The Truth About Why I Wasn’t at SBL!

Last updated on: November 29, 2015 at 6:53 pm by Michael F. Bird

The Truth About Why I Wasn’t at SBL! 2015-11-29T18:53:23-04:00 Michael F. Bird

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As many readers of Euangelion know, I couldn’t make it to ETS/IBR/SBL this year, but I’ve been coy with the actual reason why.

Well, on Nov 28, I was ordained as an Anglican Priest with a cohort of 26 other deacons at St. Paul’s Cathedral by Archbishop Phil Freier.

It was a joyous event, the culmination of a long journey, both theologically and ecclesiologically, yet it is one that has a strong sense of home coming. As the Archbishop laid hands on me, I felt an intense sensation of joy, like my heavenly father was pleased with me. As if God was saying, “This is my beloved Mike, in whom I am well pleased.” For me this means that I really am a mediator between the church and the academy as both a qualified academic and an ordained member of the clergy. For me, ordination to the priesthood doesn’t just supplement what I do as a biblical theologian, it also transfigures it, as I now engage in my duties with the support and succor of the grace of Christ’s calling to lead and feed his people (that is the essence of priesthood if you ask me). Plus I got a really cool NRSV Bible with Apocrypha as a gift from the Archbishop!

We had a three day retreat before the ordination ceremony, spent mostly in silence, but also with moments of group discussion and pastoral reflections by Rev Dr Brad Billings (himself a priest and NT scholar). It was great being among many of my own Ridley students as we undertook this journey together. I spent my spare time at the retreat meditating on 2 Corinthians 3-4 and reading over the Ordinal, and its exhortation to priests:

Now you are responding to the call of God and of the Church to live and work as a priest, a pastor and a teacher, for God’s glory and the strengthening of God’s people. You know the responsibility and significance of this office: I now exhort you, in the name of Christ, to take up your calling with joy and dedication. As the Lord’s messenger, proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. Seek the lost, announce God’s justice, and warn and correct those in error. You are to encourage and build up the body of Christ, preaching the word, leading God’s people in prayer, declaring God’s forgiveness and blessing, and faithfully ministering the sacraments of God’s grace with reverence and care.

That is what the priestly office is about and it was wonderful just thinking and praying over it.

The next day after the ordination, I got to lead my first ever Eucharist as a priest, which was a bit “clunky,” but went well nonetheless. So St. Mark’s will always have a special place in my heart as where I first got to preside as a priest for a congregation.

Now some of you may be wondering how can a Bible-believer call themselves a “priest,” since a priest is a mediator and Christ is the only mediator. A genuine question is raised here, but in response, I’d like to recommend that people read my reflections on Rom 15.15 about Paul’s “priestly service” in the gospel in my forthcoming Romans commentary in the SGBC series, which is out in early February.

Some of my free church friends – mainly Southern Baptists I guess – may not know the proper protocol for how to address me as a priest, so I recommended one of the following forms of address:

Your holy Birditude
Darth Anglicanus
Michael, the Cranmerphile
Snoop Pope Daddy
Mike

I am forever grateful to my wife Naomi for all her support, my children, my colleagues and students at Ridley College, the parish of St. Mark’s where I have been an assistant curate for the last year, friends and pastors at St. Alfs, and all the many friends and people who have encouraged me in the journey I have undertaken over the last twenty years – thank you everyone.

Soli Deo Gloria

So now ya’all “Go and peace to love and serve the Lord, in the name of Christ. Amen!”

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