Loading...
The Rev. Ben Sanders, interim priest at Trinity Church Russellville, gave the homily, which asked the new deacons and their guests to consider the expansive scope of Christ's charge -- "Go into the world and proclaim the gospel." - as a call to be stewards to all of creation and not just humanity.
"Even if the author only meant, ‘everybody, everywhere, at all times,' this remarkable commission has a boundless quality that urges us - today - to look beyond the human realm," he said. "Gone are the days when we could content ourselves with defining Christian mission only in terms of fixing what goes on in the human realm. Our heavy boots have shake the fragile structures that hold life in balance."
A copy of the sermon, delivered by the Rev. Ben Sanders, is available by clicking here.
Click here to view a slide show of photos by Donald Vish
The rest of the story follows.
Noting that the deacons have already demonstrated they are "healers and grace givers," he implored them to also include the "ragged places in the whole ecological web" as recipients of their service. "The hurting creatures, the widows and orphans of today, may be the blue fin tuna, or tropical frogs, or polar bears, or the air we breath and the water we drink," he said. "Diaconal ministry must enfold them in the promise of good news as much as any hurting healing." (To read the full sermon, click here.)Following are profiles of the new deacons by Janet Irwin, retired editor of the Episcopal News and now a staff writer. The profiles are published in the upcoming May issue.
Karl Kriener Lusk Jr.
Karl Lusk has been functioning as a deacon, a servant of the poor and powerless, for many years. The Master of Arts in religion he receives from the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in May will in many ways simply be decoration on a structure that has been "under construction" for many years.
Most notably, perhaps, Lusk has been serving as the lay vicar of St. Thomas Church in Campbellsville since 2002. Before that, he was part of the bishop's staff for mission planning. He has been chaplain supervisor of the Campbellsville-Taylor County Rescue and Emergency Medical Service since 2002 and part-time chaplain for Hospice of Central Kentucky since 2003. He is also a staff chaplain at the Taylor County Hospital.
Lusk's training for his work as chaplain and counselor has been extensive and varied, including classes involving pastoral care and crisis intervention at the University of Maryland in Baltimore, the University of the South, the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, and it includes four units of clinical pastoral education. But beyond the classroom, he has been involved in lay ministry in eight congregations located in six dioceses. He got an early start at it serving as sexton in an Episcopal church while working his way through college.
One value of officially becoming ordained is "being able to offer the sacraments" to those who are seeking to serve Jesus, according to Lusk. "Though priesthood takes many forms and Jesus calls us all to one form or another of service, ordination brings another dimension of ministry to God's world," he said. Along with the many and varied paths he has traveled through life, Lusk has seen many "rough places." But, he says "those rough places have let me see God at work, bringing triumph in the tragedies of life."
Lusk doesn't think his ordination will make sweeping changes in his personal life or the life of St. Thomas. His wife, Anne, is the choir director at Christ Church, Elizabethtown. "She has her ministry and I have mine," he explained. "We complement each other, but we're not joined at the hip."
Similarly, he doesn't think it will make much difference at St. Thomas because "it's the people there who make it such a wonderful place. They are full of energy and enthusiasm. It will mean we can provide them with all the offices of the church to help them in their own ministries, as well as helping me in my own."
Alice Smith Nichols
A relative newcomer to the Diocese of Kentucky, Alice Nichols has a great deal of experience as a servant minister, both inside and outside of the Episcopal Church.
As psychotherapist for 30 years, she has ministered to many, both as part of a mental health team and in private practice. As a Stephen Minister and chair of liturgy at Christ Church Cathedral in Nashville, Tenn., and with her work as an intern at Trinity Church, Russellville, and Grace Church, Hopkinsville, Ky., she has functioned in a variety of areas from preaching to Christian formation to pastoral care.
Originally from North Carolina, Nichols was trained at the University of Tennessee School of Social Work in Nashville and earned a Master of Divinity degree from Vanderbilt University in 2004.
Asked about the difference ordination will make in her life, Nichols replied that while she would "love to be in charge of a smaller congregation," she is prepared to do whatever "Bishop [Ted] Gulick feels would make the most use of her talents and training."
As an example that Nichols gave of one kind of ministry she loves to do, she spoke of the Good Friday worship she orchestrated for the Nashville cathedral that blended the work of musicians, liturgical dancers and graphic artists in depicting the Stations of the Cross. The artists, who meet at the cathedral regularly, shared their devotion with an enthusiastic congregation of more than 300. By broadening the vision of the church community through art, Nichols has hopes of strengthening the "healing presence of the church in the community."
Excitement about her ordination spread beyond those who know her in Russellville, Hopkinsville, and Nashville. They include Nichols's daughter, Meg; relatives in Charlotte, N.C.; and many others who have loved and supported her throughout her journey to ordination.
