Wally Metts meets with ordination council
The son of a Baptist preacher and an elder at Countryside, Wally Metts is no stranger to church leadership. In fact, Pastor John Lillie attributes his own perseverance in the ministry to Metts' friendship and encouragement. Metts has served for Countryside 25 years through teaching, organizing, planning and preaching.
Though he has been desiring ordination for some time, a Gospel Coalition conference, as well as the growing prominence of the Emerging Church and it's ideas led solidified the timing.
On October 3, members of Countryside, along with a council of invited pastors, teachers and friends, asked Metts questions about doctrine and calling. Most of the questions were drawn from Metts' statement of faith, which he titled "The Ordination Papers."
The process of writing the papers one was of Metts' favorite parts of process. "It was helpful to review a lot of things I hadn't thought about for awhile and to see the connections more clearly than I had before," he said.
The council unanimously recommended Metts for ordination. On October 4, the church body voted to accept the council's recommendation that he be ordained and an ordination service was planned for October 18.
Metts preached during the morning services on October 18. During the ordination service at the end of the day, members of the Ordination council and church leaders laid hands on Metts and made the process complete.