I preached today for the seminary chapel service. February 2 is the Festival of the Presentation, so the Gospel text was Luke 2:22-40. You can read the lesson and my sermon below.
Luke 2:22-40
When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”
Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,
“Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace,
according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel.”
And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.
Sermon
God’s grace and peace be with you all.
As we gather today in worship, we are celebrating the festival of the Presentation. The Gospel of Luke tells us that Mary and Joseph, in accordance with the law, brought Jesus to the temple forty days after Jesus’ birth. They brought their sacrifice—two birds, because they could not afford the lamb—again following the instructions of the law. Luke is careful to emphasize the piety and proper obedience of this family.
But Luke is also eager to demonstrate the unique and extraordinary character of this family, and of course the infant Jesus most of all. Mary and Joseph are approached, even accosted, by the Spirit-driven Simeon. Simeon has a prophetic message to share about Jesus. The prophet Anna also speaks about the child in the Temple. As Luke’s readers, we can have no doubt that Jesus is the Messiah.
I can’t help but think that Mary was getting tired of strangers who had dramatic messages about her son. But Luke tells us that Mary and Joseph were amazed at what was being said. Certainly this was unexpected. Most first-born sons presented in the Temple did not rate a prophetic statement, much less two prophetic statements.
In the midst of ritual, in the familiar patterns of religious life, in the midst of the ordinary, God’s word breaks through in extraordinary ways. In bringing their firstborn son to the Temple to present him to God and make the expected sacrifice, Mary and Joseph are surprised by unexpected encounters with the divine through the prophetic utterances of Simeon and Anna.
God breaks in to the ordinary, the predictable, the expected. The same thing happens today. As I read this text, an example jumped immediately to my mind:
Three weeks ago, when the appointed time had come, and in accordance with the law, my husband and I went up to Denver to present ourselves to our candidacy committee, as it is written. Ordinary. Predictable. Expected.
Those of us who have gone through—or are still going through—the candidacy process know that it can at times seem painfully bureaucratic. We know why it’s necessary. But that doesn’t mean we always feel the presence of God in the process. It feels like law and not gospel, if I can use those terms: a requirement and not a blessing. The same could be said of the academic requirements of our seminary education, or even the practices of our liturgy.
In the face of our boredom and discouragement, the Festival of the Presentation tells us something quite remarkable and important: in this story, the law and the gospel are inextricably bound together. Mary and Joseph go to the Temple in accordance with God’s law, and they find there God’s good news. God’s divine action comes through the ordinary, predictable, expected actions of religious ritual. When Steve and I went to Denver to meet the candidacy committee, we met God there, too.
This is the promise for us in the Festival of the Presentation: the promise that, when we come to God in ordinary religious rituals, God will respond with the extraordinary. The promise that, when we are bored by predictability, God will surprise us. The promise that, when we feel like we are just going through the motions and doing what is expected, God will overwhelm us with the unexpected.
May we all come before God and be surprised. May we all experience God’s word breaking through our predictable rituals with a message of good news. May we all find our boredom and discouragement overcome by God’s unexpected, life-changing word. Amen.
Showing posts with label seminary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label seminary. Show all posts
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Recommendation for Recommendation for Approval
Just a brief update this time:
The latest stage in this ongoing process occurred today—the faculty approval panels. These are interviews with two members of the faculty to consider a seminarian's theological understanding and articulation and his or her preparedness for practical ministry. At Gettysburg, the seniors had their faculty approval panels today, and the news is good. I was recommended for recommendation for approval. No, that's not a typo. The faculty members with whom I met made a recommendation to the whole faculty (who will meet in a few weeks). Even when the whole faculty meets, they don't make the final approval decision; that's up to the candidacy committees. Rather, the faculty makes a recommendation to the candidacy committee, to say that the faculty believes the candidate should be approved.
So today was the recommendation for the recommendation for approval. Slowly but surely, we move closer to ordination.
The latest stage in this ongoing process occurred today—the faculty approval panels. These are interviews with two members of the faculty to consider a seminarian's theological understanding and articulation and his or her preparedness for practical ministry. At Gettysburg, the seniors had their faculty approval panels today, and the news is good. I was recommended for recommendation for approval. No, that's not a typo. The faculty members with whom I met made a recommendation to the whole faculty (who will meet in a few weeks). Even when the whole faculty meets, they don't make the final approval decision; that's up to the candidacy committees. Rather, the faculty makes a recommendation to the candidacy committee, to say that the faculty believes the candidate should be approved.
