Ordination Speaker Describes Pastors As 'God's Poetry'

KEYSTONE, CO (June 28, 2002) - Pastors are measured by more than the accomplishments that mark their individual ministries - they are "God's poetry."

That is how Executive Minister David Kersten described them as he preached the Thursday evening ordination service during the 117th Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Covenant Church, which concluded today at the Keystone Convention Center.

Church members often measure pastors by what they do in the local church. God, on the other hand, sees pastors as more elegant than they may view themselves, said Kersten as he reflected on the Ephesians 2 text. "You are his pastoral art, you are his craftsman, but you are even more," said Kersten as he affirmed the faith journeys of those ordained and commissioned this week. "The Greek word for this is poema, which is translated in English as poetry. You are God's poetry."

The select audience included six commissioned staff members, five pastors who transferred their ordination to the Covenant and 16 pastors who completed ordination. A complete list of these individuals can be found by visiting the special Annual Meeting link on the Covenant web site home page at www.covchurch.org.

Kersten spoke of the "interior life of faith" that characterizes the lives of pastors as they follow Christ. He declared that the promise of God is written in the vows we take, by the wounds we get from our calling and by the prayers we make and receive as we respond to God's calling.

For much of the first half of his sermon, Kersten recalled the story of Jonah. He began with Jonah's initial refusal to follow God's call, emphasizing the challenge that God gives to obey. He presented a visual picture of Jonah's refusal to speak to the people of Ninevah in order to save them. He continued the story of Jonah as he was thrown out of the boat and the moment of being swallowed by the great fish. "Suddenly, he could hear this great cadence, of the great heart of the fish, and he's hanging on for dear life," Kersten explained. "And this deep cadence of life keeps calling . . . Jonah . . . God . . . Ninevah.

"There are promises that maybe shouldn't have been made in the first place," Kersten continued. "I don't think God is calling you to be a doormat in this world. But for most of us, we are indeed called and made to keep the promise. And when we do, we make a new reality in this world . . . and those vows may be the only thing that keeps you in this world.

"But they'll keep you and hold you," he said. "There may be days and weeks and years where you don't feel like keeping that promise, but we're going to remind you."

In speaking about how the wounds will help write our ministry, Kersten shared his belief that that pain allows pastors to become real to their congregation. Kersten should know about pain. An individual at one pastorate he once served stabbed him - and he nearly died as a result of the knife wounds he suffered. "I laid down in a pool of blood and I prepared to die," he said in describing the moments immediately following the stabbing. Kersten managed to get out of the house and he survived. He recalled how his faith changed as a result of his pain - he spoke of individuals who helped him deal with his pain in a new way.

"You've got to face those great losses and wounds in life," Kersten said. "And when you do, you realize that Jesus has spoken to that pain through the cross. Then you can go on your way and be the pastor that God called you to be - somehow, some way, the making of you happens that way."

Kersten then focused on how prayer can empower us to do ministry. He encouraged pastors and lay leaders of life to use the Psalms and other biblical prayers to draw closer to God. He spoke about the prayers made by a woman at his church in the weeks following the stabbing and how Psalm 124 encouraged him. And he closed by encouraging ordinands and commissioned staff members to "speak your promise to the promise-making and promise-keeping God."

Earlier in the evening, Richard Lucco was installed as superintendent of the Great Lakes Conference (see accompanying photo) and David Dwight was installed as the new president of Covenant Ministries of Benevolence. Both were honored, along with those ordained and commissioned, in a reception following Thursday evening's service.

Two ordinands, Peter Dahlstrom and Robert Reed, are the sons of ordained Covenant pastors. Peter's father, Kendall, was there to lay hands on his son in blessing. Meanwhile, Reed's father, Jerry, and father-in-law, Jorge Maldonado, were among those laying hands on him.

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