Left Photo – Priests from the diocese and Bishop Holcomb lay hands on the Rev. Brian Stankich during his priesthood ordination. | Center Photo – The Rev. Brian Stankich with Bishop Holcomb (Photo: Catie Hourigan) | Right Photo – L-R, rear, Bishop Holcomb, Canon Smith and the Rev. Frans van Santen look on as the Rev. Brian and Dona Stankich stand for applause. (Photo: Stephanie Moore)

The Rt. Rev. Dr. Justin S. Holcomb, bishop of the Diocese of Central Florida, used a familiar phrase when he presided over his first ordination to the priesthood on Feb. 10 at Grace, Ocala: “Once a deacon, always a deacon.” This phrase is commonly used to remind ordinands that a new ordination does not cancel a previous one; the call to serve the church and the world remains. But during the ordination to the priesthood of the Rev. Brian Stankich, whom Holcomb ordained to the diaconate in July, Holcomb gave the phrase a fresh twist: “Once a missionary, always a missionary.”

Holcomb used this phrase both in reference to Stankich’s past – 20-plus years on the international mission field with ecumenical evangelical group Pioneers – and to his future: serving as associate rector at Grace while continuing to participate in the diocesan residency program. Pointing out that the new priest, who came to faith in Christ as the result of a Billy Graham crusade in Denver, Colorado, is the fruit of Graham’s “bold witness of the mission of God,” Holcomb said, “But not just the fruit – you became an agent of that by spending over two decades as a missionary. So you’re not handing in one calling for another.

“Please bring that missionary sensibility with you,” the bishop urged. “Continue to think like a missionary. As a priest, the most missionary thing you can do is in the examination: ‘to nourish God’s people from Christ’s riches,’ because it’s a proclamation of Christ’s riches for you, for his people and for his world. ‘Once a missionary, always a missionary.'”

“Bishop Justin was just encouraging me to keep that kind of perspective that not only is God a missionary God, but we’re out there to find and to win people,” Stankich said. “It was encouraging to me in that everything about being a priest is different, it’s this new thing, and yet he was encouraging me to keep doing the kinds of things that I’ve been doing.”

The Rev. Ken Glasier | Photo: Dona Stankich

The Rev. Ken Glasier of Orchard Christian Fellowship in Londonderry, New Hampshire, preached the ordination sermon. “He was the formational pastor for me when I came to Christ and started getting a call to ministry,” Stankich said. Glasier also performed the wedding ceremony for Stankich and his wife, Dona, and has stood beside them in life and ministry in the many years since, including visiting them and their sons on the mission field in Macedonia.

Citing his own pastoral experience as well as the reading from 1 Peter 5:1-4, Glasier reminded Stankich that elders must see themselves as shepherds, encouraging him to follow Peter’s example in clothing himself with humility and tenderly caring for the flock as well as in resisting the adversary by remaining close to others in the body of Christ.

“The nature of vocational ministry will challenge your sense of self, including your strengths and your weaknesses,” Glasier said. “And rather than expressing these inner struggles in external displays of power, ‘Cast all your anxieties on Jesus because he cares for you.’ Lean into Jesus instead of launching into others in expressions of power. … the very nature of what you are receiving today in your holy orders is to join Jesus in the transformative work that he brings into the lives of all of us.”

The attendance of family helped make the Rev. Stankich’s day special. L-R Becca Stankich; Dianne Smith; Ben, Dona and the Rev. Stankich; Stephanie Moore; Michelle Norris; Olivia Moore; Bishop Holcomb

“Peter’s life was a life transformed from pursuing power to humbly following,” he said, reminding Stankich to “humbly follow the King. Let the King’s way of shepherding be reflected in your life. … [Christ’s] cruciform way of shepherding is ours to embrace, not pursuing power, but following humbly.”

For Stankich, Glasier’s participation in the service added to the full-circle quality of the ordination. Also present were family members including his wife, their son Ben and his wife, Becca; his mother-in-law, Dianne Smith, who came from Colorado Springs, Colorado; his sister, Michelle Norris, who came from Houston, Texas; her daughter Stephanie Moore and granddaughter Olivia Moore, who came from Dallas, Texas.

“I was able to incorporate all of them into the service, so that was fun,” he said. “It was really meaningful because it’s family. But having Pastor Ken preach, it brought the rest of my life into this most recent part.”

Stankich looks forward to continuing the residency program and his service at Grace with the added ministry opportunities this new level of ordination makes possible, such as celebrating the Eucharist. “There are more things that I can start doing that will actually benefit Frans [the Rev. Frans van Santen, a previous resident who was recently appointed priest-in-charge] and his ministry. … Now that I’m ordained as a priest, I can carry more of the ministry, which I think will enable him to settle in even more.”

“Really, I think I’m just grateful for the opportunity that I’ve been given, both by God and by Grace Church,” he added. “And I just want to be faithful with not only doing a job well, but also with fulfilling everything that God has for me – everything he wants to do in me as a person, and then through me as a minister.”

As Holcomb put it, “Once a missionary, always a missionary.”