24.09.2018
‘Jesus Will be Right Beside You’ – The Revd Graham Jones is Ordained a Deacon
Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, was filled with joy on Sunday afternoon (September 23) as the Revd Graham Jones was ordained a Deacon. A huge crowd of family, friends and well wishers from many areas of Graham’s life packed the cathedral to support and celebrate with Graham as he embarked on this new stage of his ministry.
Archbishop Michael Jackson presided at the service and the address was given by Canon Lorraine Kennedy–Ritchie, an Ecumenical Canon of Christ Church Cathedral. Among the family members present was Graham’s wife Louise and their daughters, his father David who was one of his sponsors and his brother Rob who is also ordained.
Welcoming the congregation, the Archbishop said it was a special occasion in Graham’s life but also in the life of the dioceses and the wider church. “The fact that the cathedral is packed almost to capacity is a testament to Graham’s instinct in outreach and mission,” he said.
In her sermon, Canon Kennedy–Ritchie reflected on the Gospel reading (Mark 10: 35–45] and what it meant to serve in ordained ministry and to lead. She said that in the reading James and John were asking to be part of something bigger than themselves, to be part of the leadership.
She said all institutions needed structure and accountability. Among the people in institutions there are those who desire to be leaders and motivators. Speaking of her background in the Baptist Church in South Africa, the preacher said Mark 10 was often used to create fear rather to encourage leadership. It was seen as a warning against ambition.
However, she said that Jesus did not mock James and John’s ambition but rather said that he could not give them the guarantees they sought. He asked them if they knew where their ambition was driving them to. Even in his own leadership, Jesus was not understood and was questioned by his family, Canon Kennedy–Ritchie observed.
She said Jesus was urging James and John to understand what they were asking, to know that they were asking to be part of something that was bigger than themselves. She said that leadership could be difficult and lonely and leaders could be undermined but there was also the opportunity to go into the world and be filled with the Spirit.
“So Graham is celebrating that desire for leadership. Leadership is important. It brings about accountability, passion and the drive to go forward. This privilege is not within our hands to give you. But there is the promise that as you work out your desire, that Jesus will be right beside you so that he may be glorified,” she said.
Graham comes from a legal background and was a solicitor in practice until 2011. While he was training to be a lawyer he volunteered in two ministries run by his home church, St Catherine’s, Thomas Street. During that time he saw the effects of social and educational disadvantage and was spurred to establish Solas Project, a community development organisation in the inner city.
Towards the end of his time with Solas Project he had a sense that God was calling him into leadership within the church and entered the Church of Ireland Theological Institute two years ago. He will serve his Deacon year with Kilternan Parish, Dublin.
