John Holsey Ordination Recognition Service – March 22, 2026
by Noel Santiago
There are moments in a congregation’s life that feel less like beginnings and more like long-awaited arrivals. The recognition of John Holsey as an ordained minister is one of those moments.
Most ordination services mark a starting line. This one marks something different. Providence Mennonite Church (Collegeville, PA) gathered not to welcome someone new to the road, but to publicly affirm someone who has already been walking it faithfully among them. They have heard him preach. They have watched him care for people in hard seasons. They have received his encouragement. Together, the community is saying: “We see the calling God has placed on your life, and we affirm it.”
The scriptures that frame this occasion tell a story that fits. In Acts 26, the apostle Paul stands before King Agrippa with everything stripped away and offers only this about his life: “I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.” Not a claim to perfection. Not a list of successes. Just the testimony of someone who kept saying yes to God even when the road was hard.
Out of that passage, four things stand out as words of encouragement for John and for all of us.
The first is this: your history with God is your testimony. Paul does not begin his defense before Agrippa by listing his credentials. He begins with his story. The long and uneven road God carried him through is not behind him. It is the ground he stands on. The prayers that took a long time to be answered. The dry seasons. The moments of wondering whether he had heard God correctly. All of it becomes the soil from which ministry grows. So remember: what God has carried you through is not behind you. It is the ground you stand on as you serve.
The second: God is still working on you. Paul was already trained, already a leader, already deeply formed in faith when God met him on the road. Not at a temple, not at a retreat, but in the middle of an ordinary journey. That is often how it happens. God so often meets us right in the middle of our everyday lives, in places we are already walking, in moments we did not plan or expect. And it is a needed reminder, because something can quietly shift in ministry over time. We learn how to do things well, and slowly, almost without noticing, we can stop expecting something new. We stop being curious. Faithful ministry, though, stays open. The hands that have baptized many can still receive. The voice that has preached for years can still be surprised by God. How deeply God works through us is connected to how deeply God is still working in us. So remember: years of experience are a gift. Stay open, so God can keep shaping them.
The third: God still lifts. Paul is on the ground, unable to see, when the One he had been fighting against speaks to him and does not condemn him. Does not rehearse his past. Simply says, “Get up and stand on your feet.” Ministry carries wounds that do not always show. Someone trusted hurts you. Something you worked hard for does not last. A prayer gets answered in a way you did not expect. Still, you get up. Maybe slowly. Maybe with help. But you get up, and that is grace. So remember: God lifted you before. God will lift you again. And when God does, stand.
The fourth holds all the others together: the call has not changed. Servant and witness. Those words from Acts 26 do not shift with titles or roles or new faces. Serve the people where God has placed you, and bear witness to what Jesus has done and is still doing. Both tenses belong together: what has already been seen and what God will yet show. That kind of life is lived from the inside out. Stay close to Jesus and let him remain the center. So remember: the call has not changed. Serve and witness, from what you have seen, and with hope for what God will still show you.
That is the call John continues in. And the congregation that receives him steps into it alongside him. Still a servant. Still a witness. Still walking together. And the One who called is still faithful.
Noel Santiago
Noel Santiago is the Leadership Minister for Missional Transformation for Mosaic Conference.
Mosaic values two-way communication and encourages our constituents to respond with feedback, questions, or encouragement. To contact Noel Santiago, please email nsantiago@mosaicmennonites.org.
The opinions expressed in articles posted on Mosaic’s website are those of the author and may not reflect the official policy of Mosaic Conference. Mosaic is a large conference, crossing ethnicities, geographies, generations, theologies, and politics. Each person can only speak for themselves; no one can represent “the conference.” May God give us the grace to hear what the Spirit is speaking to us through people with whom we disagree and the humility and courage to love one another even when those disagreements can’t be bridged.