Reflection on an Installation
Called to Word, Sacrament, and Advocacy
“Will you give faithful witness in the world through word and deed, that God’s love may be known in all that you do?” - ELW Rite of Ordination
7 1/2 years, 3,000 miles, four calls and two kids ago, I answered “Yes, and I ask God to help and guide me,” to the above and other questions as I was ordained into Word and Sacrament ministry in the ELCA. I was at my home church, where I had attended since I was 5, surrounded by family and friends who had journeyed with me for a long time to get to that point. It was a joyful moment filled with the Spirit.
Fast forward to May 9, 2024, when I stood in front of a crowd of similar size, but filled with people largely unknown personally to me. I listened to the Word preached not by a longtime mentor and friend, but by the Presiding Bishop of the ELCA (!) I served at the Table not with someone who had walked me through the tears and trials of internship, but with the first African-American woman bishop serving in the ELCA (!!) Though I had spent months planning the day and worrying about all the details, I had failed to grasp the immensity of the moment until I was standing in front, looking at Rev. Peter Asplin and hearing echoes of those ordination vows.
Though I have been serving in this new call with LAMPa since August, this installation moment felt like it cemented something, at least in my own heart and understanding. I suppose that’s why we are intentional about doing these rites and liturgies - to confirm in our own hearts what God is already up to.
In these past 9 months I have often wondered, “Why on Earth did God call a pastor to this position? Surely there are more qualified communications professionals around?” Then I realized Moses tried that excuse too and received no pity from the Holy One (Exodus 4). At the installation I felt the same reassurance that God promised to Moses, and every inadequately equipped messenger we read about in scripture - “I will be with you, helping and guiding along the way.”
This installation felt different from my previous ones, precisely because this call is different. While previous calls were to specific congregations - to preach and administer sacraments to a relatively stable group of people, to experience highs and lows, joys and sorrows, births and deaths in the life of a community - this call is not that…at least not in the same way.
Tracey DePasquale, our fearless leader, continues to cast a wonderful vision of LAMPa helping us to be “Church Together,” and as we stood in worship together—me speaking my intention to serve and those gathered speaking their intention to support and serve together—I felt that vision crystallizing just a bit more. I could catch a glimpse of what it means to preach to the community that is not bound to a single congregation but stretches across that divide of congregations and synods. I felt keenly that in serving the Sacraments, God was drawing our attention to the fact that the Table is extended beyond our expectations.
The line that Pastor Asplin read in the installation charge that caught my breath and has captured my imagination is “You are called to challenge our church to provide comfort and aide to those who are suffering and to empower our church to be an agent to end the systematic ills that perpetuate this suffering.” I can’t challenge or empower without being in deep relationship. I can’t call us to repentance for systemic ills without being grounded in the grace of God, as experienced in the Sacraments. We can’t do this work together without being rooted in God’s Word and remembering our collectively call to discipleship.
My hope is that being an installed pastor in this position helps you as the people of God hear the Word and the receive the grace of the Sacraments in new ways. In her sermon, Presiding Bishop Eaton challenged us to stop asking old questions and to start asking new ones. As a pastor in this position, I hope to help us figure out what those new questions should be. Through the ways we communicate and engage, I hope we can build a community that doesn’t just come together on one day a year. But rather that we build a community connected through our collective advocacy for our neighbor and God’s creation every time we hear the Word and gather at the font and table, knowing God connects throughout the Commonwealth and the whole world which God loves.
If you would like me to come to your congregation, conference, or synod event to talk about the intersection of civic engagement and faith, or any of our policy areas, please email me at erin.jones@elca.org!