ORDINATION #4 - Does anyone care? (Gordon Cotterill)

Where has the debate gone?

I

t seems interesting to me that within TSA we are keen to maintain a certain line that causes frequent periodic debate when it comes to our non-sacramental stand with regards to baptism and communion. Battle lines drawn between those that both argue that ‘to’ or ‘not to’ is essential to our essence of church.

I’m not sure if I have come across the same rigour of debate with similar issues. While the more contemporary sacramental debate seems more black and white - it is interesting that the whole emphasis of ordination of officers doesn’t receive the same intensity of attention.

Recently as I watched the Commissioning of the latest session I was struck by how far our language has moved. It seems to me that the euphemistic use of ordination to explain commissioning has made quite some journey where now a given Territorial Commander declares to each cadet “I commission and ordain you…” (or words to that effect). It seems interesting to me that a choice of language to protect the kudos of officership with our ecclesiastical cousins has become so mainstream as to now even infer a supposed ‘higher calling’ of officership.

But no debate, no walk outs, no resignations, no battle lines, no edicts from International Headquarters, no articles, no letters looking at such an impact on SA views on the ‘priesthood of all believers’ . Nothing to question the language of ordination as it, like a cuckoo, surreptitiously kicks out the centrality of dedication. I might be missing something, but essentially any discussion here would share something of the same root as that within the well-worn conversation around that of our sacramental position.

So why the lack of debate in one area and intensity in another?

Writer: Capt. Gordon Cotterill lives in London, England, is married to Kate and has two daughters Bethan and Eryn. He has been a Salvation Army officer for ten years and ‘cut his teeth’ in ministry with his wife as the corps officers at Poplar in the East End of London. The lessons he learned there in his day-to-day ministry, amid the chaos of the inner city, continue to shape his understanding and passion for biblical and grace-centred mission. His latest appointment as Spiritual Programme Director at the William Booth College, London now offers him the opportunity for the fusion and exploration of ‘mission’ and ’spiritual formation’ while trying to inspire a new generation of Salvation Army officers as to their role in God’s plan for His creation. Gordon keeps a blog where he mulls over themes of mostly, mission and spiritual formation.

3 Comments to ORDINATION #4 - Does anyone care? (Gordon Cotterill)

1. - Because ordination has itself created the culture which disengages soldiers and turns them into sheep? It has done its evil work already. Communion and baptism on the other hand, can have personal and experiential aspects as well as theological significance for soldiers.

   I don’t know how to put this delicately and I don’t mean it unkindly at all. Officers, ordained, commissioned, hired, employed, sustained, masked, pipped, face-painted and tattooed or anything else are inevitably about ‘their’ ministry because of the way the army is and the way they are not held accountable for how they enable others in ministry. Much as we love them, (and I openly admit to knowing many and having them on my fb friends list!), they are about their ministry and we are about ours.

   What is so scary is that there is so often no longer any connect at all. The gap between the officer’s ministry and the soldier’s ministry is widening all the time as wider culture changes. The officer tends to their ministry, preparing for Sundays, paperwork, making sure the programme runs as smoothly as possible, handling the zillions of interruptions that make the ‘minister feel like a minister,and reassuring those who need that, while soldiers, who are apparently there only to help the officer, basically maintain a come-to-us church programme and the officer’s ministry.

   For the first time in six years, this week, something I’m doing in the neighbourhood made a fragile connection to the life of the corps and the ministry of our officer. A neighbour and I stepped up to lay to rest an elderly man who has no living relatives able to do this, and because he used to go to the corps brunches, we asked the army to do the funeral. I feel completely disorientated. It’s like personal life intruding into work, or work into home life. It feels all ‘wrong’. But of course it is appropriate and necessary. It’s just ‘weird’.

   Officers are about ‘my ministry’ in many ways, from structural to cultural to practical to psychodynamic. Soldiers are - out here. I am forced to adapt to the church’s regulations about communion and baptism - they impact how I church plant and how I navigate my personal spiritual life. But ordination - who is that all about? The damage is done.

   Eleanor
Eleanor Burne-Jones on December 9th, 2009

2. Thanks Gordon. Maybe those who are affected by and care most about this issue aren’t ‘ordained’ to have the conversation.

   Andrew G.
Andrew G on December 9th, 2009

3. Alright, Eleanor! Come over here, I’ll not only give you a job, I’ll be happy to have you roll up your sleeves and get to work in partnership with us!

   Here in Western Canada, it’s hard to find people ready and willing to roll up their sleeves, never mind sign an Articles of War and commit to a soldier’s life.

   Sigh… there are some of us who feel lost without our partners in ministry. I personally keep my soldiers covenant right beside my officers covenant right above my desk, so that I never forget what I really am.

   BTW, ordination? Is that what happened when I marched down that aisle in front of 6000 people, full of nerves and wondering what in heavens name had a I signed up for???? All I remember is the part where they said I was going to the prairies, three days drive away to the middle of nowhere with my husband and three kids - and no reactions in front of all those people, if you please! ;o)

   Perhaps some find something special in that word “ordination” but for me it just means I have to do this full time, go where and when I’m told and to do so for less than I would if I were an employee, have no home of my own, give up worldly asperations and deal with my children who aren’t happy that we signed up for this life.

   They can do what they want with it, take it away, keep it. It matters not to the mission - getting people saved, training them up for ministry and getting more people saved.

   Kathie
Kathie Chiu on January 30th, 2010

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