A Reaffirmation of Ordination Vows for Rev. Steve Watson of Reservoir Church, North Cambridge
Sunday October 1, 2023
(Adapted from the Episcopal Church and United Church of Christ)
The clergyperson stands, as able.
Leader: Dear friends, the ministry we share is none other than the sacrificial ministry of Christ, who gave himself up to death on the cross for the salvation of the world. By his resurrection Christ has opened for us the way of everlasting life. By the gift of the Holy Spirit, She shares with us the riches of their grace. We are called to proclaim Christ’s death and resurrection, to administer the Sacraments of the New Covenant which he sealed with his blood and to care for God’s people in the power of the Spirit.
And now, as the executive director of the Massachusetts Council of Churches and as your colleague in ministry, before God and this church, I invite you to re-dedicate yourself and reaffirm the promises that you made when you were ordained.
Rev. Steve Watson, do you here, in the presence of Christ and the Church, renew your commitment to your ministry, under the pastoral direction (of the elders of this church), and in the relation to the whole body of Christ? If so, please say, I do, relying on God’s grace.
Clergy I do, relying on God’s grace.
Leader: Rev. Steve Watson, before God and this congregation, we ask you again,:
After prayerful discernment by yourself and in community,
are you persuaded that God has called you to be an ordained minister
of the Church of Jesus Christ, and are you ready with the help of God
to re-enter this ministry and to serve faithfully in it? If so, please say, I am, relying on God’s grace.
Clergy: I am, relying on God’s grace.
Leader: Do you reaffirm your promise to give yourself to prayer and study? If so, please say, I am, relying on God’s grace.
Clergy: I do, relying on God’s grace.
Leader: Do you, with the Church throughout the world,
hear the word of God in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments,
and do you accept the word of God as the rule of Christian faith and practice? Please reply, “I do, relying on the Spirit’s guidance.”
Clergy: I do, relying on the Spirit’s guidance.
Leader: Do you reaffirm your promise so to minister the Word of God and the Sacraments of the New Covenant that the reconciling love of Christ may be known and received? If so, please say, I am, relying on God’s grace.
Clergy: I do, relying on God’s grace.
Leader: Do you reaffirm your promise to be a faithful servant of all those committed to your care, patterning your life in accordance with the teachings of Christ, so that you may be a
wholesome example to your people? If so, please say, I do, relying on God’s grace.
Clergy: I do, relying on God’s grace.
Leader: Will you, as an ordained Christian minister,
reach out ecumenically toward all who are in Christ
and show Christian love and respect to people of other faiths and people of no faith? If so, please say, I am, relying on God’s grace.
Clergy: I will, relying on God’s grace.
Leader: Do you promise to be diligent in your private prayer,
to be open to the continuing revelation of God in scripture,
and to seek the Spirit at work in the signs of the times?
If so, please say, I am, relying on God’s grace.
Clergy: I will, relying on God’s grace.
Leader: Will you seek to regard all people with equal love and concern
and undertake to minister impartially to the needs of all?
Will you be faithful in exercising pastoral care and leadership, and
will you be responsible in keeping confidences shared with you?
Clergy: I will, relying on God’s grace.
Leader: Will you be zealous in maintaining both the truth of the Gospel
and the peace of the Church,
speaking the truth in love?
Clergy: I will, relying on God’s grace.
Leader: Will you responsibly steward, for the sake of God’s future, the resources the Church
entrusts to you?
Clergy: I will, relying on God’s grace.
Leader: Will you care for all of creation, striving to steward with justice the earth and its resources, and to heal the broken places?
Clergy: I will, relying on God’s grace.
Leader: Will you exercise wisdom and courage in carrying out public duties,
witnessing and working for God’s justice and mercy in each situation?
Clergy: I will, relying on God’s grace.
Leader: May the Lord who has given us the will to do these things, give us also the grace and power to perform them.
RevEverett 