After a few days of mushy brain I finally feel like I’m actually back with my feet on the ground in Sydney. I spent the last couple of weeks in San Francisco at my church’s annual conclave where I finally got to meet a handful of people who’ve been my brothers and sisters and my guides and mentors over the last eighteen months in my seminary work.
We talked, learned, ate and drank. We celebrated Liturgy together and some of us took Holy Orders as deacons and priests of the church with the support of our friends and family. The picture above is me taking an oath of allegiance between the hands of my bishop, the Patriarch of the church, His Eminence The Most Reverend Mar Iohannes IV.
I like it because it’s a very traditional image and part of the story of my journey in this work is embracing the richness, diversity and difficulty of this Tradition. Sadly I don’t have a good picture of my friend Shaun and I enjoying burgers at Mel’s Drive-In on the last night laughing over the events of the week and telling jokes.
That’s sad because Shaun and Mar Iohannes are the same guy. The same person I offer reverence to as my bishop and patriarch, I also have come to treasure as a beloved friend. Two roles we don’t confuse, but that we also don’t separate. That small fact offers in detail almost the whole of the teaching of Church if you look closely enough. It also helps explain why I love my church as much as I do.
It’s less than two years since I stumbled onto the Apostolic Johannite Church looking for a place to explore my craving for a spiritual tradition. In that time, these funny, smart, creative, mature, committed people have welcomed me into the family of the church and into their lives and homes.
And as a consequence, I now burn with the knowledge that I’ve found my way home.
