Ordination of Jennifer Nordstrom
Donation protected
On October 24, at 4pm, Third Unitarian Church is going to ordain me to the Unitarian Universalist ministry. The five year journey of learning, preparation, formation and transformation has brought me to this moment filled with gratitude and hope. This fund is to help cover the costs of the ordination ceremony.
What is an ordination?
For folks less familiar with ordination, it is a ceremony during which a person is ordained as clergy--the ritual act by which I will become a UU minister. In Unitarian Universalism, the people of the faith call their leaders out from among them. Third Unitarian Church is a small congregation with a big heart, and it is the first congregation I am serving as a minister in fellowship with the Unitarian Universalist Association. We have spent the last year growing in our relationship with one another, and I am deeply honored they have chosen to ordain me.
What does this mean to me?
Ministry is my life's calling. I have been preparing for this moment for the last five years, but I have also been preparing for it all my life. In this beautiful and broken world, we need religion to hold us when we suffer and to hold us accountable when we wander from our deepest values. We need community that will comfort and challenge us. And we need leaders who can soothe our aching hearts and call us--and our communities--to our best selves. I have heard the ministry calling me to this work, a voice muffled and foggy, my entire life. Then one night six years ago, the fog cleared and I heard it ring like a bell. I enter the ministry to serve individuals at threshold moments, when they enter life-long partnerships, when they bring a new child into our human community, and when they leave this world behind. I also enter the ministry to serve this gorgeous, aching world, to work with others to bend the arc of the universe a little more towards justice, to work for the repair of relationships and the healing of wounds individual and communal, and to build the Beloved Community. I enter the ministry to witness and testify to the beauty, the terror, the struggle, and the love. This threshold moment of walking through the doorway to enter the ordained Unitarian Universalist clergy will be one of the most important moments of my life. I am immensly grateful for all the support everyone has given and will give me to help me arrive at that doorstep.
Why do we need your support?
Ordinations include clergy traveling from other parts of the country, they include music (and thus musicians), they include parents with children who sometimes need childcare during the ceremony, and they include hospitality for all the people who come and participate in the celebration! Third Unitarian Church is directly covering some of those costs, but this is an opportunity for folks near and far to directly support my ordination if you feel moved to do so. The funds will go towards travel and housing, music, childcare, and hospitality. Many of you have supported me all along this journey, and I am grateful to have your support in crossing the final threshold to becoming a minister!
With love,
Jennifer
What is an ordination?
For folks less familiar with ordination, it is a ceremony during which a person is ordained as clergy--the ritual act by which I will become a UU minister. In Unitarian Universalism, the people of the faith call their leaders out from among them. Third Unitarian Church is a small congregation with a big heart, and it is the first congregation I am serving as a minister in fellowship with the Unitarian Universalist Association. We have spent the last year growing in our relationship with one another, and I am deeply honored they have chosen to ordain me.
What does this mean to me?
Ministry is my life's calling. I have been preparing for this moment for the last five years, but I have also been preparing for it all my life. In this beautiful and broken world, we need religion to hold us when we suffer and to hold us accountable when we wander from our deepest values. We need community that will comfort and challenge us. And we need leaders who can soothe our aching hearts and call us--and our communities--to our best selves. I have heard the ministry calling me to this work, a voice muffled and foggy, my entire life. Then one night six years ago, the fog cleared and I heard it ring like a bell. I enter the ministry to serve individuals at threshold moments, when they enter life-long partnerships, when they bring a new child into our human community, and when they leave this world behind. I also enter the ministry to serve this gorgeous, aching world, to work with others to bend the arc of the universe a little more towards justice, to work for the repair of relationships and the healing of wounds individual and communal, and to build the Beloved Community. I enter the ministry to witness and testify to the beauty, the terror, the struggle, and the love. This threshold moment of walking through the doorway to enter the ordained Unitarian Universalist clergy will be one of the most important moments of my life. I am immensly grateful for all the support everyone has given and will give me to help me arrive at that doorstep.
Why do we need your support?
Ordinations include clergy traveling from other parts of the country, they include music (and thus musicians), they include parents with children who sometimes need childcare during the ceremony, and they include hospitality for all the people who come and participate in the celebration! Third Unitarian Church is directly covering some of those costs, but this is an opportunity for folks near and far to directly support my ordination if you feel moved to do so. The funds will go towards travel and housing, music, childcare, and hospitality. Many of you have supported me all along this journey, and I am grateful to have your support in crossing the final threshold to becoming a minister!
With love,
Jennifer
Organizer
Jennifer Nordstrom
Organizer
Chicago, IL