(L-R) The Revs. Garcia Barnswell-Schmidt, Elliott Drake, Elizabeth Garfield and Jacob Schlossberg with the Rt. Rev. Gregory O. Brewer (Center)

Four priests. Four sponsoring churches. Four places of service. Yet for all those differences, the four priests ordained in the Rt. Rev. Gregory O. Brewer’s final ordination service as bishop of the Diocese of Central Florida had much more in common than it might otherwise have appeared. Brewer himself may have expressed it best when he addressed them in his sermon: “You, my beloved, are the answer to other people’s prayers. And that’s why you’re here.”

The ordinations, which took place on the evening of June 7, 2023, at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke, Orlando, represented the final four of a total of 211 conducted by Brewer during his 11-year episcopacy. In fact, Brewer ordained the same four, the Revs. Garcia Barnswell-Schmidt, Elliott Drake, Elizabeth Garfield and Jacob Schlossberg, as transitional deacons exactly six months earlier in a service at Church of the Messiah, Winter Garden.

Honor and Gratitude

In his sermon, Brewer spoke of the warnings, the wonder and the suffering involved in ministry, pointing to the hope and promise of Christ’s Resurrection, which he said allows those who trust in Christ to not only endure the challenging times but to “see through the suffering the very gate of glory.” All four of the new ordinands said they considered it an honor to be a part of this special service and to have Brewer ordain them.

“I have deep respect and admiration for Bishop Brewer, and his leadership in this diocese for these many years,” said Barnswell-Schmidt. “I remember the day I started my discernment journey to the priesthood with him giving me consent to begin the process. I thought it fitting that he was the one to be there at the end of it when I made my vows.”

Drake agreed, saying, “God used Bishop Brewer’s passion for Jesus and his interest in my personal and vocational development to make me feel at home in the diocese of Central Florida and excited to pursue holy orders here.”

“There is a certain poignancy in being part of Bishop Brewer’s final ordinations as diocesan bishop; I am so fond of him and hold him in such high regard,” added Schlossberg. “I also hold Bishop Justin in high esteem, but I will miss having Brewer as my bishop. So I am thankful that I was able to be ordained by him as part of this group.”

The new priests also expressed gratitude to their sponsoring congregations and excitement about their future in ministry. “I am thankful for the Rev. Todd Schmidtetter and his mentorship over the past few years, as well as the mentorship of several others: the Rev. Dr. Nancee Martin, the Rev. Joy Willard-Williford, the Rev. Amy Turner,” said Barnswell-Schmidt, who has served as Lower School chaplain at Holy Trinity Episcopal School, Melbourne, for the past nine years and is also supplying for three months at Holy Apostles, Satellite Beach, her sponsoring church. “I am also grateful to the congregation of Holy Apostles. They have been nothing but supportive of me and my journey of discernment to the priesthood.”

Drake, who intends to continue serving the Cathedral as a bi-vocational priest and continue his work as director of partnerships for Jobs Partnership, an Orlando-area nonprofit, said, “I am especially grateful for Dean Reggie Kidd, who oversaw my discernment process and met with me regularly to answer my questions and process my experience; for the Rev. Canon Gordon Sims, who kindly and carefully trained me to serve as a deacon; and for the entire Cathedral family who supported me and affirmed God’s call to the priesthood.

“I am so grateful to have been raised up and sent out by this incredible congregation,” said Garfield of her sponsoring church, St. Francis in the Fields, Harrods Creek, Kentucky. She will serve the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Houston, Texas, as curate.

Schlossberg also expressed his gratitude for the clergy, vestry and congregation of his sponsoring church, All Saints’, Lakeland. “Father Reid Hensarling, Rev. Kathy Hulin and Deacon Bob Johnson have been very supportive of me as I pursued ordination,” he said. Schlossberg and his family are moving to Lafayette, Louisiana, where he will be the Upper School chaplain at Ascension Episcopal School.

Community and Consecration

The new priests all said they gained much from the various aspects of the ordination service, particularly the involved community and the consecration. “Personally, it was wonderful to see the turnout of support from my family, friends, and members of my church and school community – many of whom traveled for several hours and who were also present for my ordination to the diaconate,” said Barnswell-Schmit.

“Professionally, seeing all the other clergy gathered in worship and celebration reminded me of the larger whole that I am called to be a part of,” she added. “I have a network, a tribe, a family of like-minded colleagues who are called to do this work of ministry. This is something to be proud of, and I am ready to take my place among them, serving as I am able in the capacity that God calls me.”

“I am still reflecting on my takeaways from the service,” Drake said. “The consecration was especially meaningful to me, especially Bishop Brewer’s appeal to God with the laying on of hands: ‘Therefore, Father, through Jesus Christ your Son, give your Holy Spirit to Elliott; fill him with grace and power, and make him a priest in your church.'”

Garfield expressed similar thoughts, noting, “I found the whole service very moving, especially the litany and the prayers of consecration.”

“I was especially humbled by the investment that so many people had made in the four of us,” Schlossberg said. “Not only did our family, sponsors and friends make the effort to attend the ordination and pray for us, but clergy and others from around trekked to the cathedral for the ordination. I was especially impacted by all the people who came up to get priestly blessings from us.”

Brewer, who noted in his sermon how meaningful the service was to him, received a special gift on May 25 at the diocesan office Eucharist. Ten Diocesan Altar Guild board members representing all five deaneries presented him with a special stole designed and created by Ecclesiastical Sewing.

“Everything on the stole symbolizes the legacy of ordinations Bishop Brewer has completed in his 11 years as bishop,” Kathy Shearer, immediate past president of the diocesan Altar Guild, wrote in a recent Altar Guild newsletter. Barnswell-Schmidt, Drake, Garfield and Schlossberg stand as grateful inclusions in that legacy.