Lisa Fry's Ordination

Lisa Fry’s Ordination 12.19.11
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Little Rock, Arkansas

I bring you greeting from Bishop Kirk Smith, of the Diocese of Arizona. Lisa, I am humbled by your gracious invitation to preach at your ordination. Thank you Fr. Schieffler and Bishop Benfield for allowing me to take the pulpit in your parish and the Diocese of Arkansas.

Tonight we have a very interesting ordination. Lisa, of course is being ordained. Though, before tonight, she has been a clergy spouse. And Greg her husband, a priest, well now he is clergy spouse as well. So, that makes Lisa and Greg both priests and clergy spouses.

Zoe, I offer my condolences that both your parents are now priests and clergy spouses. My prayers are with you.

Lisa, I can see why you have fallen in love with this St. Mark’s and believe it to be such a good fit for you. St. Mark’s vision, “Seek to be a vibrant community of people who worship weekly, pray daily, learn constantly, serve joyfully and live generously,” could be the very words to describe you.

Lisa is a cradle-born Episcopalian. Her love of our liturgy and prayer is profound. She has been shaped throughout her life by the worship of the Episcopal Church. Lisa has studied, analyzed, and imagined new ways to bring fresh life to our liturgy and worship. She will bring her gifts of music, theater, imagination and creativity to the altar as she celebrates the Eucharist with the Church.

Lisa has been a lifelong learner. The past two years, the learning curve has been steep for her. She has had to reimagine and reinvent herself in many ways. She has worked hard to enliven her sermons. I read her recent Advent 2 sermon and she told three stories. That’s impressive. Her sermon reminds me of her preaching at St. Augustine’s where she served for eighteen months. She told stories of her childhood, her dreams and she even tried to explain the Trinity using a banana. If she tries that here, let me know how it went.

During Lisa’s preparation for the priesthood in the Diocese of Arizona, she had to reaffirm her theological training through mini-courses and tests and she had to consider new ways of leadership. She sacrificed family time, sleep and emotion over the twenty-six week trial of hospital chaplaincy; in my humble opinion, few experiences shape future priests as that of the training gained through Clinical Pastoral Education. Through her experience she shared stories of tragedy, heartbreak and joy. CPE formed Lisa’s life.

And still in all this, knowing Lisa, I am sure she is still hungry to learn from you, St. Mark’s.

Lisa truly serves with joy. Her smile fills the room and her laughter lightens the heart. Her willingness to serve embodies the example of Jesus on Maundy Thursday. I have witnessed Lisa take on new ministry challenges and face the frustration found in such endeavors and then celebrate the joy of success in the same project. She has been willing to take on the risks of service.

And Lisa lives generously. She lives full speed, full throttle, and holding little in reserve. Fr. Danny, you may need to remind her to take her day off and to just do nothing.

Lisa you are bringing your gifts, skills, talents and passion as a priest - to God, the Episcopal Church, this Diocese and to St. Mark’s. You have much to give. And much still to learn, for the formation of a priest is the lifelong work of God and the priest partnered together for the life of the Church and God’s people. Go slow and take time to breathe and listen to the sweet silence found in the presence of the Holy Spirit.

By your life you are to be an example to the people of God. Your example of walking slowly, taking time to breathe and the courage to sit in the presence of haunting silence will inspire the people, and frankly it will frighten them as well.

You see, when you bring your giftedness into the realm of the priesthood, God’s formation works on you, and the people, in a unique way. For when God does God’s work through the life of the priest, God will also form the community. God’s formation process will cause the sensation of struggle, question, doubt and resistance in your life and in the life of the community. This is a given. Look at the stories of the saints, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, Rachel and Leah, David, Ruth, Esther, Mary, Mary Magdalene, the apostles and of course Jesus. Never be afraid to step into the formative fire, for what will result in the fire of your formation is the beautiful creative artistic work of God. You are continually being made into God’s holy vessel.

My humble counsel to you is that you write the words of the Philippians text you selected for this evening, on your heart; just love the people, be gentle, instead of worrying, pray – trust God and think about God’s blessings. And – keep on doing the things you have learned and received and heard from God; for it is God’s peace that will sustain you in your ministry.

May God bless you and pour out the power of her Holy Spirit upon your life and ministry. Amen.