{"id":1893,"date":"2009-11-30T13:24:00","date_gmt":"2009-11-30T02:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/?p=1893"},"modified":"2009-11-30T13:24:00","modified_gmt":"2009-11-30T02:24:00","slug":"commissioning-symbols-of-ministry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/2009\/11\/30\/commissioning-symbols-of-ministry\/","title":{"rendered":"Commissioning: Symbols of Ministry"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>At St David\u2019s Cathedral on Sunday, 29 November 2009 at 4.30 pm, I had the privilege of commissioning Andrew and Pam Lake as CMS-Tas Missionaries to All Saints Church, Damascus (Syria). A special part of the service was the presentation of \u201cSymbols of Ministry\u201d to Andrew and Pam:\u00a0John van Emmerik the Bible, Margaret Cannell the Candle and Russell Morton the Cross.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h1>The Bible<\/h1>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright\" title=\"biblealone\" src=\"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/files\/2009\/11\/biblealone1-294x300.jpg\" alt=\"biblealone\" width=\"149\" height=\"182\" \/>Andrew and Pam, it is God\u2019s Word which brings us knowledge of God, and new life in him.\u00a0 It is God\u2019s Word which must shape your missionary service in Damascus, and which you must seek to live and proclaim during your time in Syria.\u00a0 May your life be so grounded in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as proclaimed in the Scriptures, that this same Word may be known, honoured and obeyed among all those to whom you will minister.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h1>\u00a0<\/h1>\n<h1>\u00a0<\/h1>\n<h1>The\u00a0Light<\/h1>\n<p><em><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright\" title=\"red-candle-720\" src=\"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/files\/2009\/11\/red-candle-720-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"red-candle-720\" width=\"101\" height=\"171\" \/><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Andrew and Pam, Jesus Christ is identified in God\u2019s Word as the light of all people, who has come into the world, so that people may not live in darkness.\u00a0 Jesus himself then also called each of us, his followers, \u201cthe Light of the World\u201d.\u00a0 We are only able to be that light as we ourselves are illuminated by the Spirit of Jesus.\u00a0 As you carry the light of the Gospel with you wherever you go, may the Light of Christ shine forth from you, and light up the lives of all those to whom and with whom you will minister in Syria.<em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<h1>\u00a0<\/h1>\n<h1>\u00a0<\/h1>\n<h1>\u00a0<\/h1>\n<h1>The Cross<\/h1>\n<p><em><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright\" title=\"Cross\" src=\"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/files\/2009\/11\/Cross-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"Cross\" width=\"136\" height=\"184\" \/><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Andrew and Pam, the Cross has been the symbol of a Christian\u2019s allegiance to Christ since the earliest days of the Church.\u00a0 This silver Baptism Cross was taken by the Venerable Lance Dudley, Archdeacon of Hobart, when he first went as a Missionary to India in the first half of last century.\u00a0 When he died, his wife gave it to John van Emmerik, who studied under him at Christ College, who took it with him when he and Helen went as Missionaries to Africa.\u00a0 John presented it to Russell and Sue Morton when they were first commissioned for missionary service in Pakistan in 2001. Today this cross is being passed to you from Russell and Sue so that this chain of Tasmanian missionary service continues. As this cross has symbolised for all these people both the content and the empowerment for the Gospel they bear, so may it represent your loyalty and dependence on Christ our crucified Saviour during your ministry in Syria.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At St David\u2019s Cathedral on Sunday, 29 November 2009 at 4.30 pm, I had the privilege of commissioning Andrew and Pam Lake as CMS-Tas Missionaries to All Saints Church, Damascus (Syria). A special part of the service was the presentation &hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/2009\/11\/30\/commissioning-symbols-of-ministry\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1893"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1893"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1893\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1917,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1893\/revisions\/1917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}