So today was the recommendation for the recommendation for approval. Slowly but surely, we move closer to ordination.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Assignment for First Call: Piles of Paperwork
I'm continuing my blog series on the first call assignment process. Check out the earlier posts if you haven't already:
Part One: Approval
Part Two: Introduction to Assignment
Now, on to part three. Tonight, we had an informational meeting with two important folks: the seminary representative who goes to the assignment summit in Chicago (in the case of Gettysburg Seminary, he's also our director of field education and one of the New Testament professors), and the Region 8 coordinator. Remember in Part Two, we talked about the nine regions of the ELCA? Each region has a region coordinator, and those coordinators also go to the assignment meeting.
Our theme in the meeting tonight, and my theme in this post, is the piles of paperwork that go into this process. Are you ready? It should be loads of fun.
If you want to find out more than you ever wanted to know about assignment, you can check out the ELCA website dedicated to the subject. That's sort of our home page for this process. You'll see it has practical information, theological foundation, checklist, schedule... and the forms. The many, many forms.
Piles of Paperwork: So What Are All These Forms?
The candidate (that would be me) fills out three major forms: A, B, and RLP. (If the candidate is restricting herself or himself to a certain area -- as I described in Part Two -- there's one additional form, Form R.)
Form A: Basic information. Name, contact information, home synod, home congregation, education and work history, etc.
Form B: Candidate preference summary. This is the place to state regional preferences (see Part Two), as well as preferences for the setting where you would prefer to be called -- for example, rural or urban, solo pastor or member of a large church staff. It also has a (surprisingly small) box to describe your sense of call and your gifts. This is the primary way the bishops will get a sense of what ministry setting you are suited for.
Form R: I won't say much about this one; I'm not planning to restrict, so I won't be filling out Form R. This form is only for first call candidates who are requesting a restriction to a certain synod or area. (Note that it's a request; the request has to be approved by the bishops of the region to which the candidate wants to restrict.)
Form RLP: Assuming you have gotten the attention of a bishop in Form B, that bishop may choose to look at your Rostered Leader Profile. While Forms A and B are just a page each, the RLP is a massive 16 pages. Obviously, with 200-ish candidates going through this process at the same time, the bishops are not going to read every one of their RLPs. So this form functions to elaborate on what was written in Form B, for those bishops who want additional information. Like Form B, it includes regional preferences, preferences for setting (say, small town) and ministry (say, youth ministry or Christian education). However, it has more space to provide input, and it includes larger sections on your strengths and gifts, education and work history, etc.
The Rostered Leader Profile will continue to be important after assignment, because it's also the form that congregational call committees will look at when you're beginning to interview for first call. It functions as your resumé for congregations to look at -- but it also includes your vision for the kind of ministry to which you think you would be suited.
We're not done yet! There are two more forms which matter for assignment, but are written by other people.
Form D: Form D is the summary of what the candidate did in seminary. On the left-hand side of the single page are the summaries written at the end of internship. The internship supervisor and the internship committee, as well as the intern herself or himself, each write a single paragraph that summarizes and evaluates the internship experience. On the right-hand side of Form D, the seminary faculty gives their evaluation of your abilities and preparedness for ministry.
Form E: This is the candidacy committee's equivalent of Form D. Since the candidacy committee makes the final decision to approve the candidate for ordination, this form is the document that contains the official recommendation for ordination. It also includes their own summary of the candidate.
(If you're as neurotic as I am, you may be wondering why there's no Form C. I think that form is filled out by congregations who are seeking a pastor, but I'm not sure exactly what it entails.)
Part One: Approval
Part Two: Introduction to Assignment
Now, on to part three. Tonight, we had an informational meeting with two important folks: the seminary representative who goes to the assignment summit in Chicago (in the case of Gettysburg Seminary, he's also our director of field education and one of the New Testament professors), and the Region 8 coordinator. Remember in Part Two, we talked about the nine regions of the ELCA? Each region has a region coordinator, and those coordinators also go to the assignment meeting.
Our theme in the meeting tonight, and my theme in this post, is the piles of paperwork that go into this process. Are you ready? It should be loads of fun.
