IT IS Petertide, which means that this weekend most dioceses are holding their ordination services. As always, this represents a significant milestone in what is frequently a long and arduous path. Behind the smiling face of every candidate lies a unique story of faith explored and vocation tested. Just as importantly, there may be a story of significant support and sacrifice on the part of a candidate’s family who have walked alongside an ordinand in the years and months leading up to this moment.
Ordinations can — should be — occasions of great joy and celebration, as well as appropriate solemnity. Yet, it is hard to imagine any candidate approaching the altar without a degree of trepidation. Certainty in one’s calling and the sense of accomplishment of having come this far is unlikely to dispel all anxiety. No amount of training and study can entirely prepare someone for the realities of parish ministry, and there will doubtless be moments of uncertainty and inadequacy. Added to these entirely normal qualms is the sense right now that we are living through turbulent, dangerous, times. The Church is under strain: the Covid effect on numbers of worshippers, the acute stress on finances, a shortage of clergy, the responsibility of maintaining ancient buildings, and the never-ending arguments about Living in Love and Faith can all be dispiriting. And, in our wider society, there is the very real sense that Christian values have been cast aside in favour of secular arguments. In the past week, the new legislation on abortion and the passing of the assisted-dying Bill in the House of Commons have, for many, felt like a renunciation of once universal Christian convictions. And then there is the crescendo of war in the Middle East, and, with it, fears that there may be worse still to come. The planet is in peril, and the news just last week suggested that the Earth is likely to breach the 1.5°C warming limit in as little as three years, based on the current levels of carbon-dioxide emissions. It would be easy to despair.
Yet, this is, surely, part of the point. The candidates called to serve are — as ever — called to serve a broken world. Across the centuries, ordinary people have shown extraordinary dedication in their answering of God’s call. The Church can at least offer the long view, simultaneously drawing on our history and tradition and looking forward towards eternity in these challenging times. We can offer stability, comfort and hope. We can follow in the footsteps St Peter, that most human of the apostle-martyrs. Though as flawed as any of us, he was the solid rock on which the Church was built.
