News and Views

By Erik Alsgaard

“May our love for You shine so brightly that we would need sunglasses.”

Recited as part of the opening prayer for the Service of Ordination and Commissioning at the 240th Annual Conference Session of the Baltimore-Washington Conference, the nearly two-hour worship demonstrated God’s light, love, and grace in countless varieties of ways.

Hundreds of set-apart servant leaders of the Baltimore-Washington Conference, laity, family, and friends surrounded those to be ordained and commissioned, and fire and new life were fully in evidence.

Dr. Carla Works, Dean of the Faculty and Woodrow and Mildred Miller Chair of Biblical Theology at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C., preached for the service. She also served as the Bible study leader during the plenary sessions. Using Jeremiah 20:7-13, and Romans 12:1, 9-12, Works helped to light a fire under the entire congregation assembled in the ballroom.

“We need theologians like Dr. Works to guide us out of our theological lethargy,” said Bishop Easterling in introducing Works to the assembly.

“It’s very special to be here,” Works said. “I’m looking at so many of my former students.”

Since becoming Dean last fall, Works said that she’s been bombarded with advice on “how to Dean.”

Some of you, she said, “may hope that I can share with you some inspiring tale with you; to create the next mega-church; become a renowned podcaster or church leader. But no – today, we’re going to reflect on someone who Harvard Business School would not touch. We’re going to talk about the prophet Jeremiah.”

With that, Works began to weave together a narrative of Jeremiah’s call and life. Jeremiah, she said, became and served as a priest when everything around him and his community was falling to pieces.

“He encountered fire not during a time of hope but during a time of crisis,” Works said. “The political scene was a proverbial hornet’s nest.”

Jeremiah’s ministry of 40 years was during this time, Works said, and he had to watch not only the kingship but also the prophets became puppets of one regime after another.

“He will preach and he will watch,” she said, “as his people (of Judah) become pawns; they become insignificant; they basically become a rest stop on the trade routes.”

And so, Jeremiah preaches to the people to remember their covenant with the Lord. But, Works noted, instead of seeing results of people turning back to God, Jeremiah sees his own people’s demise. He sees them continue to return to the king.

“Exile will come,” Works said. “Reading the book of Jeremiah is not for the faint of heart. You will feel the despair and frustrations. He will liken the people of Judah to an unlikely spouse. He will compare the people to a body that is so wracked with disease that it is hopeless. This prophetic voice has been calling and calling and, despite the callings, people do not change.”

By all our metrics of success, Works preached, Jeremiah failed. This calling weighs so heavy on him, he wishes he wasn’t born. It is when he refuses to speak, Works said, that experiences God speaking to him “like fire shut up in his bones.”

“Friends,” Works said to those about to set apart for ministry, “this calling will be all-consuming. This calling goes against the grain of conventional wisdom. When you experience a calling like Jeremiah, your heart will break like his.

“But, if you feel the fire shut up in your bones, you must go on,” Works said, “because even lament points to hope. You can only fail if you forget where the fire comes from. Because the fire is still there; God is still present.”

Works then offered some biblical leadership advice: “Bless those who persecute you. Live in harmony with one another. Never avenge yourself. Vengeance is not your job, but love is. Let your love be genuine. Love your enemy.”

She finished her preaching by asking, “Where are the Jeremiahs? Where are those who aren’t afraid to look like public failures?  My former students, and all of this class: Go out and be who God knit you to be, and you will set the world on fire.”

At the beginning of the service, the 2024 class of Certified Lay Ministers stood to be recognized and affirmed. They each had completed a two-year program of training to achieve certification.

Dono James II stood on the platform as his pastor, the Rev. Marion Easterling, pastor of Locust UMC in Columbia, read the liturgy of Commissioning for a Home Missioner. James was consecrated a Home Missioner at the 2024 General Conference in Charlotte, N.C., and commissioned here. James’ commissioning is a lifelong work of love, justice, and service, and he’ll be serving in ministry at Good Neighbors, which focuses on financial wellness and empowerment.

COMMISSIONED AS PROVISIONAL DEACON: Terri Dotterer

COMMISSIONED AS PROVISIONAL ELDER: Caitlin Mossburg, Kenneth Newton, Doralyn Osei, Derek Shackelford, Ryan Wiggins, David Yost

COMMISSIONED AS A HOME MISSIONER: Dono James II

ORDAINED AS DEACON: Helen Ballew; Roberta White

ORDAINED AS ELDERS: Michael Carrington Jr., Jacob Cogman, Sarah Elliott, Chet Jechura, Christine Kumar, Rachel Livingston, John Mayden Jr., Evelyn Romero, Emily Skorupinski, Levon Sutton, Shemaiah Strickland, Alexandra Thomas, Rebecca Wessinger, Terri Williams