If you want to find out more than you ever wanted to know about assignment, you can check out the ELCA website dedicated to the subject. That's sort of our home page for this process. You'll see it has practical information, theological foundation, checklist, schedule... and the forms. The many, many forms.
Piles of Paperwork: So What Are All These Forms?
The candidate (that would be me) fills out three major forms: A, B, and RLP. (If the candidate is restricting herself or himself to a certain area -- as I described in Part Two -- there's one additional form, Form R.)
Form A: Basic information. Name, contact information, home synod, home congregation, education and work history, etc.
Form B: Candidate preference summary. This is the place to state regional preferences (see Part Two), as well as preferences for the setting where you would prefer to be called -- for example, rural or urban, solo pastor or member of a large church staff. It also has a (surprisingly small) box to describe your sense of call and your gifts. This is the primary way the bishops will get a sense of what ministry setting you are suited for.
Form R: I won't say much about this one; I'm not planning to restrict, so I won't be filling out Form R. This form is only for first call candidates who are requesting a restriction to a certain synod or area. (Note that it's a request; the request has to be approved by the bishops of the region to which the candidate wants to restrict.)
Form RLP: Assuming you have gotten the attention of a bishop in Form B, that bishop may choose to look at your Rostered Leader Profile. While Forms A and B are just a page each, the RLP is a massive 16 pages. Obviously, with 200-ish candidates going through this process at the same time, the bishops are not going to read every one of their RLPs. So this form functions to elaborate on what was written in Form B, for those bishops who want additional information. Like Form B, it includes regional preferences, preferences for setting (say, small town) and ministry (say, youth ministry or Christian education). However, it has more space to provide input, and it includes larger sections on your strengths and gifts, education and work history, etc.
The Rostered Leader Profile will continue to be important after assignment, because it's also the form that congregational call committees will look at when you're beginning to interview for first call. It functions as your resumé for congregations to look at -- but it also includes your vision for the kind of ministry to which you think you would be suited.
We're not done yet! There are two more forms which matter for assignment, but are written by other people.
Form D: Form D is the summary of what the candidate did in seminary. On the left-hand side of the single page are the summaries written at the end of internship. The internship supervisor and the internship committee, as well as the intern herself or himself, each write a single paragraph that summarizes and evaluates the internship experience. On the right-hand side of Form D, the seminary faculty gives their evaluation of your abilities and preparedness for ministry.
Form E: This is the candidacy committee's equivalent of Form D. Since the candidacy committee makes the final decision to approve the candidate for ordination, this form is the document that contains the official recommendation for ordination. It also includes their own summary of the candidate.
(If you're as neurotic as I am, you may be wondering why there's no Form C. I think that form is filled out by congregations who are seeking a pastor, but I'm not sure exactly what it entails.)
Monday, August 29, 2011
First Call: What's this Whole Assignment Process, Anyway?
Part Two of my ongoing series about getting ready for first call. Check out Part One to read about the approval essay.
If you're a seminarian getting ready for assignment, you've probably found yourself explaining the process to friends, family members, parishioners from your internship site... the list goes on. If you're a friend, family member, etc. of a seminarian, you're probably interested in what a senior in seminary goes through. Assignment is complicated, and it can be confusing. I'll do my best to give an outline of how the process works.
Assignment for First Call: "So, you could go anywhere?"
Unlike nearly any other job (although the military seems similar, from what I understand), graduating ELCA seminarians going into their first call go through an assignment process. This is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, you're not expected to go out and find yourself a job, like most people have to when they get out of school. Instead, you are (ideally) matched with a congregation that needs your gifts and abilities. On the other hand, you don't have a lot of control over where you end up -- that decision is in the hands of the church, specifically the bishops. I'll be honest and say that it can be stressful to let go of that control.
So, how does the process work? In later posts, I'll write about the nuts and bolts, the paperwork seminarians have to fill out before they are assigned, the stages along the way. In this post, I want to lay out the broad outline of this nearly year-long process, as well as explain the geographical regions of the ELCA.
