I want to start off by saying I’m not an authority on the things I am going to share. I have been a Southern Baptist all my life so my thoughts come from past experiences. I like to help others understand our beliefs and why we believe what we do. So please read on knowing I’m not a perfect authority of these things.
This past Sunday morning’s Worship Service at our church (Trinity Baptist in Hammond, Louisiana) was very special from beginning to end. All Worship Services at Trinity are special because it is when we gather to learn more about God’s Holy Word through preaching and music. God’s presence was strong in that place this past Sunday
This Sunday included an amazing Ordination sermon from Dr. Cyril Antony (an amazing preacher from India), followed by a Preacher ordination of Jonah Kyle Traylor and a Deacon ordination of Mark Traylor, Sr.
Dr. Cyril Antony’s Ordination sermon can be heard here:
For those who are not Southern Baptist here’s a little info:
Every Southern Baptist church is autonomous and establishes its own policies. However, there are some traditional practices that seem to be followed by most of our churches. Each local church determines who they will ordain. Associations, State Conventions, or the Southern Baptist Convention do not ordain.
At our church, Ministry Candidates and Deacons meet with an Ordination Council of ordained Ministers and Deacons. From what I understand the candidate for ordination is asked to tell of his conversion experience and also his call to the Gospel Ministry. Other questions may be centered around Biblical theology, ethics, morals, personal beliefs, etc.
This Sunday after the Ordination sermon all ordained men formed a line and laid hands on each of Jonah and Mark. During this time as we watch man after man bend over the candidates to lay their hands on each man while praying over him.
Mark’s older brother Ronnie Traylor giving Mark a huge brotherly hug. Strong men of God seem to run in that family!
I have witnessed a few ordinations over the years and this one was very special to me. Leslie Hendricks and I taught Jonah Kyle in our 3rd and 4th grade Sunday School class and I’ve been blessed to watch him grow up in the Lord. He is now serving as our Youth Minister. His dad, Mark Traylor has been a dear close friend of our family for decades. He and his wonderful wife Sonya have raised two outstanding young Christian men that I love very much.
I cherish the fact that there are generations of families in our church. Some of the strongest Christians I know were born in the years after their parents began our church. Their children and those children have been raised here, learned about Jesus, and accepted him as their Lord and Savior. This is not found in a lot of churches and I am thankful it is strong at Trinity.
My emotions were all over the place Sunday thinking that this would have made Roy so happy. I cried and cried because of that and because of the wonderful meaning behind the Ordination service for two men I love.
I asked some folks at Trinity to share their thoughts and feelings about the ordination service today. They kindly agreed to do that and here they are.
Crystal shared this, “One thing I have noticed is there is a strong presence of multigenerational families in our church. Getting to witness a father become ordained as a deacon and his son ordained into ministry together is a testimony to the importance of rooting your family in Christ. It was truly a blessing to my family and me to witness their ordination.”
Chip (my son) attended today’s service with me and has known Mark and Jonah all his life. “All of us have been charged to fulfill the plan and purpose God has created us for in whatever capacity that may be. The extreme importance of implanting Godly Christian Biblical truths and values at a young age is the most important thing that parents can do for their children. Because in my older age it is mostly the reason that I have the relationship that I have with Jesus today.
Deanna (our pianist) shared this, “The worship service was amazing. I felt the Lord’s presence there from the moment I walked through the door. For me, personally because of my piano position a lot goes on before and during the service but yesterday was different. It was smooth and flowed perfectly. The message had so much meaning. The laying of hands for the ordination was an emotional time for me because I watch people I love dearly participate in such a beautiful event. I will say again, Surely the presence of the Lord was in this place.”
Lisa shared this, “I wasn’t physically in the sanctuary as I was watching online. However, I could feel the Holy Spirit even at my own home. The entire service was like a sweet melody of a sonata that flowed beautifully; from the music to the preaching, to the laying of hands on Mark and Jonah Kyle. I had cold chills throughout Dr. Cyril Antony’s sermon. It was spirit-filled, powerful, and full of truth. It was clearly obvious “that surely the presence of the Lord is in this place.”
Totally not about the Ordination service but still about Jonah Kyle. I painted rocks for him as our Youth Minister and Courtney as our Children’s Minister and gave the rocks to them after church. They said the rocks show they are official church staff now! I think they liked them!
I love that family, Mark, Sonya, Mark Everett, and Jonah Kyle. I love the people in my church family. They have loved my family, Roy, me, Chad, and Chip. They’ve been there for me since Roy’s death. Mark’s mama Rosa Mae was my mama’s Sunday School teacher. Mama loved learning from Ms. Rosa Mae. So many memories like this have come to mind while I’ve been writing this.
I need to bring this one to a closing point so I’ll stop now! There is a lot going on in Chauvin Land right now and I’ll be writing about some of that next.
Have a Blessed Wednesday!
BECAUSE HE LIVES 