To close the clergy conference, Bishop Howard Gregory spoke on the subject of commissioning, during the final Eucharist service.
Bishop Howard is the recently retired Archbishop of the West Indies and was attending the conference on behalf of the Diocese of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands which was announced as the fourth link diocese to the Diocese of Oxford last year.
He began by speaking about the disbelief we all feel when first hearing God’s call, referring to Jeremiah and Moses who both rejected the idea they had been chosen by God, describing it as an ‘argument with God’.
He added: “This is the point at which the one being called first responds, usually with all kinds of disclaimers, expressions of unworthiness, and that God should look elsewhere. The commissioning comes when God speaks in response. It does not mean that the resistance or conflict is resolved, but God offers assurances, bestowing authority, and power.
“And so ultimately, it is not the resolution of the unworthiness preoccupation that drives the execution of the commission, as in the case of Jeremiah, but it is the faithfulness of God to God's assurances and the pursuit of the commission with a sense of integrity.”
With that call, comes authority and great responsibility to bear that authority kindly and wisely. Bishop Howard went on to describe the relationship we enter into with God, when we respond to his call on our lives, an intimate one, but one which is often ‘complicated and fraught’.
While the leaders of Jeremiah’s age, or even just 50 years ago, faced very different challenges to the church, Bishop Howard pointed out ministers are called to behave in the same way.
He said: “The call and mission entrusted to Jeremiah is to engage, to challenge, to confront rulers, institutions, power structures, and the assumptions and values which underlay their modus operandi.”
He ended his talk with the following encouragement: “May this time of study and reflection, this time at this clergy conference relating together, sharing in a common ministry, become for you, each one of us, a moment when we encounter God afresh.
“And the ministry to which we have been commissioned, even as God in Jesus Christ assures each one of you, each one of us, as he did for Jeremiah, 'They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you,' says the Lord.”
Afterwards, the clergy renewed their commission and were blessed with oils.
Watch Bishop Howard's sermon or read the transcript.