Tapestry of blessing and affirmation

Sunday, I had the honor of attending the ordination service of Mackenzie Smith at Yates Baptist Church in Durham, the church where she grew up. She now serves as Associate Pastor of Music and Adults at Westwood Baptist Church in Cary, and her ordination was a beautiful tapestry of blessing and affirmation—woven together by voices from every season of her life and faith.

There was something deeply moving about witnessing so many generations gather in one place. Those who first nurtured her faith sat alongside those now serving beside her in ministry. Pastors, friends, mentors, and family members each held a piece of the story, each offering their own blessing to the call God had been shaping in her life for years.

As I sat in that sacred space, I found myself carried back to my own ordination. The memories came quietly but clearly—the weight of the moment, the vulnerability of saying yes out loud, the faces of those who had walked with me to that point. I was reminded again that what can feel like an individual calling is, in truth, always held by a community.

Ordination does not happen in isolation. It is formed in the steady presence of those who teach, encourage, challenge, and believe. It is spoken into being by a church willing to name the gifts they see and to trust the Spirit at work in one another.

Mackenzie’s service was a powerful reminder of that truth. Her calling has been shaped not only by her own faithfulness, but by the many communities that have surrounded her—those who first welcomed her as a child, those who nurtured her gifts, and those who now walk with her in ministry.

In a time when calling can sometimes feel uncertain or even lonely, this ordination stood as a witness: we are not alone in this process. We never have been. The Spirit moves through people—through conversations, through encouragement, through the quiet and persistent presence of those who refuse to let us walk away from who God is calling us to be.

Ordination, then, is not just about the one being set apart. It is about all of us. It is about a community saying together, “We see God at work here. And we will walk with you as you follow that call.”

And that is a gift we carry—not just on a Sunday of ordination, but in every step that follows.

God’s richest blessings on you, Reverend Mackenzie Smith!

All love,
Leslie