Actualizing the Kingdom by:Walter Wink
The early church did not seek to formulate a theory of illness;
instead, it healed the sick.
It did not attempt to explain how the demonic could exist in a good world made by a good God; instead, they cast out demons.
They had no hypotheses about how prayer works.
They simply prayed....
Their attitude was not anti-rational or anti-theological, but merely concrete.
They looked, not for adequate ways to conceptualize the Kingdom, but for ways to actualize it.
Source: Engaging the Powers
Rationalization. Theories. Today we are all about coming up with these explanations for why something exists; these explanations for why someone is messed up. This was the way of the others in the early church. Illnesses and disease existed because you had sinned. Or, even worse, your parents had sinned, and you were being punished. They gave reasoning for everything under the sun.
But what has happened to our faith? We are a world of fact and not enough of hope. Even those of us who call ourselves people of faith are lacking. We are not of *this* world, but of God's world. The powers that be rest their hopes in wealth and success. We are told to rest our hopes in faith. To be active in our faith by doing good works for others, by being inviting and compassionate. By giving to the poor, even when we are told not to. By loving unconditionally because we are loved as so by God. It is faith, hope and love that abide. Where is it? The early church prayed because they could. There was no secret formula. No assurance that it would get them anywhere. But their faith and hope in God, and their love for God that made them certain prayers would be answered in some fashion.
This is a challenge. Not just to whoever is reading this, but to myself as well. I am challenged because my trust in God is minimal these days. And these coming days will be when I need it most.
Where do your faith, hope and love abide?
Monday, January 26, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
+==mission==+
These are tough times. The banks are not doing well. Stocks are down. If you're trying to sell a house, forget about it.
this time is not only affecting individuals and big corporations, but also the church.
Today we had our annual budget meeting after church... and holy shit. I realized that we really are in an economic crisis. As stated in church today, the debt we have is choking our budget. Now, i will admit we have a large chunk of debt because of building renovation and increased mortgage payments. BUT the current situation is not helping. We have to, reluctantly, dip into a large endowment fund. Not to mention out of 445 households, only 220 pledged this year. So, not only do we have a income deficit, but a large amount of debt, and a decrease in pledges. I was also informed that of those who are pledging, they are doing-so in a not so large fashion. Most households are pledging an average of $1000 a year. This is roughly $20 a week. Our church council president made the point that you cannot go to the movies and get soda and popcorn with one other person for less than that.
awesome.
Well, i have learned a lot from this. I was taught last semester by the pastor at my church (the one i interned at..) that if you are going to edit your budget, plan for your mission first, and the rest will fall into place. Now, this isn't to say you let building payments happen on their own. However, we are not servants to a budget but servants to God. Sounds easy, right? Well, not when you're told that if we don't aggresively attack our building deficit, the next option would be to rid of staff. First person to go (potentially?): our associate minister. aka my mentor and stronghold for the past 4 years. Not. cool. It isn't a bad thing just because she is one of my favorite people in the world, but because she is a great church leader, and by losing a leader, we are losing part of our mission.
We recently re-established the vision of our church. It is as follows:
• Christ-centered worship that is relevant today and true to our convictions,
• Meaningful prayer disciplines that orient our lives to God ,
• Biblically rooted study that guides us on our journey ,
• Inclusive openness that welcomes everyone on the journey,
• Transformative mission work in [our city] and throughout the world,
• Persistent efforts for social justice,
• Grateful generosity with our time, talents and treasures,
• Deepening community in small groups,
• Joyful celebrations,
Now how much of this represents mission? Most. The majority of our role as church people is to help promote the mission of our church. We talked today about how we need to devote our budget to our mission. And so the council proposed such things. This is a big deal for our church because even though you might say we are relatively liberal, we have a lot of older business focused church membetsr. Try telling them that we are going to rely on our faith... HAH. It went over somewhat well today. I'm proud. I'm proud of our church council for being so prayerful and thoughtful through these circumstances. To stand up and say we have a 1.5 million bulding renovation debt, a $70,000+ income deficit, and a huge loss in pledges... AND we are going to rely on our faith and plan our mission budget first and make conscious decisions surrounding that virtue, before we ignore our debt anymore. Thats tough. But we are doing it.
