Fr Robert Hendrickson

Dear Friends in Christ,

This weekend at Saint Philip’s in the Hills, it was a joy and a privilege to witness the ordination of two new priests in the Episcopal Church. 

The celebration was filled with reverence, beauty, and hope, as the gathered community prayed for those offering their lives in service to Christ’s Church. Ordination always carries with it a sense of awe: the Church entrusting ordinary people with extraordinary responsibilities, and the Holy Spirit equipping them to shepherd, teach, and serve.

Yet, what struck me most is how much of the rite is not only for the ordinands, but for all of us.

The Book of Common Prayer makes clear that priests are called to proclaim the Word, administer the Sacraments, and care for God’s people. But these are not tasks limited to the clergy.

Every Christian is charged with proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ, with living sacramentally in daily life, and with bearing one another’s burdens. When the bishop exhorts the ordinands to “pattern your life in accordance with the teachings of Christ,” that call echoes outward into the congregation. 

When the litany prays for the gifts of the Spirit—wisdom, compassion, joy, perseverance—it reminds all of us of the gifts we are given in baptism.

In that sense, an ordination is more than the setting apart of a few; it is the renewal of the whole Body. The joy we felt at Saint Philip’s was not only for two new priests, especially ones whose journey to ordained ministry began here at Saint Philip’s, but for the reminder that God continues to raise up leaders in the Church and continues to call all of us to be faithful witnesses of Christ’s love in the world.

It was a gift to watch as Christ continues to work through this community and now will do so through the ministry of two more priests who will serve his Church and the world in love. It was a gift and it was a reminder, too, that we are all charged to bear Christ even as we bear one another through all that life is and can be.

Thank you for being a community that raises up new priests and makes it such a gift to serve here as one, too.

Yours in Christ,

—Fr Robert