2010 Celebration of Ministry

United Methodists on the Eastern Shore

 Ordain New Clergy, Honor Those Retiring

By Elliott Wright

Princess Anne, MD, June 11, 2010—The United Methodist Church ordained new clergy and honored those who are retiring at the 2010 meeting of the denomination’s Peninsula-Delaware Annual Conference, meeting on the campus of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, Maryland.
Eleven men and women were ordained as full clergy, or elders, in a service on the night of June 11. Five were commissioned as “provisional elders,” who still have a way to go before full ordination.
 The previous night, the conference honored seven retiring pastors in a celebration of ministry that included the formal approval of the 16 persons to be ordained or commissioned. In a dramatic moment, those retiring draped a long red cloth across the shoulders of the newcomers, symbolizing the passing of the mantle of responsibility.
Reflecting Christ’s Light
Reflect the light of Christ in the world,” Bishop Peggy A. Johnson challenged those being commissioned and ordained. “Stay close to the light…,dispel darkness…, be a guide,” she said in her sermon. “It is a privilege to shine the light of God, but it is for the glory of God, not for our own sakes.”
 
The bishop also challenged clergy and lay leaders from many of the 491 churches in the conference to learn how to use electronic communications and the internet to reflect the light of Christ. “Have a website that gives the information people need to know,” she said. “Tell people about Jesus, that Jesus loves them.”
To emphasize that the church and its clergy reflect the light of Christ, small reflectors were given to everyone leaving the service of ordination.
Solemn and Festive
United Methodist services of ordination are both solemn and festive. The bishop questions the candidates about their faith in Jesus Christ and their calling to ministry. Kneeling as a group, candidates for provisional elder orders are commissioned to lead in the church, “to proclaim the Word of God and to equip others for ministry.”
The ordination of full elders is more elaborate. After being questioned, the candidates, accompanied by one or more clergy sponsors, are presented individually to the bishop. They kneel for a two-part installation. The Bishop first asks God to pour the Holy Spirit upon the person. The second tells the ordinand, his or her hand upon the Bible, to “take authority to preach the Word of God and to administer the Holy Sacraments.”
As the new elders rose, Bishop Johnson put a stole around  their shoulders and said, “Be yoked to Christ for life.” Once all the candidates were ordained, the congregation broke into song, applause, and cheering. 
 Clergy in United Methodist theology and practice hold their church  membership in a geographically defined conference rather than a local congregation, and ordination in one conference is recognized by the others.
 The pathway to ordination has multiple stages, beginning with the granting of a certificate of candidacy by a   congregation. Years of study and examination follow. At the end of the service on June 11, Bishop Johnson  invited anyone present who felt called to the ordained ministry to come forward. Three persons did so.
 
 
 
 
 
Ordained and Commissioned
Those ordained elders and their pastoral appointments for the next year, beginning in July, are:
•              Joseph William Andrew Archie, III, Eastwick, PA (on loan to the Eastern Pennsylvania  Conference)
•              Richard Edward Evans, St. Matthew’s by the Sea/Bayside Chapel, Fenwick, DE
•              Vaughan Russell Hayden, Marshallton, Wilmington, DE
•              Robert Wingfield Kirby, III, St. Paul’s, Wilmington, DE
•              Tracy Michelle Mooney, Peniel, Wilmington, DE
•              Tom Alan Pasmore, Jr., Richardson Park, Wilmington, DE
•              Marie Ann Smith, Stillwater, Ohio, (on loan to the West Ohio Conference)
•              Asher F. Tunik, Mt. Pleasant, Colora, and Tome Memorial and Asbury, Port Deposit
•              Frederick D. Wessell, St. George’s, Clarksville, DE
•              Lindsay Marie Wessell, Avenue, Milford, DE (associate pastor)
•              Eugene Martin Wiley, Jr., Union, Bear, DE
Those commissioned as provisional members of the Order of Elder and their pastoral appointments for the coming year, are:
•              Mary H. Browne, Hart’s and St. John’s, Charlestown, MD
•              Carmella Ann Evans, Chester-Bethel, Wilmington, DE
•              Benita W. Harris, Asbury, Salisbury, MD (associate pastor)
•              Jerome Edward Tilghman, Sr., Faith and Israel, Lewes, DE
•              Rudolph H. White, Jr., Centennial, Smyrna, DE
The pastors who retired this year are:
v      Yusef  J. Ahmed
v      M. Jane Ayers
v      R. Danese Collins
v      Bruce E. Cooke
v      Anna L. Cottom
v      Donald E. Hamilton
v      William M. Fitzhugh, Jr.
v      Howard J. Embert
v      Carol A. Loy
v      Donald L. Schuler
On video clips, each person retiring reflected on his or her experience in ministry. Each was then presented in person along with his or her spouse.
In keeping with the conference theme, “We Reach Out to Service,” the ministry celebration highlighted ways in which pastors “reach out” to people and to the communities they serve.