Christa Eisbrenner Ordained to Priestly Ministry of Welcome

Moments before being ordained a priest on the Eve of St. Nicholas of Myra, December 5, at All Saints’ Cathedral, the Rev. Christa Eisbrenner, exclaimed with a mix of confidence and joy: “I’m ready!”

Eisbrenner says she has known since high school she would “serve God in ministry,” and graduated from seminary 25 years ago.

In the ensuing years, she ministered in various roles worldwide including with a “conservative, evangelical church,” and was an adjunct professor at Taylor Seminary. 

In 2020, she and her husband Jason Eisbrenner, who was once a Baptist pastor, joined the online services of their local Anglican parish, Immanuel, Wetaskiwin, and “soon felt at home there.”

“Although we have needed fresh eyes to see things the Anglican Way, we have embraced this historical and contemporary tradition of faith,” she says.

Many members of the Anglican parishes in which Eisbrenner, currently rector of St. Andrew’s, Camrose and St. Mary’s, Ponoka, has served, including All Saints’ Cathedral and Christ Church, were present for her ordination by the Rt. Rev. Stephen London, Bishop of Edmonton.

Reflecting on the Gospel of Mark 10:13-16 in her homily address, the Ven. Susan Oliver said: “…my hope for you today is that you might hear Jesus’ imperative to the disciples as an imperative for you and your ministry, as well. That your ministry – your life as a priest in the church of God – would firstly be a ministry of welcome. 

Oliver, who is the rector of Christ Church and previously served as the Archdeacon for Children, Youth and Family Ministries, said, “Welcome always involves two things – risk and the possibility of failure… Practicing welcome means taking risks and often it means causing disruption. In our liturgies, in our services, in our budget and priorities… So often we remain in our areas of comfort with individuals who look and act like us – mostly out of fear. Fear of getting it wrong, fear of being used or taken advantage of, fear of the messiness of other people’s lives, fear of it taking time, fear of rejection.  In our fear – we reject the call to welcome.

“Christa may you be a leader who guides and shapes your community to be a church crouched down to eye level to see, receive, listen and to open wide the welcome of love to all God’s children … 

“And may you be strengthened to do this work by your ability to receive this Kingdom of God as a child; to simply enjoy the knowledge that you are loved by an extraordinary God…"

Welcoming children with a loving embrace is perhaps the greatest of Eisbrenner’s gifts. She and Jason are the parents of six daughters, ranging in age from late 20s to pre-school. The girls joined their mom’s family and friends in celebrating the beginning of her ministry as a priest in the Anglican Diocese of Edmonton.