I first sensed a call to be what I would now call a priest back when I was in college. At the time, this felt impossible. I grew up in a denomination that did not ordain women, I went to college to be a graphic designer, and I had an extreme fear of public speaking, and really just speaking in general. I felt that God would have to perform a miracle in order for this secret dream to become true one day. Following this call has been the adventure of a lifetime.
I moved away from my hometown of San Diego to move to Nashville, TN. In Nashville was where I found the church and priest that would encourage me and support me to go to seminary. I moved away from Nashville, a city I would have loved to stay in, to go to Atlanta to test out a call and to attend seminary at Candler School of Theology at Emory University. In Atlanta, I was received into the Episcopal church and interned at a church that became my sponsor parish. I also found many Episcopal priests who were excited to journey with me through the ordination process. And as you all know, I moved away from Atlanta to Boston to be with you all and my husband, Peter.
Looking back on this journey, I am filled with gratitude. Though it has been scary and has required a lot of sacrifice, it has also been filled with the most loving communities that I wouldn’t have known had I not taken that next step forward. This Friday is my ordination to the priesthood which is formally a 5-year process, but a journey that I feel started much before then. I see this Friday as a celebration that God and home can be found in many different places.
One of my favorite hymn writers, Shirley Erena Murray, has a hymn called "When We Lift Up Our Pack and Go.” The words to this hymn have been a companion to me along my journey that has involved a lot of goodbyes and hellos. The hymn goes like this:
“When we lift our pack and go,
when we seek another country,
moving far from all we know,
when we long to journey free --
Refrain: God is in the other place,
God is in another's face,
in the faith we travel by,
God is in the other place.
In the hands outstretched to greet,
through the open doors of strangers
there is love we yet can meet
and believe that Christ is there --
Refrain: God is in the other place,
God is in another's face,
in the faith we travel by,
God is in the other place.”
Now I know that it is your faces that I have been preparing to know throughout this whole journey. What a gift to be called to this community! I hope to see you this Friday at Epiphany at 6:00 pm.
If you are unable to attend in person, you may tune in via the livestream here.
With gratitude,
Rev. Janelle
