Glandion Carney was an associate pastor at St. Peter's Anglican Church in Birmingham, Alabama, until his recent retirement. His retirement was brought on earlier than he would have liked due to his ongoing battle with Parkinson's disease, which was first diagnosed in 2008. His reflections on ministry have been published in his book The Way of Grace (IVP, 2014), from which this article is excerpted.

As I walked down the hallway to my office, I thought about the Eucharist I would serve in a few hours. It bothered a place in my spirit like the throbbing a splinter causes in your finger.

God impressed upon me that the sacramental duty required examination, mental and physical preparation, and meditation on the act itself. Instead of preparing, I was concentrating on what it would take for me to perform the duties. It required great stamina just to go through the entire process of reading, praying, and offering the elements of communion. With these concerns in the forefront, ...