Every year, there are a group of graduating seminarians from the eight ELCA seminaries. And, throughout the church, there are congregations in need of pastors. Not all of these congregations are good contexts for first call pastors; their bishops help to decide which congregations will be open to being a first call site. The goal of assignment is to match up these soon-to-be-pastors with calls that are a good fit for their gifts and abilities. However, the church does not assign graduating seminarians directly to congregations (although it used to work that way, at least in some of the Lutheran denominations that preceded the ELCA). Instead, seminarians are assigned to a region and then a synod, and that's the process we call "Assignment".
Assignment for First Call: Regions? Synods?
A friend of mine, and spouse of a now-graduated seminarian, made a fantastic resource for anyone trying to understand the assignment process: a map of the regions of the ELCA. As you can see, the ELCA is divided into nine geographic regions. Each of these regions is broken into synods. (The size of the synods was determined by population of Lutherans, not land area. That's why you can have one synod - the Rocky Mountain Synod - that encompasses New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and the panhandle of Texas, while the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul rate two synods.) Seminarians are assigned first to one of these regions, then to a synod within that region.
So, as a seminarian, do you have any control over where you're assigned? In a limited sense, yes. Loosely speaking, there are two ways a seminarian can influence their assignment: restriction and preference. If a seminarian has a restriction, that means he or she can only accept a call in a certain area due to extenuating circumstances. For example, he might have young kids in school and a spouse with a job who can't move; or she might have an aging parent for whom she provides care. In these cases, the seminarian fills out additional paperwork explaining their restriction (e.g. within fifty miles of a certain city) and their reason. These restrictions are taken seriously by the church, but they can mean that a seminarian has to wait much longer for a call.
Even if a seminarian doesn't have a pressing reason to restrict, he or she can still state preferences for where he or she would like to be assigned. For example, you could state a preference for Region 2 first, then Region 6, and then Region 3 (three regions is the most you can preference). Preferences are no guarantee for where you'll end up, but they are taken into consideration at the regional assignment meeting.
Assignment for First Call: The Draft Pick
Every year, the bishops in each region come together and decide how many first call spots they have available. At the same time, they receive loads of paperwork (more on that in Part Three) from the graduating seminarians who have been approved for ordination. This gives them an idea of who will be available at assignment. It also allows them to see the preferences or restrictions the seminarians have stated.
In February (for seminarians who will be graduating in the spring), these bishops gather in Chicago, along with representatives from each of the seminaries. Seminarians humorously refer to this meeting as "the draft pick". To understand how it works, I recommend reading this post from a bishop who's been there. In short, the seminarians are doled out to each of the regions based on their preferences, the first call sites available, and the matches bishops have in mind. Again, bishops don't assign a first call pastor directly to a congregation - "You, go to this church" - but they often have contexts in mind that would be a good fit for a particular seminarian. Also, a bishop can't request more first call pastors than they have calls for. In theory, that helps to ensure that graduating seminarians aren't sitting around for months waiting for a church. The system is imperfect, but it's set up to be as effective as possible both for congregations and seminarians.
Well, that's about as brief as a summary could be. This is the process my classmates and I will be going through this year. There are plenty of details - and probably plenty of anxiety - to describe over the next few months. Check back here to find out more.
If you're a seminarian getting ready for assignment, you've probably found yourself explaining the process to friends, family members, parishioners from your internship site... the list goes on. If you're a friend, family member, etc. of a seminarian, you're probably interested in what a senior in seminary goes through. Assignment is complicated, and it can be confusing. I'll do my best to give an outline of how the process works.
Assignment for First Call: "So, you could go anywhere?"
Unlike nearly any other job (although the military seems similar, from what I understand), graduating ELCA seminarians going into their first call go through an assignment process. This is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, you're not expected to go out and find yourself a job, like most people have to when they get out of school. Instead, you are (ideally) matched with a congregation that needs your gifts and abilities. On the other hand, you don't have a lot of control over where you end up -- that decision is in the hands of the church, specifically the bishops. I'll be honest and say that it can be stressful to let go of that control.
So, how does the process work? In later posts, I'll write about the nuts and bolts, the paperwork seminarians have to fill out before they are assigned, the stages along the way. In this post, I want to lay out the broad outline of this nearly year-long process, as well as explain the geographical regions of the ELCA.
