Service of Ordination and Installation of Mark Peters Ward

Spoken Reflection: Entering the Ministry

The Rev. Lisa Ward (Mark Ward’s sister)

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Hartford County

Churchville, Maryland

In reflecting on the glory of this day for Mark, for the Unitarian Universalist Church of Asheville, and, of course, for the world, I kept remembering a moment that my brother Mark and I shared some 25 years ago. Mark probably doesn't remember the moment, but I hold it dearly in my personal canon of beauty.

We had climbed onto the roof of a cabana just before sunset. Without signaling the other, we eased into a silence as we watched the sun descend through the magenta and deep purple brush strokes of sky. When the last of the sun had edged out of sight into the horizon, we broke into spontaneous applause, cheering the sun's journey.

This image reminds me a bit of the welcome of ministry in our lives: paying attention, making room for wonder, giving over to the beauty of the moment and celebrating the experience.

Of course that's not all that we get into when entering the ministry:

There’s the phone calls and deadlines and handshakes and meetings.

There's the writing and speaking and cheerleading...and meeting.

There's the lone voice, the public voice, the prophetic voice and the meeting voice.

We enter into the juggle of time, the claiming of boundaries, the challenge of opinion - and opinion - and opinion....

When we enter into the ministry, we are simply called to show up, to bring our whole selves to the endeavor, blessed by the gift of community.

Amidst the wisdom of the lives we meet,

Within the courage of their spiritual longing,

Among the talents and the resources, the needs and the discoveries,

We are summoned to praise life out loud and share what it is we deeply believe. We do this in the company others in the hopes that they will do the same. For therein lies the strength of the world.

I have no doubt that Mark's praising of life will inspire great things. The YES will resound. And knowing the good sense of my brother, he chose his threshold into the ministry well, within the embrace of this congregation

May wonder, beauty, laughter, doubt, letting go and letting life

fill your days, brother Mark.

And may the Unitarian Universalist Church of Asheville celebrate its being

with a love that heals the world.

Blessings Be.