The first in a series, Passing the Mantle. These are the stories of persons called to serve in The Michigan Conference. The Revs. J.D. Landis and Cora Glass talk about God’s call.
REV. JOHN E. HARNISH
Michigan Conference Communications
The guild of prophets from Jericho saw the whole thing from where they were standing. They said, “The spirit of Elijah lives in Elisha!” They welcomed and honored him. 2 Kings 2:15 The Message
So, the aging prophet Elijah is carried away in a flaming chariot. But before he departs, his young protégé Elisha askes for one more blessing: “Give me a double portion of your spirit. Let your mantle fall on me.” As Elijah ascends into glory, his cloak falls on the shoulders of Elisha who will carry on his prophetic ministry. It’s a grand exit which rivals the closing scene of a Broadway musical, and it is likely that very few of our retiring pastors will experience the majesty of departing the pulpit on their last Sunday in a chariot of fire.
But the tradition of “passing on the mantle” of ministry still holds powerful symbolism for the continuity of the church. In some annual conferences, and The Michigan Conference is one of them, there is a ceremony where a representative of the retiring pastors places a stole on the shoulders of one of the incoming pastors as a sign of passing on of the office of ordained ministry in the church.
In this series of articles, we will be sharing the stories of retirees and ordinands (those newly authorized and empowered for ministry) as they reflect on their calling, their hopes and dreams for the church and their sense of shared ministry.
This first interview introduces the Rev. Dr. J.D. Landis, retiring from the pulpit of First United Methodist Church in Midland, MI and the Rev. Cora Glass, a provisional Deacon who will be ordained at the 2019 Michigan Annual Conference by Bishop David A. Bard.
J.D. came to Michigan from Eastern Pennsylvania through the ministry of Dr. Bill Quick at Metropolitan United Methodist Church in Detroit. Cora experienced her call to ministry at First United Methodist Church in Birmingham. She currently serves on the staff at Waterford Central UMC.
In discussing his call to ministry, JD looked back to his days as a biology student at Millersburg University in Eastern Pennsylvania. He was working with Intervarsity at the time and people kept telling him, “You have gifts. God is using you. You should go into the ministry.” He felt a desire to do something but wasn’t sure what. One night he literally woke up from sleep and said to himself, “I’m going to seminary!” and a peace came over him which assured him he was moving in the right direction.
Cora’s first sense of call came through a fairly ordinary experience—a CROP walk. When she was a high school student at Birmingham First UMC, she got involved with CROP, an extension of Church World Service that raises funds tofeed the world’s hungry. In that experience, she began to put together the needs of the world and her desire to do something about it. Under the ministry of the Rev. Jeff Nelson, then Associate Pastor for Student Ministries at Birmingham, she became involved in leading small groups and organizing mission trips and realized that “…there was more than just meeting human needs. It also meant the transformation of the heart by modeling the love of Christ.” The growing sense that God was calling her to ministries of service led her to ordination as a Deacon, one who is called to lead the church in servant ministries such as Christian education, sacred music, and social work.
Like Cora, JD also points to mentors who have been significant in his journey. In the summer of 1979, he was working as the youth director at Ocean Grove in New Jersey when Bill Quick came as the preacher. He remembers the night they sat on a bench looking out over the Atlantic Ocean, and Bill invited him to join the staff at Metropolitan. JD hesitated because at that time, Detroit was known as the “Murder Capital,” but he came and discovered a wonderful church and ministry in the heart of the city. Another important mentor was the Rev. Bob Horton, the Superintendent of the Port Huron District. Horton invited JD to serve three small churches even before he was ordained. JD says, “Mentors like Bill and Bob and Jim Timmons have helped keep me alive in ministry along with the affirmation of the congregations I have served.”
Today Cora is looking forward to her ordination and to what will happen in the United Methodist Church. She is aware of the tensions and divisions in the denomination, but she also sees this moment as an opportunity for something new to emerge for the Order of Deacon. She says, “For too long we have lived with a fear of dying so we focused on the local church. If we can embrace all the places where God is at work and the Spirit is moving outside the church building, we might discover new life. That’s the work of the Deacon, whatever comes next.”
When asked, “What would you tell a new ordinand?” JD didn’t hesitate. He said, “Three things: find a mentor who will encourage you and challenge you, keep learning and studying, and finally, spend as much time as you possibly can on sermon preparation. That’s how you keep the call alive and stay fresh in ministry for the long haul.”
JD and Cora represent the tradition which goes all the way back to Elijah and Elisha, passing on the mantle of ministry from one generation to another for the sake of Jesus Christ and the future of the church.
Last Updated on May 8, 2019