Every year, there are a group of graduating seminarians from the eight ELCA seminaries. And, throughout the church, there are congregations in need of pastors. Not all of these congregations are good contexts for first call pastors; their bishops help to decide which congregations will be open to being a first call site. The goal of assignment is to match up these soon-to-be-pastors with calls that are a good fit for their gifts and abilities. However, the church does not assign graduating seminarians directly to congregations (although it used to work that way, at least in some of the Lutheran denominations that preceded the ELCA). Instead, seminarians are assigned to a region and then a synod, and that's the process we call "Assignment".
Assignment for First Call: Regions? Synods?
A friend of mine, and spouse of a now-graduated seminarian, made a fantastic resource for anyone trying to understand the assignment process: a map of the regions of the ELCA. As you can see, the ELCA is divided into nine geographic regions. Each of these regions is broken into synods. (The size of the synods was determined by population of Lutherans, not land area. That's why you can have one synod - the Rocky Mountain Synod - that encompasses New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and the panhandle of Texas, while the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul rate two synods.) Seminarians are assigned first to one of these regions, then to a synod within that region.
So, as a seminarian, do you have any control over where you're assigned? In a limited sense, yes. Loosely speaking, there are two ways a seminarian can influence their assignment: restriction and preference. If a seminarian has a restriction, that means he or she can only accept a call in a certain area due to extenuating circumstances. For example, he might have young kids in school and a spouse with a job who can't move; or she might have an aging parent for whom she provides care. In these cases, the seminarian fills out additional paperwork explaining their restriction (e.g. within fifty miles of a certain city) and their reason. These restrictions are taken seriously by the church, but they can mean that a seminarian has to wait much longer for a call.
Even if a seminarian doesn't have a pressing reason to restrict, he or she can still state preferences for where he or she would like to be assigned. For example, you could state a preference for Region 2 first, then Region 6, and then Region 3 (three regions is the most you can preference). Preferences are no guarantee for where you'll end up, but they are taken into consideration at the regional assignment meeting.
Assignment for First Call: The Draft Pick
Every year, the bishops in each region come together and decide how many first call spots they have available. At the same time, they receive loads of paperwork (more on that in Part Three) from the graduating seminarians who have been approved for ordination. This gives them an idea of who will be available at assignment. It also allows them to see the preferences or restrictions the seminarians have stated.
In February (for seminarians who will be graduating in the spring), these bishops gather in Chicago, along with representatives from each of the seminaries. Seminarians humorously refer to this meeting as "the draft pick". To understand how it works, I recommend reading this post from a bishop who's been there. In short, the seminarians are doled out to each of the regions based on their preferences, the first call sites available, and the matches bishops have in mind. Again, bishops don't assign a first call pastor directly to a congregation - "You, go to this church" - but they often have contexts in mind that would be a good fit for a particular seminarian. Also, a bishop can't request more first call pastors than they have calls for. In theory, that helps to ensure that graduating seminarians aren't sitting around for months waiting for a church. The system is imperfect, but it's set up to be as effective as possible both for congregations and seminarians.
Well, that's about as brief as a summary could be. This is the process my classmates and I will be going through this year. There are plenty of details - and probably plenty of anxiety - to describe over the next few months. Check back here to find out more.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Beginning (of the end of) the journey to first call
My internship is finished, and I'm back in Gettysburg for my final year of seminary. That means I'm well on my way to the process known as assignment.
I know I have many friends and family members who want to know how this process works. I'll be using the blog as a central place to find out the steps along this journey, from from approval to assignment to first call. It'll also give me a chance to let you all know how the decisions come down for me. And if there are any seminarians out there reading this, I hope it's a resource to you in what to expect from your senior year.
This is Part One. Check out Part Two, on the assignment process, and Part Three, on assignment paperwork.
Part One: The Approval Essay
A huge part of the road to becoming a pastor (or another rostered leader, such as an Associate in Ministry or a Diaconal Minister) is the candidacy process. Theologically, the church understands that call is not only a personal, internal feeling, but that there is also an external call that comes from the Christian community. Practically, we also want to make sure that the people who are leaders in the church are appropriate for that role. Both of these needs are filled by the candidacy committees - one in each synod. There are three stages of candidacy: entrance (before you begin seminary), endorsement (before you go on internship), and approval (before assignment and ordination). Each stage includes an essay and an interview with the committee, as well as other requirements that vary between the stages.