It was key that Pastor Tom spoke about the parable of the seeds falling on the different ground. (Matthew 13:1-17) We talked about, as we are trying to center our mission before our other budget items, how we are the seeds that have fallen on the good soil. We are supposed to be building our mission by growing deep roots and being open to the generosity of God... which then will allow us to pave the way for others. This is our mission: inclusive openness, grateful generosity, developing community.... Relying on faith to help others build theirs. That is the mission of Church.
Even though much of the economics and finance stuff is over my head (which will not be helpful in the future when I'm in a pastoral position) I will learn.... but this lesson may be one of the most important lessons I have ever learned.
this time is not only affecting individuals and big corporations, but also the church.
Today we had our annual budget meeting after church... and holy shit. I realized that we really are in an economic crisis. As stated in church today, the debt we have is choking our budget. Now, i will admit we have a large chunk of debt because of building renovation and increased mortgage payments. BUT the current situation is not helping. We have to, reluctantly, dip into a large endowment fund. Not to mention out of 445 households, only 220 pledged this year. So, not only do we have a income deficit, but a large amount of debt, and a decrease in pledges. I was also informed that of those who are pledging, they are doing-so in a not so large fashion. Most households are pledging an average of $1000 a year. This is roughly $20 a week. Our church council president made the point that you cannot go to the movies and get soda and popcorn with one other person for less than that.
awesome.
Well, i have learned a lot from this. I was taught last semester by the pastor at my church (the one i interned at..) that if you are going to edit your budget, plan for your mission first, and the rest will fall into place. Now, this isn't to say you let building payments happen on their own. However, we are not servants to a budget but servants to God. Sounds easy, right? Well, not when you're told that if we don't aggresively attack our building deficit, the next option would be to rid of staff. First person to go (potentially?): our associate minister. aka my mentor and stronghold for the past 4 years. Not. cool. It isn't a bad thing just because she is one of my favorite people in the world, but because she is a great church leader, and by losing a leader, we are losing part of our mission.
We recently re-established the vision of our church. It is as follows:
• Christ-centered worship that is relevant today and true to our convictions,
• Meaningful prayer disciplines that orient our lives to God ,
• Biblically rooted study that guides us on our journey ,
• Inclusive openness that welcomes everyone on the journey,
• Transformative mission work in [our city] and throughout the world,
• Persistent efforts for social justice,
• Grateful generosity with our time, talents and treasures,
• Deepening community in small groups,
• Joyful celebrations,
Now how much of this represents mission? Most. The majority of our role as church people is to help promote the mission of our church. We talked today about how we need to devote our budget to our mission. And so the council proposed such things. This is a big deal for our church because even though you might say we are relatively liberal, we have a lot of older business focused church membetsr. Try telling them that we are going to rely on our faith... HAH. It went over somewhat well today. I'm proud. I'm proud of our church council for being so prayerful and thoughtful through these circumstances. To stand up and say we have a 1.5 million bulding renovation debt, a $70,000+ income deficit, and a huge loss in pledges... AND we are going to rely on our faith and plan our mission budget first and make conscious decisions surrounding that virtue, before we ignore our debt anymore. Thats tough. But we are doing it.
It was key that Pastor Tom spoke about the parable of the seeds falling on the different ground. (Matthew 13:1-17) We talked about, as we are trying to center our mission before our other budget items, how we are the seeds that have fallen on the good soil. We are supposed to be building our mission by growing deep roots and being open to the generosity of God... which then will allow us to pave the way for others. This is our mission: inclusive openness, grateful generosity, developing community.... Relying on faith to help others build theirs. That is the mission of Church.
Even though much of the economics and finance stuff is over my head (which will not be helpful in the future when I'm in a pastoral position) I will learn.... but this lesson may be one of the most important lessons I have ever learned.
