The Presbytery of Ohio Valley ordains Jerusha Van Camp to a validated ministry serving small churches in southern Indiana
by Mike Ferguson | Presbyterian News Service
The Rev. Jerusha Van Camp sits in a pew of the church that gave her hope, First Presbyterian Church in Evansville, Indiana. On Saturday, the Presbytery of Ohio Valley ordained Van Camp to a validated ministry serving small churches in southern Indiana. (Photo by Rachel Mathew Photography)
EVANSVILLE, Indiana — Near the end of her joyous and Spirit-filled ordination service on Saturday, the now-Rev. Jerusha Van Camp stood in front of the many friends and family gathered at First Presbyterian Church in Evansville, Indiana, and told them, “Your presence surrounds me with love.”
“About 14 years ago, I walked into this church building for the first time. I was crushed, traumatized and very, very alone. I was giving church one last chance. If I couldn’t find welcome and sanctuary, I was fully prepared to walk away from God and never come back,” Van Camp said. “I found welcome here, a place where I was loved for all my humanity, not just some parts of it,” said Van Camp, a gay woman whose wife, Kathryn, and their children Judah, Jesse and Micaiah were seated at the front of the sanctuary — except for the times Micaiah was providing musical offerings as a soloist and as part of the church choir.
Saturday’s ordination brought joy to the people gathered at First Presbyterian Church in Evansville, Indiana. (Photo by Rachel Mathew Photography)
“This church was Jesus to me,” regardless of her sexual orientation, she told those celebrating her ordination. “I was gathered in, and I was loved to wholeness. I have learned that God is good and the gospel of Jesus Christ really is for all people, without exception. To be standing here today is something of a miracle, for which I am grateful.”
Van Camp was ordained by the Presbytery of Ohio Valley. Watch the 100-minute service here.
A recent graduate of the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, Van Camp is now one of three pastors validated by the Presbytery of Ohio Valley for pulpit supply, sacraments and church governance. She’ll travel to, for example, churches without a pastor to preach, moderate session meetings and perform other clergy roles. On the first time she presided as a Minister of Word and Sacrament at the Communion Table, she did so alongside the Rev. Tony Larson, Co-Moderator of the 226th General Assembly.
The Rev. Tony Larson, Co-Moderator of the 226th General Assembly and the Rev. Jerusha Van Camp preside at the Communion Table during Van Camp’s ordination. (Photo by Rachel Mathew Photography)
For Van Camp’s ordination, the Rev. Susan McGhee, Executive Presbyter of the Presbytery of Ohio Valley, preached a sermon called “The One Thing that is in All Things,” based on Luke 10:38-42, Luke’s account of Jesus visiting sisters Mary and Martha.
“Martha prepares for the multitudes and Mary takes a seat, and yet it’s Martha Jesus chastises,” McGhee said. “I can imagine it might have been painful for Martha to hear those words. She was doing what she was brought up to do.”
As McGhee pointed out, Jesus “doesn’t chastise Martha for working, but for being distracted by her many tasks. Jesus lifts up Mary’s example to show her the one thing that is in all things, the one thing in which all of our roles find meaning.”
“The one thing Mary has is what she gives to Jesus: her loving and willing attention,” McGhee said.
While participating in a youth ministry and spirituality project some years ago, McGhee learned about distinctions among “one thing,” “everything” and “some things.”
“One thing is paying attention, being present in the moment,” McGhee said. “Jerusha will have to do that as she travels from church to church.”
“Everything” is part of the job description of people who serve God, “walking, doing dishes, playing with children, writing, singing and looking up at the stars,” McGhee said. “The Mary in us could just as easily got up and cooked” but “Jesus doesn’t want to put an end to Martha’s homemade noodles or famous apple pie. Jesus wants to relieve her of her distractions, her anxieties … Paying attention is the one thing we can do in all the things we do.”
Finally, the “some things,” or “some particular ways the church attends to the presence of God,” through worship, communion, the study of Scriptures and the giving of gifts. Today is one of those ‘some things,’” McGhee said, “as the Presbytery of Ohio Valley gathers to ordain Jerusha, who offers herself in new ways to the One who holds nothing back, to the church of Jesus Christ, through her energy, intelligence, imagination and love.”
The stole presented to the Rev. Jerusha Van Camp was a cooperative effort between FPC’s Bonnie Rinks and Van Camp’s family, standing in front of her. (Photo by Rachel Mathew Photography)
“Pay attention” when it came time for Van Camp to answer the Constitutional Questions, McGhee suggested. “Pay attention and cheer her on, so that Jerusha will never forget the one thing that is in all things — her loving attention. For every moment, God is at work, and there’s nothing that God cannot redeem. She knows that, and she gives herself to that today. Pay attention to the call of God in your life,” McGhee told those gathered, “and to every waking moment.”
Ruling and teaching elders in the Presbytery of Ohio Valley celebrate the laying on of hands with the Rev. Jerusha Van Camp, the presbytery’s newest pastor. (Photo by Rachel Mathew Photography)
McGhee presented Van Camp with a stole that was a collaboration among Van Camp’s family and Ruling Elder Bonnie Rinks of FPC in Evansville. Family members chose an item of clothing to donate, which Rinks artfully turned into flames inching their way up the stole.
The church presented Van Camp with a Bible, and the presbytery gave her a traveling communion kit. “This comes from the presbytery who loves you,” McGhee said, “and is so glad you’re still among us.”
In a charge to the newly ordained, the Rev. Wendy VanderZee, the presbytery’s vice-moderator, said Van Camp has already “faced responsibilities like the best of circus jugglers. Managing ministry, marriage and parenting is never easy, but I charge you to develop a calendar where every task has a prominent place,” VanderZee said, because “each aspect of your life deserves the best of you. Sometimes the responsibilities will drain you; at other times they’ll fill you up.”
Fourteen years ago, Jerusha Van Camp came to First Presbyterian Church in Evansville, Indiana, seeking welcome and sanctuary, which she found in abundance. (Photo by Rachel Mathew Photography)
“You have called spiritual formation as your critical grounding piece,” VanderZee told Van Camp. “No matter the challenges and blessings, your foundation and your source is the God who makes all things new. Be well, my friend.”
“For me, part of ministry is every person is valued and important to God. Small churches may not have the resources to change their situation [of being without a pastor or commissioned ruling elder], but they still have needs for pastoral care,” Van Camp told Presbyterian News Service following the service.
She expressed gratitude for the church home given to her by First Presbyterian Church and for the many people who supported her as she prepared for the ministry. She said she hopes to preach at least two Sundays every month in churches located within the sprawling presbytery, south of Indianapolis to the Kentucky border, as far east as Bennington, Indiana, and west to the Illinois border.
Saturday’s service was punctuated by its closing number: First Presbyterian Church’s music director, Robert Nicholls, sent everyone off with an inspired organ rendition of Basil Poledouris’ “The Anvil of Crom,” the theme from “Conan the Barbarian.”
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