At this point, my classmates and I have already received a positive decision for entrance and endorsement. Now we're preparing for approval. Right now, that means we're writing an approval essay that will be submitted to our candidacy committee and our seminary. The topic for the approval essay changes from year to year. This year, we've been asked to consider cultural and demographic changes that are affecting the church. The essay includes reflection on our internship site, a sermon, and consideration of our leadership abilities.
The approval essay is due at the end of the summer. Once the fall semester begins, we'll have a faculty approval panel -- an interview with two members of the faculty to discuss our theological ability and our readiness for practical ministry. The faculty makes a recommendation to the candidacy committee about our approval decision. Then each approval candidate meets with his or her candidacy committee for the approval interview. Some of these interviews will be happening as soon as October; mine isn't until January. The candidacy committee will make the final decision as to whether the candidate is approved for ordination. If you're approved, then you can enter the assignment process.
Stay tuned for my next post, when I'll briefly explain the assignment process and the regions of the ELCA.
I know I have many friends and family members who want to know how this process works. I'll be using the blog as a central place to find out the steps along this journey, from from approval to assignment to first call. It'll also give me a chance to let you all know how the decisions come down for me. And if there are any seminarians out there reading this, I hope it's a resource to you in what to expect from your senior year.
This is Part One. Check out Part Two, on the assignment process, and Part Three, on assignment paperwork.
Part One: The Approval Essay
A huge part of the road to becoming a pastor (or another rostered leader, such as an Associate in Ministry or a Diaconal Minister) is the candidacy process. Theologically, the church understands that call is not only a personal, internal feeling, but that there is also an external call that comes from the Christian community. Practically, we also want to make sure that the people who are leaders in the church are appropriate for that role. Both of these needs are filled by the candidacy committees - one in each synod. There are three stages of candidacy: entrance (before you begin seminary), endorsement (before you go on internship), and approval (before assignment and ordination). Each stage includes an essay and an interview with the committee, as well as other requirements that vary between the stages.
At this point, my classmates and I have already received a positive decision for entrance and endorsement. Now we're preparing for approval. Right now, that means we're writing an approval essay that will be submitted to our candidacy committee and our seminary. The topic for the approval essay changes from year to year. This year, we've been asked to consider cultural and demographic changes that are affecting the church. The essay includes reflection on our internship site, a sermon, and consideration of our leadership abilities.
The approval essay is due at the end of the summer. Once the fall semester begins, we'll have a faculty approval panel -- an interview with two members of the faculty to discuss our theological ability and our readiness for practical ministry. The faculty makes a recommendation to the candidacy committee about our approval decision. Then each approval candidate meets with his or her candidacy committee for the approval interview. Some of these interviews will be happening as soon as October; mine isn't until January. The candidacy committee will make the final decision as to whether the candidate is approved for ordination. If you're approved, then you can enter the assignment process.
Stay tuned for my next post, when I'll briefly explain the assignment process and the regions of the ELCA.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Blind Leading the Blind
Whew. This weekend has been one of the longer ones of my young life. Down at Grace Lutheran, Pastor Kevin and Pastor Martha took some well-deserved time off, leaving Steve and I at the helm, with the excellent help of a guest preacher/presider, Linda Fernandez. Unfortunately, Steve came down with some sort of miserable head cold Saturday morning, which meant that instead of he and I splitting up the work, I ended up taking the lion's share of it. Doing four worship services in less than 16 hours is really, really exhausting. Also, between the third and fourth services, I lost the Prayers of the Church we had written, so I had to ad lib them at the final service. Oh, and did I mention I was also teaching the Confirmation class this week?
Talk about the blind leading the blind. In any case, after coming home, collapsing into bed for two hours, slowly oozing back out of bed again, and getting myself woken up again by sheer force of will, I'm back, and it seemed like as good a time as any for a blog post (especially since it's been over a week since the last one).
This past Wednesday, at chapel here at the seminary's Chuch of the Abiding Presence, we had an installation ceremony for Pastor Vickie Brown, who works here at the seminary. Her husband, also a pastor, preached the sermon for the service, and he preached on the passage from Matthew 23 where Jesus tells his disciples: "You are not to be called Rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father—the one in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant." He looked out over the seminary chapel and asked, "How many of you are instructors? How many of you are professors?" He argued that Christians are all supposed to be followers, and the so-called "leaders" of the church are really supposed to be super-followers, examples to those around them. He said that the church should always have one leader, Christ, and we should all be followers.
