I was ordained on March 19, 2006, and I asked myself why the next day; but I already knew what it meant to me in my heart and the 'why' of the situation is not nearly as important as 'what am I going to do now.' I have always been spiritual and had a close relationship with God, though I admit that in recent years I have not prayed as deeply as I had in the past. I am only 22, so, not a big amount of time here. I am Christian, and I have not read the Bible- only parts. I have recently started calling my faith 'Heart Faith,' because when I pray I pray from the heart, usually without any words or with very few words to help me keep focus and understand what I am expressing. Sometimes I cry while I pray. What I know about God and my faith, my correct path, I learned in prayer and meditation over most of my life. I have recently discovered that if I want to actually share this with others, especially other Christians, I need more 'Book Faith' or 'Word Faith' so I can refer to scripture and my words won't just stand alone and be discounted. Not everyone is like that, I know. One of my closest friends (and current roommate at school) was recently baptised and joined a local church group. Though she had always read the Bible, she discovered from association with this group that she was not really living a Christian life and therefore not Christian. I was surprised when she told me a few days ahead of time of her baptism, but was glad for her and her joy. I won't go into detail here because this is only an important precursor to my ordination, but she suddenly became the most fundamentally judgemental and closed minded person I have ever met- and basically did her best to push away all her old friends. We're tenacious, but it's getting harder to hold onto her friendship. She teeters, has moments when she realises what she has done to us and apologises, but keeps doing it and means it. Oh boy, she was MAD when I told her about the ordination. I can relate to Rev. Gabrielle being called a sinner- that was a rough 'conversation' and part of me wishes I hadn't done it alone. She eventually decided to let us be, that God had told her all along to let Him work through us as He was working with her. My sisters, Mother, and other friends all took it well. My Mother's support gladens my heart and means a great deal to me. She is thinking of taking some of the courses with me, especially the one to become a ministerial counselor, the "S.O.U.L. Clinic" course I think it is. Anyway . . . back to the friend thing . . . That is what led to four of us sitting around on a Sunday, talking. First about our concern for her and her sudden change in her expression of faith, then onto what is faith? Especially what is a good faith and good faith expression? What is ministry, and how does a faith expression interplay with ministry? One of the guys (2 guys, 2 of us girls), mentioned that he was a minister in the ULC, he did it 'cause it was funny. We kept talking. We discussed faith all day. Eventually, we checked out the ULC monestary site. 'respect the freedom of others to choose and always do what is right' fit rather well with our topic of the day. I felt a familiar nervous feeling that I had, sorta, kinda, been ignoring and hoping wouldn't come on me for a while more. It means I have a choice, and it is an important one that cannot be delayed. We took a break and each prayed according to our various beliefs. We gathered our 'symbols' from each of our faiths, and became ordained together. (i dont know if they mind me putting their names or not, so for not i will not) The guy who was previously ordained, 'officiated' by reading the pages and giving us each a chance to back out,- he also rededicated, seeing that it was a serious deal. We then joined hands in a circle and prayed for guidance together. You know that feeling, that 'you have been heard' and the feeling of presence and power of the divine one sometimes gets in prayer? We had that. It was humbling. The next day we were a little surprised at ourselves. We knew it was a serious commitment to prepare ourselves and find our individual callings. None of us tried to deny that, it was just a bit unexpected and a little overwhelming. We now meet on Sundays to discuss what to do now. So far we are working on an opening prayer structure and have made a list of topics to discuss. We have a few core things we agree on about faith. We are dedicated to finding our shared ground, and knowing and understanding our differences- and above all to support each other in preparing and answering our callings- whenever they may come and to whatever they may be. I am Christian, with Cherokee spiritualism influence. The other girl is also Christian with Celtic influencs. The guys are a, um, well hard to name. One believes in the 'universal power' and is fond of the Hindi diety Ganesh. The other follows a polytheistic earth based religion- says it is similar to but not Wicca. I am open to discuss my beliefs and, if there is an interest, what the group is up to and what our plans are. A note on my Mom- I love her. She is amazing. She's finally going to teach me more about the parts of our Cherokee heritage she learned from her grandfather before he passed on. I have a feeling I will be called to use it. She was surprised about my ordination, but once I explained to her what it fully meant to me in my heart, she supports me and is excited for me. I am a bit nervous. Past success with questions weirded me out a little, but I am older now and more mature, and am willing to give it another go. Tah, Little Crying Hawk (-name my Mom gave me when i told her of my ordination and all my recent doings, except i added the 'little' 'cause i am new here)
I am . . . confused. I was under the impression that by submitting the information and it being logged in the ULC church's records that we were all legally ordained. If not, then none of us are ordained as we all did the same thing. How can half of us be ordained and half not? That is what I don't understand. Hmm, perhaps I did not make it clear that we each submitted our info individually, not as a group. My post is a bit long and my writing is not always clear. Sorry 'bout that. Thank you for voicing your concern. Tah, LittleCryingHawk