As I prepare to be ordained into Christian ministry (at Hopwood Christian Church this Sunday, Pentecost, at 6pm), this quote is on my mind. I thought I would share it here.
“As the church that is founded on the apostolic word, the church is never a given factor. It has to be repeatedly found anew by an apostolic word. It can exist only in the event of the speaking and hearing of this apostolic word as God’s Word. Thus the church is an institution only as an invitation, as a waiting for the church. In the church we are always on the way to the event of the church. Thus the ministry as a stepping forth of individuals is an act which must repeatedly become a reality by the calling of God. Ordination is a canonical act, but its significance is as a pointer to God’s calling to the extent that in ordination the ordained come to hear the Word of God, which, however, they must constantly hear afresh.”
Karl Barth, Homiletics, 70
