The Oaken Oath: Prelude
Oaken Vow Ceremony
*Is it necessary, or even appropriate, for a tiny group of people to make life-long spiritual vows?
*Ultimately, it is only necessary to give oneself wholeheartedly to the Lord Jesus, to profess with your mouth and believe in your heart that He is the Holy One of God, and to follow Him with your all. This is what it means to be called a “Christian.” However, we believe that it is increasingly appropriate for self-proclaimed Christians to articulate precisely what they mean by a term that has lost its edge in a post-Christian Western society. We believe that Jesus of Nazareth is more interested in action and embodiment than He is with lip service. Therefore, we have determined to clarify for ourselves the praxis that most sufficiently expresses how the Spirit has forged our souls in Him.
*Jesus calls us to His way. The way of lambs among lions, the way of salt and light in dark and dry places, the way that points to the city on the hill.
*Jesus calls us to lead others to green pastures just as he has lead us. To forgive as we have been forgiven and love as we have been loved. To eat, drink, and commune with the marginalized and poor. To lead a simple life that values relationships more than money or power. To develop the strength to live this life from the power of his suffering, death, and resurrection.
*The way is not easy, but the burden is light. We recognize our need for one another in this journey of discipleship.
*Thus, we commit ourselves to God as the Grove of Oaks, bearing jubilant fruit within a spiritually famished world.
*Through vulnerability and availability to God and man, we strive to live and act in blessed union with all of creation. We struggle to place the needs of others before our own selfish desires. We invoke the Kingdom of God through the proclamation of justice through peaceableness. We invite all peoples to share the Eucharist as part of our table communion. We seek to live simply and humbly, in unity with God and each other. We commit ourselves to be consistently disciplined learners in the way of the Teacher.
[Vow takers will come forward and kneel.]
*Jesus read the following words in public at the beginning of His ministry, and said that these words were being fulfilled in Him. We are, then, quite simply the carry over of His life in us.
*Isaiah 61:1-3 says:
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called Oaks of Righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
In the Presence of the Sacred Trinity and Christ’s flock,
I hereby submit myself unto God in view of being transplanted among the Oaks of Righteousness.
*Is it necessary, or even appropriate, for a tiny group of people to make life-long spiritual vows?
*Ultimately, it is only necessary to give oneself wholeheartedly to the Lord Jesus, to profess with your mouth and believe in your heart that He is the Holy One of God, and to follow Him with your all. This is what it means to be called a “Christian.” However, we believe that it is increasingly appropriate for self-proclaimed Christians to articulate precisely what they mean by a term that has lost its edge in a post-Christian Western society. We believe that Jesus of Nazareth is more interested in action and embodiment than He is with lip service. Therefore, we have determined to clarify for ourselves the praxis that most sufficiently expresses how the Spirit has forged our souls in Him.
*Jesus calls us to His way. The way of lambs among lions, the way of salt and light in dark and dry places, the way that points to the city on the hill.
*Jesus calls us to lead others to green pastures just as he has lead us. To forgive as we have been forgiven and love as we have been loved. To eat, drink, and commune with the marginalized and poor. To lead a simple life that values relationships more than money or power. To develop the strength to live this life from the power of his suffering, death, and resurrection.
*The way is not easy, but the burden is light. We recognize our need for one another in this journey of discipleship.
*Thus, we commit ourselves to God as the Grove of Oaks, bearing jubilant fruit within a spiritually famished world.
*Through vulnerability and availability to God and man, we strive to live and act in blessed union with all of creation. We struggle to place the needs of others before our own selfish desires. We invoke the Kingdom of God through the proclamation of justice through peaceableness. We invite all peoples to share the Eucharist as part of our table communion. We seek to live simply and humbly, in unity with God and each other. We commit ourselves to be consistently disciplined learners in the way of the Teacher.
[Vow takers will come forward and kneel.]
*Jesus read the following words in public at the beginning of His ministry, and said that these words were being fulfilled in Him. We are, then, quite simply the carry over of His life in us.
*Isaiah 61:1-3 says:
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called Oaks of Righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
In the Presence of the Sacred Trinity and Christ’s flock,
I hereby submit myself unto God in view of being transplanted among the Oaks of Righteousness.
