Ordination 2006! It sort of dates me....

Below are the Ordination group of 2006. As I was participating in the Ordination service, hearing the names of each one (particularly my colleague Paul Smit), I was remembering that I screened almost all of them for entry into the ministry. I have trained just about all of them (either in Phase 1, or at College), and there I was watching them get Ordained.

It felt good in many ways - I am reminded again just what a great privilege it is to form people for ministry!



Here is the article that I wrote for 'The New Dimension' the Newspaper of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa. Credit to them for the Ordination Photo! Thanks Anne!

"Wathint' abafazi, Wathint' imbokodo!" (translated, "When you strike a woman, you strike a rock!"). This was the slogan of the brave women who marched on parliament 50 years ago in protest of the unjust pass laws of the Apartheid government. How fitting then that this year would also mark the milestone of the 30th anniversary of the Ordination of women to the Ministry of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa! The celebration of women in ministry was the central theme of this year?s Ordination service, held in the extended Northfield Methodist Church on the 20th of August 2006.

The preacher on the day, invited by the Presiding Bishop, was the Reverend Joanne Browne-Jennings. She has been visiting South Africa, and teaching with her husband the Reverend Doctor Willie James Jennings, at John Wesley College for the past three weeks. Joanne and Willie hail from Durham North Carolina where they both teach at the Duke University Divinity school. Joanne's message was a wonderful reminder to the Church of the role and value of women in ministry. She also delivered a powerful charge to the Ordinands, reminding them to 'birth' the ministry God had been developing in them during their training, and to faithfully craft their ministry according to God's perfect plan. Pictured above is the Reverend Jennings, together with her interpreter from John Wesley College, the Reverend Izeman Puleni, as she preached with passion and enthusiasm.

The first woman ordained to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa was the Reverend Constance Oosthuizen (pictured below with the Presiding Bishop, Ivan Abrahams, Bishop Gavin Taylor of the Limpopo District, and the Connexional Secretary, the Reverend Vuyani Nyobole, as they were praying for the Reverend Alan Booth who was being Ordained).



The laying-on of hands by Bishops and Presbyters, mingled with prayer, praise, and promise, marked the culmination of at least five faithful years training by the Ordinands. A highlight of the Ordination service is always when the congregation shouts "They are worthy", a statement that acknowledges their gifting and calling to the Ordained ministry. Adding further to the joy and celebration of the day was the presence of two Deacons (Deacon Claire Engelbrecht and Deacon Baden Clack) who were also Ordained by the imposition of hands. It is wonderful to see more and more persons offering for the ministry of Word and Service within the Methodist Church of Southern Africa. In total 32 persons were prepared for Ordination under the caring guidance of the Reverend Themba Mntambo and his team this year.

At the Ordination banquet, held the night before the ordination, the Reverend Olivia le Roux expressed thanks on behalf of the Ordinands to Dr Richardson, and the Reverends Madika Sibeko, Ruth Jonas and Dion Forster (the staff of the Education for Ministry and Mission Unit) for the hard work that had been put into shaping them for the work of ministry over the last 5 years.

The Education for Ministry and Mission Unit trains just short of 300 persons on an annual basis. An interesting fact to note is that currently ministers in training make up just a bit less than half of the active ministers serving in the MCSA - this is a huge task that requires the very best care. Please could we ask you to regularly pray for the Unit, its staff, and of course for all student ministers and deacons? Moreover, we would wholeheartedly encourage Districts, Societies, Organisations, and individual Methodists to consider supporting the work of the Unit as it prepares women and men for serving our Church throughout Southern Africa. Ministers in training, and their families, often make great sacrifices to fulfill their calling to ministry. Please consider sponsoring a student, or student family, at our Seminary (John Wesley College). Alternatively, you could consider sponsoring some books for the library, or donations of clothes, working computer equipment, and toiletries to aid the ministers in their training.

We look forward to seeing the work of proclaiming the Gospel of Christ for "healing and transformation" grow in the years to come. This year, however, we especially celebrate the wonderful gift of women in our ministry - both those women who are ordained, and those who faithfully serve Christ in their local Churches.