Reflections on the ordination of Ann Elizabeth Markle to the transitional diaconate on 26 June 1999. Every year hundreds of people are ordained in churches all around the world.
Ordinations contribute greatly to the future of the church.
Not every new deacon will become an archbishop or presiding bishop, but every presiding bishop was once a new deacon and every archbishop was once a new priest. While canon law is the legal baseline for what our church does and is, the people who make that canon law were educated by clergy, and many of them are clergy. It all starts with an ordination. Every generation runs the risk of being the last generation for any church, and the selection and training of ordinands has a large effect on what the church will be. More than a handful of people have named Ann Markle as an example of where the church might be going, careening along in cyberspace and modern society.