23.06.2026
Answering God’s Call – Esther and Cennis Ordained Deacons
Everyone is called but only a few are brave enough to answer, Dublin and Glendalough’s two new Deacons heard on Sunday (June 21). The Revd Esther Simpson and the Revd Cennis Chikeze were ordained to the Diaconate in Christ Church Cathedral which was filled with people who had supported them in their faith so far and from the parishes where they will continue their journeys.
Esther will serve as Curate Assistant in Rathmichael and Cennis will serve as Curate Assistant in Castleknock and Mulhuddart with Clonsilla. Archbishop Michael Jackson presided at the service and thanked the people and Rectors of both parishes who will nurture, welcome and support the newly ordained Deacons.
The sermon was preached by Pastor Florian Von Issendorff, Lead Pastor of St Finian’s Lutheran Church in Dublin. He focused on the reading from Isaiah 6: 8 and said that the word Hineni – meaning ‘here I am’ – appears in the Old Testament many times.
“Again and again God calls people by name to wake them, to guide them, to entrust them with a task and to draw them into his service. Throughout the Bible he calls people into his service and throughout the history of the church he calls many people… and God is still calling today. Esther and Cennis, he is calling you,” he said.
Pastor Florian observed that the path into God’s service, into the ministry of the church, is rarely straight forward, rarely easy and rarely free of long periods of discernment. Ministry is a way of life so very different from the world around: it is not about personal gain or status but about lifting others; not about personal success or how others will see you but about the wellbeing of the community, he commented. Ministry challenges and rewards, gives freedom and imposes limits, “points away from me towards the one who sent me”, he added.
“It is a ministry to which all of us, the entire body of Christ, are called yet only a few are brave enough, and perhaps even a little crazy enough, to devote themselves to it full time,” he stated. “This ministry touches our whole being because it concerns the whole being of so many others. It comes with impossible working hours and no clear job description. It is also a ministry that is never carried out be one person alone. It requires the support of family and friends. It is also a ministry that is deeply intertwined with our faith and our very identity.”
Despite all the challenges he said that Esther and Cennis had answered the call – ‘Hineni’. This, he explained, is a whole hearted commitment, with body and soul. “Here I am – a human being complete with scratches and a few rough edges. I place myself at your service,” he said adding that it is brave and humble at the same time.
Esther and Cennis’s ordinations marked the end of a long journey and the beginning of a new chapter and Pastor Florian promised, from personal experience, that God will not forget their response and will provide all they need for their ministry.
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