Friday, December 5, 2008
+==True Community==+
What do you do when you've found true community, only to have to leave it soon? A community which loves you and wraps their arms around you when you need it the most, and are so willing to lift you up....
but then you have to leave. Exit stage right. Just when things start getting good, and you have to go. What do you do?
I'll only be gone for 5 months. But then I'll be back in similar, but not the same, community (kinda like you can't step in the same river twice...) And I will be changed.
What if things aren't the same? I mean, they'll never be the same as they were tonight. laying on of hands is powerful. and i realized tonight how much these friends that i have made, whether recent or over the past year and a half, have influenced me and been a huge part of my life.
so, I have a true, pure, holy, loving community. How do I sustain that? Or does it have to break down to build up again?
I don't like that second idea....
but then you have to leave. Exit stage right. Just when things start getting good, and you have to go. What do you do?
I'll only be gone for 5 months. But then I'll be back in similar, but not the same, community (kinda like you can't step in the same river twice...) And I will be changed.
What if things aren't the same? I mean, they'll never be the same as they were tonight. laying on of hands is powerful. and i realized tonight how much these friends that i have made, whether recent or over the past year and a half, have influenced me and been a huge part of my life.
so, I have a true, pure, holy, loving community. How do I sustain that? Or does it have to break down to build up again?
I don't like that second idea....
Sunday, November 23, 2008
+==Sermonizing {006}==+
My Sermon from today (11/23) "A Different Kind of Thanks"
Will you picture this with me? Close your eyes, if you feel comfortable. You are walking downtown in Chicago. You are approached by a man with a ragged coat and a few missing teeth. He asks you if you have any change.
At this point, being completely honest with yourself, what is your reaction? No one is hearing this besides you so be real. What would you do?
Let’s change the scenario. What if you looked closer and beneath the brim of the hat, you see a friend of yours. Now what is your reaction?
One more scenario. You look even closer. It is Jesus. Now, despite the odds of this occurrence, what is your reaction?
What is the difference between each of these people for you?
Would you join me in prayer??
God may the words of my mouth and the meditations of each of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, for you are our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
Out of personal experience, I know I have done this all before. We have helped so many people, but at the same time, we have not helped… so … many… people. Why is this? Why is it that we think its ok to help some but not all? To help our friends but not strangers? We look and make assumptions about whether we should help someone.
Our passage for today, Matthew 25, is a judgment passage. However, away from it being just that, I believe it is one of the most important scripture lessons for us in the New Testament. Jesus tells us that the sheep, the righteous, are the ones who gave him food when he was hungry. Who gave him something to drink when he was thirsty, they welcomed him when he was a stranger and clothed him when he was naked. They visited him when he was in prison and took care of him when he was sick.
Those to whom he is speaking are slightly taken aback. You can hear the tone in their voice. “And when was it what we did these things for you?’ You can almost see them nudging one another—“do you remember this? I don’t remember seeing him, I mean, when would he have been in prison??”—And Jesus says to them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” Here’s where we as members of the church get excited. We think that this is fabulous. We have a ticket into Heaven because we have helped someone. I walked the crop walk, so I helped feed someone. I donated clothes, so I clothed someone. I visited a member of our church in the hospital, so I helped the sick… that’s three right? Ok so…
But wait. Didn’t Jesus say something about some people who didn’t feed the hungry? Who didn’t visit the imprisoned, or take care of the sick? Welcome the stranger or clothe the naked? Oh and what was it Jesus said to them? Oh yea, they will go away into eternal punishment. Now this is not to scare you or intimidate you. But this poses a serious question.
What do we do? Let me share a story with you.
In "Good Goats: Healing our Image of
God" Dennis, Sheila, and Matthew Linn write
about a presentation they made to a group of nuns
about this reading: "How many of you, even once in your life,
have done what Jesus asks at the beginning of this
passage and fed a hungry person, clothed a naked
person or visited a person in prison?" All
the sisters raised their hands. Dennis said,
"That's wonderful! You're all sheep."
