. We need risk assessments for almost everything.
We can’t sing together. We can’t reach out and touch one another to share the Peace or embrace one another at a time of joy. But there are things we can do. And there are wonderful things that God’s people are doing.
And I thought I’d take a risk and ask you to do something now – quite confident that you’re all friends of Eryl so you’ll be used to being asked to do strange things! So what I’d like you to do (if you’re not already) is to fold your arms, simply cross your arms. And notice how it feels. And take a look at your arms. Probably one hand is higher than the other. Or maybe one hand is inside and one hand is outside.
What I’d like you to do is to refold your arms but with the other hand on top or inside. And how does that feel? Maybe a little strange, maybe a little unnatural, maybe a little uncomfortable. That’s often how it feels when you do new things.
Our Faith has been described so many times, hasn’t it, as being about comforting the disturbed, helping people, using the tried and tested traditions; using the ancient ways where they are appropriate, where people need comfort. But Christianity is also about disturbing the comfortable. It’s about pressing people to try new things. And sometimes the new things make us feel uncomfortable. Sometimes they feel unnatural for us. But maybe they feel much more inclusive or much more natural for others. Or maybe we learn new things. Pioneer Ministry is like this.
And what I want to say to Eryl, and to all those she ministers with, is that of course Ministry includes both: the comfort and the disturbance. And good ministry has a good mix.
And there will be times in our discipleship and our ministry when we feel properly comfortable, and that’s right. But there will also be times when we feel properly uncomfortable.
And if we do – when we do – perhaps we need to remember the Gospel that we heard today, the Gospel that we looked at on our Retreat: the story of the Last Supper. The occasion on which Jesus needed to teach the disciples about doing new things.
So Jesus the teacher, the master, donned a towel and washed His disciples’ feet. To teach them a revolutionary new understanding of love and power and hierarchy and service. And in the Gospel, we heard about Peter’s struggle. How uncomfortable he found it; how, at first, he wanted to be the one who was doing the washing, not to be on the receiving end of love and ministry.
But Peter needed to learn and we need to learn. We need to learn new things, new ways. We need to receive Jesus’ disturbing love and service in order to be better servants of others. And we know how Peter and the other disciples needed to learn about this extraordinary way of loving because after the Resurrection they had to continue practicing extraordinary love: practicing learning new ways, including new groups of people, as the Church in every generation has to keep on learning.
So Eryl my prayer for you today, and for the people amongst whom and with whom you minister, is that you will always keep your eyes fixed on that Jesus who calls you to learn, to love and to witness in new ways. That you and we together might be bright signs of God’s revolutionary, including and healing love. Amen.
Slide: Reverend Matt Webster
Let us pray.
God the Father, have mercy upon us. God the Son, have mercy upon us. God the Holy Spirit, have mercy upon us. Holy, blessed and glorious Trinity, have mercy upon us.
From evil and sin, from pride, vanity and hypocrisy, good Lord deliver us.
From idleness and love of money, from arrogance, and hardness of heart, good Lord deliver us.
O Lord as we stand here in our walking boots in this ancient and holy place, a place of seeking, discipleship, of silence and of hope we pray for the many feet that will enter this place. And as we go out and tread the Pioneer path across this land: Lord send your Spirit.
As we live rooted in our places, our communities: help us O Lord to give ourselves to love, to friendship, to commitment; to live life with those who share our lives, in our towns, villages, farms, in all those isolated houses. Send us, guide us, use us: Lord send your Spirit.
Give us a passion for hospitality, of sharing and welcome, eating together: Lord send your Spirit.
O Lord we lift Andy and all the clergy of this Diocese to you. Bless them and the work that they do: Lord send your Spirit.
We pray for Eryl. For all who she will work with, minister to, meet and talk to in these coming days: Lord send your Spirit.
We pray for all who will be ordained this week: we pray for Martin, Andy, Siôn, Steve, George and Pam. As they too are ordained, bless their ministries in each of the places that they will serve Him: Lord send your Spirit.
And as part of our community here we particularly pray for Aled today, in hospital. Grant your presence, your help and your healing: Lord send your Spirit.
And so, rejoicing in the fellowship of Deiniol and all your Saints, we commit ourselves to one another and to Christ our God. Amen.
Bishop Andy:
Praise God who made Heaven and Earth. Who keeps His promise for ever.
Gweddïwn. Arglwydd ein Duw…..a Bugail ein heneidiau.
Lord our God, we give you thanks and praise, because in your great love, you have formed throughout the world a holy people for your own possession, a royal priesthood, a universal Church.
We give you thanks and praise for calling your people in every age to witness to your saving love and to proclaim the good news of your kingdom. And now we give you thanks that you have called these your servants to share in the sacred ministry of Christ, the Apostle and High Priest of our faith and the Shepherd of our souls.
Send your Holy Spirit upon your servant Eryl, for the office and work of a Priest in your Church.
God, who at the baptism of Christ our Lord anointed him with the Holy Spirit, anoint and empower you to reconcile and bless His people.
Gweddïwn, let us pray. Loving God, you have called this your servant; give her love and wisdom, that she may carry out this ministry to which she has been ordained. May she live and proclaim the Gospel of salvation and bring healing to the sick. May she faithfully celebrate the sacraments of our redemption and absolve and bless in your name. Give her patience and hope, gentleness and perseverance to work with all your people, that the world may come to know your glory and your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be Christ’s kingdom, now and for ever.
Would you like to meet and greet your new sister in Christ: our priest Eryl.
Slide: Eryl’s arms up
Photos from outside church
with reprise of music and subtitles
Final picture
Slide(s):
Video: Ryan Proudlove r.proudlove@bangor.ac.uk
your photo Copyright
Song: ‘The Spirit of the Lord’ by Sam Hargreaves
© RESOUNDworship.org / Jubilate
Final slide: Church in Wales, caruconwy.com website and logo
caruconwy.com 