During commissioning & ordination service, attendees encouraged to dig deep for living water safe for all

By Rev. Pam Brokaw

Friends, family, and colleagues robed in white and red clergy colors gathered in an overflowing room Sunday to celebrate the commissioning and ordination of a diversely gifted group.

It was a moving and tearful celebration of life commitment and a joyful expression of the future of The United Methodist Church. The Church is beginning a season of welcome for LGBTQ+ siblings. The Sunday service not only welcomed new pastors and deacons into ministry but was also a defining moment heralding a commitment to begin anew.

Photos from the service at available to view and download on Flickr.

Guest preacher Rev. Dr. Lydia Muñoz delivered a personal, genuine message of hope for the church. She followed the week-long theme of “Be Well,” which flows from the Gospel of John’s text John 4: 4-17, in which Jesus offers a Samaritan woman the living waters of the Holy Spirit. Muñoz is the executive director of the Plan for Hispanic/Latino Ministry for The United Methodist Church.

Each day, the annual conference has considered how the living water of Christ is flowing deep within the denomination as it moves forward, leaving behind the harmful Book of Disciple language that has damaged the hearts and lives of the faithful with the message and practice that all were not welcome.

During the service, three candidates – Denise Ann Belista, Jackie Celin, and Joseph Lee – were commissioned as provisional deacons, and three candidates – Kate Crisci, Drew Hogan, and David Owsley – were commissioned as provisional elders. Also, three provisional members – Kellen Corliss, Ashley Skinner-Creek, and Gayle Tabor – were ordained into full membership as elders. Additionally, Megan Madsen was received as a full member (elder) after having her membership transferred into provisional status in 2022 from the Church of the Nazarene.

As newly commissioned provisional members and soon-to-be ordained deacons and elders gave their vows, a spirit of love and relief, hope and promise filled the overflowing sanctuary.

Bishop Cedrick Bridgeforth reminded them that today, their call was confirmed to set apart ministry to “serve rather than be served” and to change things without looking back.

Thanking the bishop for inviting her to share the day’s message, Muñoz observed the crowd and said: “Of all the things we do at annual conference, this is really special.”

Muñoz began her message with a song of prayer that she sang with reverence and building intensity. She told the story of growing up as the children of missionaries. Her father and mother figured out ways to get things done at the family home with creativity and a few funds.

A favorite memory was the time her father decided to install an in-ground water system. Instead of paying for a pipe locator, he just started digging. Her mother had patiently placed yellow tape around her garden to prevent it from harm. As a result, their backyard looked like a “testing ground for missiles.”

Muñoz said the experience reminded her of seeking the Holy Spirit and the flowing water offered by Jesus Christ. “What does it mean for us to be in tune with the flow of the spirit?” she asked, adding that the Spirit of God is our pipeline locator and that God’s spirit runs deep.

She reminded the gathered congregation that just as Jesus went out of his way to find the woman at the well, we must go out of our way in ministry. We are to find what is necessary and what is not.

Our present, Muñoz, said, “…is a powerful witness of the church cracked open by the Holy Spirit.” She said it does not mean we’ve figured out this inclusion thing. “If you invite people to drink, you need to make sure it is safe to drink,” she said. Deep wells must be built so that “…church is a place of equity and inclusion so the healing and cleansing Spirit of God can flow through us.”

Muñoz said there is much to be learned from the feisty spirit of the woman at the well. There is every indication she had led a life fighting for her life. In her time, many women were callously divorced by their husbands and left to fend for themselves. She saw the woman’s response to Jesus as someone with courage and a survivor’s attitude.

“You don’t even have a bucket,” the Samaritan woman had said to Jesus. “Do you know who’s well this is?” she asked, pointing out that the Jews and Samaritans shared the same heritage.

Muñoz reminded us that both Jesus and the woman came to the well because they were thirsty. We are all thirsty for the living water Jesus offers. How do we find it and hold on to it? She spoke to the new clergy and the many in the congregation about being places in which the water flows.

She advised three things: 1. Be part of a covenant group to pray with. 2. Get a good therapist. 3. Find a good vacation club.

Muñoz concluded that all must take care that people can poison our wells. “Sometimes you have to learn to love the Hell out of people and never let that Hell consume you.”