Then Dennis asked, "How many of you, even
once in your life, have walked by a hungry person,
failed to clothe a naked person, or not visited
someone in prison?" Slowly, all the sisters
raised their hands. Dennis said, "That's too
bad. You're all goats."
The sisters looked worried and perplexed. Then
suddenly one very old sister's hand shot up. She
blurted out, "I get it! We're all good
goats!"
So what are we? Are we really bad sheep? Or are we are really good goats.
Let me say this before I get too ahead of myself. This is not me telling you to say a prayer or think about those who will not get food to eat this Thanksgiving. This is not about donating your leftovers to a homeless shelter…..Even though both of those are good things to do.
This is about something different. When we sit down to our meal where we will gorge ourselves with lots of food, we will most likely thank God for the things for which we are grateful. Well, I want you to be grateful for something new. Something different. We need to realize how COOL, how AWESOME it is that we have the ability to be Christ to the world. But more importantly that it is our responsibility to be Christ in the world.
It was Saint Theresa of Avila who said, “Christ has no body on earth but ours, no hands but ours, no feet but ours. Ours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ looks out upon the world, ours are the feet with which he goes about doing good, ours are the hands with which he blesses his people.”
Wow. Did you hear that?? Ours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ looks out upon the world. We are Christ to the world. Talk about building the Kingdom of God.
How does this change your view of what you have done and plan to do? The Message version of the Bible, a great interpretation by Eugene Peterson says in Proverbs 3, “Never walk away from someone who deserves help; your hand is God’s hand for that person. Don’t tell your neighbor, “Maybe some other time” or “Try me tomorrow” when the money is right there in your pocket.” End quote. I know that, for example, on my journeys downtown in Chicago, my home town of Battle Creek, and in Washington D.C. that when I see some people I tell them, “Nope, sorry, I don’t have anything on me.” Only to look down and see a $5 dollar bill in my purse. And it used to be because I was afraid of what they might do with the money… drugs, alcohol… I told a friend of this issue and she told me that we just have to trust. We have to put our faith in God that the person will make the right decision. If God entrusts us with this world, so much so that we are to do God’s work here, then shouldn’t we trust these people who are our neighbors, our brothers and sisters in Christ, with what we give them?
I heard once that if you truly know Christ. WHEN you truly know Christ you live and breathe the love and compassion of Christ without having to think twice. When we don’t have to think twice about giving, that is when I believe you or I for that matter, are on the right path with God. .That is when you are truly the model of Christ in the world. When we live love. When we breathe love. We live and breathe compassion instinctively. When we know Christ we see the face of Christ in everyone we meet.
Our Psalm for today, Psalm 100, tells us
“Know that the LORD is God.
It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”
We are the sheep of God’s pasture. So if we are claimed by God as sheep and only doing the work of goats, how does that work?
In the Message version, again, it says, “God made us. We did not make God.” So often we find ourselves caught in this place of judgment and assumption. Judging those who we meet on the streets. These actions are us making God. We are attributing actions to God that we do not and cannot know. Because we reflect who God is, we are making God to be one of judgment. But God made us. God made you and you and you and me, the person you saw on the street begging for money last time you went downtown, the person who asked you for help of some sort. God made each one of us. And we are to show our compassion, our Godly compassion, to them.
This is not a new notion. The idea that we might do something to help others. It was suggested by Barbara Brown Taylor that we must have a “doing theology.” That is, “one which consists of not having a faith but doing faith.” St. Francis of Assisi is quoted as saying, “Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words.”
Taylor also tells us that in the end it will be known “how we behaved when we thought God was not around.” Not just in church, but in everyday encounters with others, all children of God. “We are called into relationship,” she continues, “even when that relationship is unlikely, momentary, or sad. We are called to look at each other and see Christ...” (The Preaching Life).
We are CALLED to look at each other and see Christ. This wasn’t a wimpy rule God made up for the fun of it. It’s not a rule that was meant to be broken. We are CALLED. Just as we are called to our vocations, our families, our churches. CALLED to see Christ. It is just that important.
