I was deeply touched by that splendid celebration last Sunday as you helped me mark a significant milestone... 20 years of ordained ministry... with gifts, food, photos (some embarrassing!) and laughter. From Andover, MA to Granby, CT (and several points in between), it is difficult to believe that 20 years have gone by since I stood in my home church and was blessed through the of "laying on of hands." I was so pleased that Cal and Karen Mutti, who were there with me that day, could be here and that you were able to experience Cal's storytelling from the pulpit.

But as I told the children last Sunday, ordination doesn't make a person "special" in the sense that they receive some elevated status; ordination is in fact the opposite, in which a person chooses the role of servanthood. And it is that specialness that we will celebrate with Diann Bailey on Sunday afternoon when she is ordained to the Christian ministry in her home church, First Church of Christ Simsbury, following her call to serve as Associate Pastor for Youth and Intergenerational Ministries at First Congregational Church of Suffield. We will deliver a stole, lovingly made by Helga on our behalf, to remind Diann how much her "service" here meant to us! A stole is meant to represent a towel of service, after all. I hope you will join me.