On Sunday, Jan. 4, at an evening prayer service at the cathedral, Jenny Replogle was collated as executive archdeacon. “Collating” is a very funny word that most of us associate with photocopying. It means to put things in their proper order.
As part of the service, we sang “The Canticle of The Turning,” a paraphrase of “The Magnificat,” which reminds us that the “proper order of things” in the Kingdom of God is the reverse of the order in this world. In the world, the “proper” order of things is hierarchical and patriarchal, favoring the rich and the powerful; in the Kingdom of God, the mighty are brought down from their thrones, the hungry are filled with good things and the rich are turned empty away.
In my sermon at Jenny’s collation, I reminded those present that in the church those with the most authority must always and everywhere be the ones with the most humility. Their work must always and everywhere be in service of the most vulnerable, of the least among us.
Jenny began her work in this diocese not long ago as the canon for lay-led parishes and parishes in transition. Her ministry over the past 16 months has been largely among the parishes that might seem to be the least of us, the smallest ones, who don’t have and likely will never have full-time clergy.
My only real hesitancy in moving Jenny into the role of executive archdeacon is that I don’t want to take her away from that work. In becoming the executive archdeacon, she’s not being promoted out of her work with lay-led parishes and parishes in transition, but rather the work of lay-led parishes and parishes in transition is being promoted of our life as a diocese. I have been so pleased by the tremendous response to this year’s Bishops Dinner, which will highlight the “mighty ministry” that is being done by these lay-led parishes in their communities. They do us all proud.
My friends, 2026 is not proving to be a simple or straightforward time in human history. There are tyrants who need to be brought down from their thrones, hungry that need to be fed and the least among us who need to take their rightful place at the top of the hierarchy. Let us remember that the proper order of things involves turning the world on its head.
