Ahhh…don’t you love it when an author throws a word in there that makes no sense?!? :- ) Εφημέριος is actually pronounced, “ef-i-mer-i-os” and yes, that is the number 1 question people ask me about when they see the signature block at the end of things I write. So, since we’re getting to know each other, I think I need to start with that. Well…
While pursuing my MDiv, I studied quite a bit of the ancient Greek language since the majority of the New Testament was originally written in Greek. That’s where I discovered a Greek word I feel best describes the calling God ignited in my heart. Efimerios, or εφιμέριος in its Greek form, literally means “chaplain” or “keeper of the cloak.” It refers to a cloak or mantle such as the one Elisha received from Elijah when he was abruptly taken to Heaven in chapter 2 of 2 Kings. The cloak is symbolic of the burden accepted when answering God’s call to serve and minister to others.
In our culture, a chaplain is an ordained minister called to spend his days serving a congregation that exists outside the traditional four walls of a church…places like schools, hospitals, prisons, the military or even side-by-side in the trenches with first responders.
That is the heartbeat God has shared with me…the mantle He’s charged me to wear and the path He’s called me to follow. So…εφημέριος it is. 🙂
Good day to you…
<εφημέριος><