So now that we have all that figured out. Or, at least exposed, what are we to give thanks for, then?
Again, this is not about being grateful for all that we have because we have been blessed, because we have not been blessed more than anyone else. This is about being thankful for seeing Christ in the homeless. The poverty stricken. The sick. The imprisoned. The naked. The thirsty.
It is about being thankful for this calling we have as Disciples of Christ. This calling which permeates our being so much so that others see the face of Christ in us. That is something for which we should be thankful.
Be thankful. Be thankful for your ability to be Christ to the world. Be thankful for others to have this CALLING. Be thankful for seeing the face of Christ in everyone we meet.
Be thankful
It may be a different kind of thanks, but it is a good kind of thanks.
Amen.
Will you picture this with me? Close your eyes, if you feel comfortable. You are walking downtown in Chicago. You are approached by a man with a ragged coat and a few missing teeth. He asks you if you have any change.
At this point, being completely honest with yourself, what is your reaction? No one is hearing this besides you so be real. What would you do?
Let’s change the scenario. What if you looked closer and beneath the brim of the hat, you see a friend of yours. Now what is your reaction?
One more scenario. You look even closer. It is Jesus. Now, despite the odds of this occurrence, what is your reaction?
What is the difference between each of these people for you?
Would you join me in prayer??
God may the words of my mouth and the meditations of each of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, for you are our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
Out of personal experience, I know I have done this all before. We have helped so many people, but at the same time, we have not helped… so … many… people. Why is this? Why is it that we think its ok to help some but not all? To help our friends but not strangers? We look and make assumptions about whether we should help someone.
Our passage for today, Matthew 25, is a judgment passage. However, away from it being just that, I believe it is one of the most important scripture lessons for us in the New Testament. Jesus tells us that the sheep, the righteous, are the ones who gave him food when he was hungry. Who gave him something to drink when he was thirsty, they welcomed him when he was a stranger and clothed him when he was naked. They visited him when he was in prison and took care of him when he was sick.
Those to whom he is speaking are slightly taken aback. You can hear the tone in their voice. “And when was it what we did these things for you?’ You can almost see them nudging one another—“do you remember this? I don’t remember seeing him, I mean, when would he have been in prison??”—And Jesus says to them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” Here’s where we as members of the church get excited. We think that this is fabulous. We have a ticket into Heaven because we have helped someone. I walked the crop walk, so I helped feed someone. I donated clothes, so I clothed someone. I visited a member of our church in the hospital, so I helped the sick… that’s three right? Ok so…
But wait. Didn’t Jesus say something about some people who didn’t feed the hungry? Who didn’t visit the imprisoned, or take care of the sick? Welcome the stranger or clothe the naked? Oh and what was it Jesus said to them? Oh yea, they will go away into eternal punishment. Now this is not to scare you or intimidate you. But this poses a serious question.
What do we do? Let me share a story with you.
In "Good Goats: Healing our Image of
God" Dennis, Sheila, and Matthew Linn write
about a presentation they made to a group of nuns
about this reading: "How many of you, even once in your life,
have done what Jesus asks at the beginning of this
passage and fed a hungry person, clothed a naked
person or visited a person in prison?" All
the sisters raised their hands. Dennis said,
"That's wonderful! You're all sheep."
Then Dennis asked, "How many of you, even
once in your life, have walked by a hungry person,
failed to clothe a naked person, or not visited
someone in prison?" Slowly, all the sisters
raised their hands. Dennis said, "That's too
bad. You're all goats."
The sisters looked worried and perplexed. Then
suddenly one very old sister's hand shot up. She
blurted out, "I get it! We're all good
goats!"
So what are we? Are we really bad sheep? Or are we are really good goats.
Let me say this before I get too ahead of myself. This is not me telling you to say a prayer or think about those who will not get food to eat this Thanksgiving. This is not about donating your leftovers to a homeless shelter…..Even though both of those are good things to do.
