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Wednesday, December 08, 2004

A Letter 

My internet has been down recently whenever it seems I need to use it, which has been annoying, but what can you do? That is the primary reason for the lack of postings, but I was also busy finishing up my final theology paper on altar rails.

Anyway, earlier in the week, I found a letter in my school mailbox. Upon opening it I read that it was from the faculty of Seabury-Western and that they would be recommending me to my Bishop and C.O.M. (commission on ministry) for candidacy. Candidacy is the final level to which you must attain before you are ordained - in order, it goes aspirant, postulant (what I am now), and candidate. Then after you are approved for ordination, you become an ordinand and then you are ordained. But the last major step is candidacy. So, it was a good letter to get, prefacing my Middler Evaluation which will come in late January, early February. Receiving that letter, though, was somewhat bittersweet as I discovered not everyone in my class got a letter with the same wording. Some letters were not happy, which is a serious blow and my heart goes out to those who must now think hard(er) about their future. Basically, what that means for them is that unless their Bishop wants to override the recommendation of the faculty (not unheard of) the process will stop here for them. Yikes...

-R


posted by Ryan @ 8:12 PM   Permanent Link for this Entry

4 Comments:

First, congrats on the recommendation.

The theology of altar rails?

At our home parish, there is an altar rail, but the gap in the middle was always open. I notice that at some of the churches in the area, there is an altar rail that has what amounts to a gate in the middle. The eucharistic ministers and chalicers go to the altar, and the gate is closed behind them.

Now, from a practical standpoint, this allows for more rail space. But from an emotional standpoint, it feels like I'm being "shut out" from something.

At other churches, there is no altar rail, and the feeling I get from that depends on the style of the Eucharist. No altar rail works for me if the service is "intimate", such as we have on Thursdays in the lounge. But if the service were more formal, the lack of an altar rail might seem a bit odd.

By Blogger Dawgdays, at 10:16 PM  

Congrats! :o)

-Randall
randallauvil@aol.com

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:20 AM  

Yo. Interview with Gene Robinson on NPR here -> http://www.npr.org/rundowns/segment.php?wfId=4210781

Lacy D-Z
mthrlangl@523.org.uk

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:24 PM  

Congratulations, Ryan. That is a big step and one that I stressed over more than GOE's.

By Blogger Reverend Ref +, at 8:07 PM  

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