Liturgy
Proclaiming the Word
The Revd Mandy Herriman, Deacon, Parish of Kingsley-Woodvale
James Noble – the first Aboriginal person ordained as Deacon in the Anglican Church of Australia – was commemorated on the 100th anniversary of his ordination on 13 September at St Georges’ Cathedral. It was my great privilege and joy to serve as Deacon of the Word at this celebration of his work as an Aboriginal clergyman.
Proclaiming the Word to the gathered faithful is liturgically symbolic of the diaconal call to proclaim the Word to those in the streets and byways, highways and valleys, the ones on the fringes and the outskirts, the broken and oppressed, the lonely and the lost, the rejected and the voiceless. Deacons proclaim the Word by singing the story - in action, intent, word and heart.
Proclaiming the Word at the service honouring James Noble was an incredible spiritual encounter. Surrounded by graceful sacred swirls of beauty as the Boodjar Bidi Performance Group from Guildford Grammar School danced the Word into life, there was a sacred sense of an eternal, endless dance of all who have heard the Word and professed the faith. The ancient visceral droning of the didgeridoo heightened further the deep reverence of the proclamation.
To stand in the centre of this space made suddenly more sacred, and proclaim:
‘As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.’
Was profound. Love – between God, each of us and each other – entwining, embracing, surrounding, perfecting, joy-filling, uncontainable love. Abiding in love suddenly became clear to me. Abiding in God’s love is full immersion to saturation point. When we abide in God’s love, it spills out and over, flowing into the world to embrace, surround, entwine and immerse others. The spoken Word made flesh and dwelling in the world.
How else to proclaim the gospel than to live it, breathe it, speak it, do it, BE it.
‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit’ (excerpts from John 15.9-17)