This is about something different. When we sit down to our meal where we will gorge ourselves with lots of food, we will most likely thank God for the things for which we are grateful. Well, I want you to be grateful for something new. Something different. We need to realize how COOL, how AWESOME it is that we have the ability to be Christ to the world. But more importantly that it is our responsibility to be Christ in the world.
It was Saint Theresa of Avila who said, “Christ has no body on earth but ours, no hands but ours, no feet but ours. Ours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ looks out upon the world, ours are the feet with which he goes about doing good, ours are the hands with which he blesses his people.”
Wow. Did you hear that?? Ours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ looks out upon the world. We are Christ to the world. Talk about building the Kingdom of God.
How does this change your view of what you have done and plan to do? The Message version of the Bible, a great interpretation by Eugene Peterson says in Proverbs 3, “Never walk away from someone who deserves help; your hand is God’s hand for that person. Don’t tell your neighbor, “Maybe some other time” or “Try me tomorrow” when the money is right there in your pocket.” End quote. I know that, for example, on my journeys downtown in Chicago, my home town of Battle Creek, and in Washington D.C. that when I see some people I tell them, “Nope, sorry, I don’t have anything on me.” Only to look down and see a $5 dollar bill in my purse. And it used to be because I was afraid of what they might do with the money… drugs, alcohol… I told a friend of this issue and she told me that we just have to trust. We have to put our faith in God that the person will make the right decision. If God entrusts us with this world, so much so that we are to do God’s work here, then shouldn’t we trust these people who are our neighbors, our brothers and sisters in Christ, with what we give them?
I heard once that if you truly know Christ. WHEN you truly know Christ you live and breathe the love and compassion of Christ without having to think twice. When we don’t have to think twice about giving, that is when I believe you or I for that matter, are on the right path with God. .That is when you are truly the model of Christ in the world. When we live love. When we breathe love. We live and breathe compassion instinctively. When we know Christ we see the face of Christ in everyone we meet.
Our Psalm for today, Psalm 100, tells us
“Know that the LORD is God.
It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”
We are the sheep of God’s pasture. So if we are claimed by God as sheep and only doing the work of goats, how does that work?
In the Message version, again, it says, “God made us. We did not make God.” So often we find ourselves caught in this place of judgment and assumption. Judging those who we meet on the streets. These actions are us making God. We are attributing actions to God that we do not and cannot know. Because we reflect who God is, we are making God to be one of judgment. But God made us. God made you and you and you and me, the person you saw on the street begging for money last time you went downtown, the person who asked you for help of some sort. God made each one of us. And we are to show our compassion, our Godly compassion, to them.
This is not a new notion. The idea that we might do something to help others. It was suggested by Barbara Brown Taylor that we must have a “doing theology.” That is, “one which consists of not having a faith but doing faith.” St. Francis of Assisi is quoted as saying, “Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words.”
Taylor also tells us that in the end it will be known “how we behaved when we thought God was not around.” Not just in church, but in everyday encounters with others, all children of God. “We are called into relationship,” she continues, “even when that relationship is unlikely, momentary, or sad. We are called to look at each other and see Christ...” (The Preaching Life).
We are CALLED to look at each other and see Christ. This wasn’t a wimpy rule God made up for the fun of it. It’s not a rule that was meant to be broken. We are CALLED. Just as we are called to our vocations, our families, our churches. CALLED to see Christ. It is just that important.
So now that we have all that figured out. Or, at least exposed, what are we to give thanks for, then?
Again, this is not about being grateful for all that we have because we have been blessed, because we have not been blessed more than anyone else. This is about being thankful for seeing Christ in the homeless. The poverty stricken. The sick. The imprisoned. The naked. The thirsty.
It is about being thankful for this calling we have as Disciples of Christ. This calling which permeates our being so much so that others see the face of Christ in us. That is something for which we should be thankful.
Be thankful. Be thankful for your ability to be Christ to the world. Be thankful for others to have this CALLING. Be thankful for seeing the face of Christ in everyone we meet.
Be thankful
It may be a different kind of thanks, but it is a good kind of thanks.
