In which a new priestly colleague is welcomed…
A sermon given on the Feast of St Peter and St Paul, Sunday 29th June 2025, the day after The Reverend Hannah Moore (my curate) was ordained to the priesthood at Selby Abbey.
The Feast of Peter and Paul is an ideal one on which to think about our vocation as Christians. Both these saints had a clear vocation: they were Apostles – messengers of the Gospel – and in that role anointed others to minister in the early church. Yesterday evening, many of us were in Selby Abbey as Bishop Flora continued that aspect of the Apostles’ ministry. Early on in the life of the Church the role of Apostle developed into that of Bishop – an overseer of the Church, and one who lays hands on others as they are commissioned into ministry. And so it came to pass yesterday that Bishop Flora laid hands upon Hannah, poured oil upon her head and anointed her for service as a priest in the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, beginning a new phase of Hannah’s ministry.
In the Orthodox Church, when someone is ordained priest, the Bishop and the people acclaim them by shouting the word “Axios!” three times. This means “Worthy!”. The Bishop and the people thus proclaim that this person is worthy to be a priest, worthy of their new ministry, worthy to administer the Sacraments, and acclamation by the people is a key part of the commissioning of a new priest because – and this is important – the ordination is of significance for the whole Church, not just for the new priest.
Yesterday’s service was a very special occasion for Hannah and those ordained alongside her, but it was special and important for the wider Church as well, especially churches such as ours where newly-minted priests are to minister. Nobody has a vocation in isolation. Just as Hannah is commissioned as a priest to serve among us, so we are commissioned to serve alongside her, partners in the Gospel, allowing her to grow in her priestly ministry, and as a leader, pastor, preacher, confessor, intercessor, teacher, and shepherd among us. We are all of us called through our baptism to shine as a light in the world to the glory of God the Father. but that light is, and has ever been, a communal light. And part of a new priest’s role – Hannah’s role – is to help that communal light to shine.
St Paul: lone wolf?
Take St Paul as an example. Paul can sometimes come across as a superhero – a gifted and somewhat maverick leader who plants churches and has great adventures as he single-handedly spreads the Good News of Jesus all around the eastern Mediterranean. But Paul is no lone wolf. When we delve into the Acts of the Apostles and Paul’s own letters, we learn that he has many travelling companions and collaborators in the Gospel without whom his ministry could not have happened. The list of his travelling companions includes names you may be familiar with such as Barnabas, Silas, Timothy, Mark and Luke, but there are others who only get a mention in passing – Epaphras, Gaius, Onesimus, Sosthines, Aristarchus, Jason, Sosipater, Trophimus, and Tychicus. And then, add to this those who hosted Paul on his journeys and welcomed them into their homes. Add to this the leaders of the Christian communities he left behind or to whom he wrote letters: men like Philemon, Aquila, Erastus, Ananias and the splendidly-named Dionysius the Areopagite! And women like Junia, Phoebe, Priscilla, Damaris, and Lydia. And there will be countless more who are never namechecked in scripture who played their part in Paul’s ministry.
It is sometimes said that it takes a village to raise a child. By the same token, it takes a church to raise a priest. We are the church communities where Hannah is being raised as a priest. And this is not only true of priests: it takes a church community to raise a disciple – each and every disciple. God calls, disciples respond and follow, and the Church nurtures that spark of individual faith into a flame that grows, glows, warms, enlightens, and inspires the world with the Good News of Jesus. That is our communal calling with one another. That is what yesterday’s service means for us, Hannah’s church family, as we nurture the flame of her priestly ministry here, and as she in turn nurtures our discipleship. Our churches must be places where each of us can grow in faith, and our vocation as the people of God can grow and flourish.
One of our church schools, St Mary’s in Boston Spa, has been on something of a journey in recent years. It has developed rather wonderfully, and embedded in this success has been the renewal of the Christian vision of the school. My own experience is that St Mary’s school is a lovely place to visit, an excellent learning environment, and a wonderful community to be a part of as their vicar and as a governor.
I mention this because of their school vision which I think our churches would do well to reflect upon and seek to emulate. The vision is this: Together we inspire and nurture so that everyone can flourish. That statement, rooted in the vision of the Mustard Tree which Jesus spoke of as a model of the Kingdom of Heaven, is also a vision of what the Church should aspire to. It represents a place where, from the tiniest seed of the Gospel, a mighty tree grows, a tree in whose branches all the birds of the air can find a safe place to be nurtured and flourish. It is a vision of inclusion, of safety, and of being surrounded by the truth of the Gospel: the truth that God is not distant, but is with us, all around us as our dwelling place here on earth, right now. You see, our aspiration as followers of Jesus is not that we might go to heaven when we die. A mustard tree’s roots are in the soil of the earth, not the clouds above. And so our aspiration is that we continue the ministry of Jesus here on earth, that our faith is nurtured into the living reality of living like Jesus so that things on earth might be as it is in heaven.
Together we can live out this truth in our church communities. We can be inspired by seeing Hannah’s calling blossoming into the living reality of her priestly ministry among us. We can be inspired by seeing St Mary’s School grow into a place where a vision rooted in the love of God inspires the flourishing of the whole school community. And we can live out these four truths:
- that God the Father is not distant in heaven but lives on earth among his people, a loving Father among his family
- that God the Son is alive and still active here on earth, bringing justice, healing, hope and love through his Church
- that we are a loving community in whom God the Holy Spirit dwells; believers who live out the Gospel together, inspired to extraordinary acts of love, welcome, grace and generosity
- and that we are people whose resources are at God’s disposal, whose time and gifts are used to God’s glory, and whose money is given generously to the ministry of his Church.
A priest stands among the people as a living reminder of God’s grace. As Bishop Flora told us yesterday, a priest is a living Sacrament. By inhabiting the ministry of priest, Hannah is called to be a sign of God among us, a living Gospel flame – a beacon of God’s goodness and grace to all humanity. But every one of you is a living Gospel flame as well: called to be an embodiment of God’s goodness, and of the Good News of Jesus. We are called, communally, as God’s family, to be God’s blessing in the world, called to pray for the world, to seek God’s will, to live out God’s justice, peace, grace, hope and love as church communities together.
You may not feel worthy of that calling today. Perhaps you think all this is for the holier folk, those more able to articulate their faith, the ones who have more obvious gifts, more visible gifts to offer in God’s service. People like Hannah. She does an excellent job of modelling her calling as a disciple of Christ, and now also as a priest in God’s Church. But the Good News is, that just as Hannah is worthy of her calling, you are worthy of yours as a child of God and as a follower of Jesus. That word again: Worthy! Axios!
So let us celebrate the fact that God has called Hannah to the life and work of a priest among us, just as God called Peter and Paul as his Apostles, and just as God calls each of us as disciples. Hannah, please stand at the top of the steps where we can all see you and acclaim you as worthy of your calling as priest. In fact, everyone please stand.
Hannah, we welcome you to priesthood in God’s Church here in these parishes. We, your church family acclaim you as a priest among us. We will serve the Lord alongside you here. We find you worthy, indeed. I therefore invite the people of God gathered here to echo this threefold acclamation after me.
Axios! Axios! Axios!
And the people said? AXIOS! AXIOS! AXIOS!
May we all be worthy followers of Christ Amen.
Vicar of Villages 