Next week I will be honored to kneel before God and be commissioned in the
This will also be the first time I will wear my clergy robe (other than seeing how good I look in our mirror). Those of us being commissioned were told that we need to have our robes but a stole will not be necessary. I wondered at this statement as I was unaware that one would even wear a stole for such an occasion.
I attended the ordination ceremony a couple of years ago for my friend/mentor. When he was ordained, he received a stole. He received a stole for a reason. A stole is a symbol of one's ordination...therefore...if one is not ordained they should not wear one.
Is it that one is not worthy of wearing a stole until they are ordained? Maybe. Once commissioned, you are placed on "probationary membership". To be put crudely, this means that the UMC is watching you to make sure you are fit and prepared for ordained elder status. Therefore, I ask the question again. Is one worthy of wearing a stole before they are ordained?
According to the
Yet...many people who are not ordained continue to wear a stole even though the are not "worthy". Maybe "worthy" is a strong term...then again...maybe not. There is something to be said for what God has done in the lives of those who have been ordained. And...if that is the case...I find it is important to pay my respects toward those individuals by not adorning myself with the symbol that has been placed on them. If I do...doesn't it devalue what the stole means? Or have we already devalued what the stole stands for?
5/21/2008
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4 comments:
I agree, the stole should be reserved. Are you talking about UM people, or everyone in general? Because it seems to me that everyone should adhere to their own leadership on the criteria, but for UM people they should wait until they are deemed worthy.
I agree. I was referring to UM simply because that is the only context I can speak from. But...your comments about adhering to one's own leadership on the criteria I agree with.
Josh...I completely agree. However, as you pointed out...my post on about the stole alone. There was a time when wearing a stole signified something. It signified the gift of ordination from God through the church. Now...I am not so sure that message is found in the stole when seemingly anyone can use it. It is much like the few students I have come across here at seminary who use the title "Rev." Rev. is a title reserved for those who are actually reverends...not just a term to be thrown around. In the same fashion...a stole should not just be thrown around. It used to stand for something. Maybe a stretch but in a way it stood for the elevated level of holiness of the person. Whether those people are or not is a totally different conversation (which I agree with you wholeheartedly on).
Maybe I am just a stickler for certain symbolic things. No one will ever deserve the title father or dad other than my biological father. No matter how much my father-in-law may appreciate the title from me...it won't happen. It is not a criticism of him...just a respect for my dad.
For another example, Jason Taylor is one of the captains of the Miami Dolphins. Well...now there is talk that he will hold out from all preseason work. His leadership will be tarnished and therefore he should not wear the letter "C". I know it is only a letter...but it stands for something.
Maybe we need to strive for the stole...and ordination...and being an elder to mean something. Maybe this is where it all connects with the Christlikeness. Maybe we should expect more from our reverends. Which, I think, the UMC does. That is why I am not being ordained this year but placed in probationary status in order to...over the course of a couple of years...to determine my "worthiness" of the title elder...and my "worthiness" to wear the symbol of such a great calling.
I disagree about the stole not being an important symbol of worthiness. The ring I wear on my left hand is a symbol. It is just a ring...and really in itself means nothing. But once placed on my left hand (which most people do not wear rings on until they are wed for this very reason)it becomes an extremely important symbol. It says to everyone that I am forever yoked with my wife...and it is with her that I journey through life. In a way it marks me for a lifetime of service and love with Melissa. Doesn't the stole represent things in ministry and with God in the same way?
Forgive me, since I don't know the author, for being so blunt. The idea that the UMC has people officiating in worship, sacrament, marriages, funerals, etc. who are not actually ordained seems ludicrous to me. There should be no question of worthiness because being made an elder should be an absolute prerequisite for performing a sacramental ministry. The way the UMC does ordination is like having a couple live together for five years before they're married. Ordination is supposed to come first, not after some "trial."
All that said, I think one should always act in obedience to the directives of one's superiors, if such directives do not deeply violate one's conscience. So I suppose I'll say that UMC Probationers ought to refrain from wearing stoles.
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