Amen.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
+==processing==+
Processing anything is an important part of my life. And because I have this on my mind, I'm going to process here because I don't have anyone to process with elsewhere.
Seminaries.
holy. cow.
This isn't my next major decision and I'm not feeling the pressure to pick yet, but I do want to get started so that when I go somewhere I feel called to it.
Websites only do so much, and therefore I am limited to what I know about a seminary.
I was looking today and felt specifically NOT called to a couple places. My problem lies in the thought that I want to go to a UCC seminary. Ther eare 7 of them....
CTS (Chicago)
LTS (Lancaster)
ANTS(Andover-Newton)
PSR (Pacific School Rel.)
UTSTC(United-Twin Cities)
BTS (Bangor)
ETS (Eden/ St. Louis)
So here's what my list of UCC seminaries looked like after today
LTS
ANTS
ETS
I have my reasons for not liking the others and they are valid, i promise.
Here's my other thing.
PTS
Ok, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary is NEAR AND DEAR to my heart. Like, affectionately so. I went to SYI, a summer program there, in 2005 which changed my life and did nothing but affirm my call to ministry. Then I went back twice for two different reunions, again being a godsend because i met one of my best friends there, who then later interned with me this past summer. So it's been a life changing place so far. I'm nervous about that. Leah (my assc. pastor at home) who is like my mentor, said something a while ago about me being careful- she didn't want me to just pick the place that I was comfortable with (meaning PTS) but she also didn't want me to go where she went for favored reasons (CTS). Well, we know I'm not going to cts, so what does that mean for PTS?
I dont know.
i hate that phrase, yet i use it a lot.
I just dont know.
Dr. Beauchamp, director of our ministry center on campus, has really good intuition about things. And he said something the other day about me going to PTS and said it in a way as though I am fighting it. And I would love to go to PTS just because its a place where I am comfortable. But I did that with college and I don't want to do that again.
I don't know.
I do have another year and a half before I graduate college, and then I will do a year or two of volunteer work with Lutheran Volunteer Corps. And then I will go to seminary after that, but for now, I don't know that I can be at peace about it.
So be it.
Seminaries.
holy. cow.
This isn't my next major decision and I'm not feeling the pressure to pick yet, but I do want to get started so that when I go somewhere I feel called to it.
Websites only do so much, and therefore I am limited to what I know about a seminary.
I was looking today and felt specifically NOT called to a couple places. My problem lies in the thought that I want to go to a UCC seminary. Ther eare 7 of them....
CTS (Chicago)
LTS (Lancaster)
ANTS(Andover-Newton)
PSR (Pacific School Rel.)
UTSTC(United-Twin Cities)
BTS (Bangor)
ETS (Eden/ St. Louis)
So here's what my list of UCC seminaries looked like after today
LTS
ANTS
ETS
I have my reasons for not liking the others and they are valid, i promise.
Here's my other thing.
PTS
Ok, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary is NEAR AND DEAR to my heart. Like, affectionately so. I went to SYI, a summer program there, in 2005 which changed my life and did nothing but affirm my call to ministry. Then I went back twice for two different reunions, again being a godsend because i met one of my best friends there, who then later interned with me this past summer. So it's been a life changing place so far. I'm nervous about that. Leah (my assc. pastor at home) who is like my mentor, said something a while ago about me being careful- she didn't want me to just pick the place that I was comfortable with (meaning PTS) but she also didn't want me to go where she went for favored reasons (CTS). Well, we know I'm not going to cts, so what does that mean for PTS?
I dont know.
i hate that phrase, yet i use it a lot.
I just dont know.
Dr. Beauchamp, director of our ministry center on campus, has really good intuition about things. And he said something the other day about me going to PTS and said it in a way as though I am fighting it. And I would love to go to PTS just because its a place where I am comfortable. But I did that with college and I don't want to do that again.
I don't know.
I do have another year and a half before I graduate college, and then I will do a year or two of volunteer work with Lutheran Volunteer Corps. And then I will go to seminary after that, but for now, I don't know that I can be at peace about it.
So be it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)