At the weekend, I was delighted to receive a letter from a retired minister. He had taken the time to write a note of encouragement and support prior to my ordination, for which I am very grateful. In it, he also gave me a verse of Scripture to be my guiding principle through my years of ministry. And so, as I prepare for ordination, I'm thinking through Acts 20:28.
Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the whole church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.
He also shared with me the story of how that verse came to be passed on to me. Not long after he was ordained, my friend had been visiting a retired minister, and the retired minister had shown him his ordination Bible, in which Bishop Handley Moule had inscribed this verse.
What a lineage of faith and faithfulness is being passed on to this generation! What examples to follow. May we also in our day be faithful and diligent pastors as we begin our new phases of ministry in the coming weeks.
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