Friday, June 17, 2005

Jim's Ordination

I am delighted to report that my dear friend, James Pike (not to be confused with the dead Episcopalian bishop), has been called to serve as pastor to a congregation in Upland, California, and will be ordained into the Ministry of and to Word and Sacrament within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on 25 June. He has honored me with an invitation to serve as assisting minister for his ordination.

It is always a good thing when people of integrity, thoughtfulness, an orthodox spirit and inclination, intelligence and scholarly ability, sensitivity, enthusiasm, and eloquence respond to the Spirit's whisper to serve the Church in this way. And in Jim, the Church gains a servant who displays those qualities in spades. While I am biased (he is, after all, among my closest friends), I would not say this if I were not absolutely convinced that it is all true.

I ask your prayers for Jim as he assumes a new place in the Church and a new ministry in California -- together with his wife, Dana, and their children, Simon and Astrid.

This is good news for the Church.

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