I Believe I Am So Called

I believe I am so called.

These words are the first words that are uttered by someone who is being ordained as a deacon or as a priest when they are being examined by the bishop. The bishop asks the person who is entering ordained ministry: “My sister/brother, do you believe that you are truly called by God and his Church?” And the answer, firmly and resolutely, is: “I believe I am so called.”

Last week, 32 people from St. Alban’s traveled to Christ Church Cathedral in Houston to witness the Ordination of Deacons. We gathered in that historic and beautiful church, with its dark wood and stained glass windows, to see 12 men and women kneel before the Bishop of Texas to be ordained. The bishop asked them: “My brothers and sisters, do you believe that you are truly called by God and his Church?” And the answer rang out through that cathedral: “I believe I am so called.”

In The Book of Common Prayer that the Episcopal Church uses, the question is asked (on page 855, a rarely viewed page): “Who are the ministers of the Church?” And the answer is: “The ministers of the Church are lay persons, bishops, priests and deacons.” The first category listed is the people who are the most numerous: lay persons. Sometimes I think that our focus on the ordained ministers of the Church diverts our attention away from the largest number of those who believe they are so called, the lay persons.

I wish that we had a service of Ordination for lay persons. But wait; we do. We call it: Baptism. Yet I wish that at Baptisms, and at several other times in our spiritual journey, that we had an opportunity to hear:

Do you believe that you are truly called by God and his Church to take the food basket to Caritas? I believe I am so called. Do you believe that you are truly called by God and his Church to work with the Youth Group? I believe I am so called. Do you believe that you are truly called by God and his Church to go visit the homebound/at-home parishioners on Sunday afternoon? I believe I am so called. Do you believe that you are truly called by God and his Church to wash the windows in the Parish Hall? I believe I am so called.

The lay people of St. Alban’s (which is everyone minus two people, me and Jimmy) have been truly called by God and his Church through Baptism to do the work of mission and ministry. Pray about what that ministry looks like, so that you may answer:

I believe I am so called.