Amy Hollis received approval from ordination council to proceed

Tonight Curt Brockway and I went to Amy Hollis' ordination council at the Essex Baptist Church.Most of you will remember that Amy worked with us as a student intern last year while taking classes at Andover Newton Theological School. She and her husband, Scott, and their two girls, Katie and Sarah were very much a part of our church family for the year. We heard her preach, enjoyed her children's moments, were blessed by the work she did with our children and encouraged y her prayers.

An ordination council is called to examine a candidate's call to ministry and fitness for the pastoral office. Usually the candidate reads a paper outlining their Christian story and detailing their theological beliefs. Questions are asked of the candidate testing their ability to defend their faith. Then a vote is taken as to whether the local church should proceed to ordain the candidate.

Pastor Greg Hamby, Moderator of the SUNL Association, called the meeting to order and introduced Pastor Erica Wimber Avena, Amy's sponsor. She outlined what we were doing and then asked Amy to read her paper.

Amy did a great job answering questions and the delegates voted to tell Essex to proceed with ordination in a unanimous vote. Pastor Michael Crane of Essex announced that Amy would be ordained on June 1 at 4:00 p.m. to the delight of all present.