That got me thinking about leadership, especially in the academic environment I've known my whole life. It's been a rough transition for me, coming from St. John's, where the faculty are not called professors, and where faculty and students alike are addressed as Mr. and Ms., to come into a "real" academic environment, where I—in spite of my bachelor's degree and the many years of learning behind it—am "Jennie", while my professors are Dr. Stevens, Dr. Oldenburg, and so on. It truly is an environment of leaders and followers, and those roles are enforced in every aspect of our lives here. That's why it was so intimidating for me to assist at worship in the chapel; because even as a supposed "leader", I knew who the real leaders were.
Now, that's not to say (however homesick I may be) that St. John's gets it all right. The respect and equality at St. John's were incredibly valuable to me, both as a learner and as a teacher. It taught me that my interpretations of the Great Books were just as valid as that of the tutors, and at the same time, that I owed just as much to the "bad" students in my classes as I did to the faculty. The point was, we were all learning together. The problem with this model is, we had no leader. Of course, in every class, leaders made themselves known, and we all knew the tutors were actually not equal to us, even though we said they were; but at the end of the day, there was no authority over all of us.
What Pastor Chris said in chapel on Wednesday made me realize that both St. John's and LTSG are getting it wrong. In the one case, we have the blind leading the blind; all are both followers and leaders, with no true "teacher". In the other, we have the traditional roles of academia enforced, where the opinions of the students bear less weight or validity, and the faculty sometimes seem to speak as if they had the voice of God. In the perfect world, we would be doing what Jesus tells us to do; we would all be followers, and acknowledge our him to be our one leader, our one teacher, our one authority. After all, in Christ all distinctions are erased; there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, neither professor nor student.
Talk about the blind leading the blind. In any case, after coming home, collapsing into bed for two hours, slowly oozing back out of bed again, and getting myself woken up again by sheer force of will, I'm back, and it seemed like as good a time as any for a blog post (especially since it's been over a week since the last one).
This past Wednesday, at chapel here at the seminary's Chuch of the Abiding Presence, we had an installation ceremony for Pastor Vickie Brown, who works here at the seminary. Her husband, also a pastor, preached the sermon for the service, and he preached on the passage from Matthew 23 where Jesus tells his disciples: "You are not to be called Rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father—the one in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant." He looked out over the seminary chapel and asked, "How many of you are instructors? How many of you are professors?" He argued that Christians are all supposed to be followers, and the so-called "leaders" of the church are really supposed to be super-followers, examples to those around them. He said that the church should always have one leader, Christ, and we should all be followers.
That got me thinking about leadership, especially in the academic environment I've known my whole life. It's been a rough transition for me, coming from St. John's, where the faculty are not called professors, and where faculty and students alike are addressed as Mr. and Ms., to come into a "real" academic environment, where I—in spite of my bachelor's degree and the many years of learning behind it—am "Jennie", while my professors are Dr. Stevens, Dr. Oldenburg, and so on. It truly is an environment of leaders and followers, and those roles are enforced in every aspect of our lives here. That's why it was so intimidating for me to assist at worship in the chapel; because even as a supposed "leader", I knew who the real leaders were.
Now, that's not to say (however homesick I may be) that St. John's gets it all right. The respect and equality at St. John's were incredibly valuable to me, both as a learner and as a teacher. It taught me that my interpretations of the Great Books were just as valid as that of the tutors, and at the same time, that I owed just as much to the "bad" students in my classes as I did to the faculty. The point was, we were all learning together. The problem with this model is, we had no leader. Of course, in every class, leaders made themselves known, and we all knew the tutors were actually not equal to us, even though we said they were; but at the end of the day, there was no authority over all of us.
What Pastor Chris said in chapel on Wednesday made me realize that both St. John's and LTSG are getting it wrong. In the one case, we have the blind leading the blind; all are both followers and leaders, with no true "teacher". In the other, we have the traditional roles of academia enforced, where the opinions of the students bear less weight or validity, and the faculty sometimes seem to speak as if they had the voice of God. In the perfect world, we would be doing what Jesus tells us to do; we would all be followers, and acknowledge our him to be our one leader, our one teacher, our one authority. After all, in Christ all distinctions are erased; there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, neither professor nor student.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
