Ordained as elders at the 2023 Iowa Annual Conference Session, Catherine A. Stokes, Kristina R. Roth and Lana K. Williams stand with Bishop Kennetha Bigham-Tsai.
Bishop Kennetha J. Bigham-Tsai preached the Retirement and Ordering Service on Sunday, June 4, 2023, asking if clergy in particular remembered where they were when they were "called." The service saw 34 individuals retire and 22 commissioned, ordained, or recognized.
"After all these years in ministry, I bet that our retirees do. Because call shapes us, it forms us, and when we look back on our lives, we see that shaping and the forming that God’s Spirit was doing in us all along. And we see, after a while, how God allows us to live out our call in the places we are sent. Do you remember your call?" said Bigham-Tsai.
The ecumenical representative for the Service was The Right Reverend Betsey Monnot, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa.
"Through all of this transition, we aren't really sure where we're going. But we know that it won't be the same as it was. We'll need to learn some new ways of worshipping, new ways of thinking, and new ways of being God's people together. But you know, God will sustain us. God is faithful," said Monnot.
Watch the Retirement and Ordering Service on Vimeo.
"So, friends, this is my final guidance for you—do not do this alone. Our retirees will tell you the same thing—do not go it alone. Allow others to be the presence of Christ for you, and be the presence of Christ for one another. And remember that God is with you. That’s the promise. Christ made it to the ones he called and sent and continues to make it to you,
'I will be with you until the end of the present age,'" said Bigham-Tsai.
See an album of images from the Retirement and Ordering Service on Flickr.
