The Ordinations of the Revs. Celso Tavares & Jeff Wojcicki
The ADNE recently celebrated two ordinations in late September and October. The first was the ordination of the Rev. Celso Tavares to the diaconate at All Saints Church on September 28. Rev. Celso and his wife Renata come from Brazil where Celso has a history of pastoral ministry in the Vineyard movement. We are so glad to welcome a leader so passionate about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, especially when it’s estimated that over 100,000 Brazilians live in the Greater Boston area.
Bishop Drew departed from the set text to preach from Hebrews 5 & 6. He reflected on this decision saying:
At first sight, this might seem a very strange and severe choice. Why on earth would you preach on apostacy at an ordination? These chapters have been giving the church heartburn for two thousand years. Is this to put the fear of God up us? To insight my brother to race to the nearest pulpit and declare, “Woe to you sinner! Try harder to be good because if you fail (which of course you will), then God will cast you out eternally!” At first sight, it might appear that the author of the book of Hebrews is saying to born-again believers, “If you sin as a believer – you cannot be forgiven.” And if this was what was being said here, if this truly is the Gospel, then the ministry that Celso has been ordained into, the Gospel that we all share in, would look and sound very different. This is, mercifully, not what this passage is saying.
The entire book of Hebrews (very much including chapters five and six), in dramatic and ironic contrast, is in truth, all about the urgency, the imperative and the freedom of living and growing in the Gospel of grace. It is all about the full and complete assurance of the sufficiency of Jesus’ work upon the Cross for the forgiveness of all our sins – past, present and future. A love, grace and mercy in Jesus Christ that fights for you against your sin and is not against you because of your sin... By His grace, our wrestling with the Word causes us to grow stronger in the Gospel.
Most recently, the Rev. Jeff Wojcicki was ordained to the priesthood on October 27 at All Saints Church. Rev. Jeff, ordained to the diaconate earlier this year, has served at All Saints as Associate Pastor of Next Gen Ministries, and oversees the Discipleship Cohort at All Saints. Father Len Cowen, the Rev. Canon Ross Kimball, the Rev. Sean Norris, and the Rev. Martha Learned were also in attendance.
Rev. Sean Norris preached from Isaiah 6, saying, “Isaiah 6 is full of the Lord’s purifying fire, evoking a forest fire. If you know anything about ecology then you know that forest fires are actually essential for the health of a forest. They burn away all of the dead, dying, and diseased parts of the forest along with the destructive parasites and insects that eat away at everything. The fire burns this all down and transforms it into nutrients for the soil. It clears the ground and prepares it for new growth. Remember that it is the burned over places in your life that are the nutrients for others. It is not your strength or your successes that your people need to hear…but your weakness…where you know that Jesus Christ is strong for you…where the burning coal has touched your lips…because they need to know that Jesus is strong for them in their pain and brokenness. Give them Jesus so they too might experience the same new life, the same comfort you have received. So that they can have him and him alone. That’s the call, to give them Jesus.”
