The people of St Mark Famagusta were filled with joy to witness Henry Ikediego’s ordination to the diaconate at St Mark Famagusta on Saturday.

Henry has attended and served the mainly student congregation of St Mark’s over the course of a decade.

“Jesus said you will know a tree by its fruit,” said Bishop Sean—referencing Matthew 7.15-20. “What fruit have we seen of Henry’s ministry over these years?”

In the face of many challenges, St Mark’s is a stable, caring congregation—the fruit, said Bishop Sean, of Henry’s “dedication, perseverance, integrity, faithfulness, patience and humility”.

“I have seen in Henry a calm and unassuming spirit—a personality seared by the burning coal of God’s purifying spirit; and a courage and conviction to say, ‘Here I am, send me.’ (Isaiah 6.8)

Bishop Sean reminded the congregation that deacons are ordained to a ministry of “‘visible self-giving’. They should be committed to serving everyone—but particularly the poorest and most vulnerable in society.

“St Mark Famagusta is one of the poorest parishes in the Diocese and serves some of its most vulnerable people. Henry has been visibly and sacrificially ministering to this community for many years now, with minimal finance and support. Thank you—and please continue to be the calloused hands and welcoming heart of Christ to this community.

“May your ordination confirm God’s call on your life, a call issued in eternity, a call established in the fruit of your life and labour among us; a call to be—in the words of Rowan Williams, a ‘transparent sign’ through whom others glimpse Christ and hear, perhaps for the first time, the simple, life-altering invitation, ‘Come and see.’”

Photo credit: Revd Maria Evangelou