“You’re going to seminary? Are you sure?” This wasn’t the reaction I was expecting from my mother when I called to tell her I’d applied for admission to seminary. After all, I was finishing up my year serving in Northern Ireland as a Young Adult Volunteer through the PC(USA), so seminary shouldn’t have come as […]
Dear Askie, When I was ordained and installed as Associate Pastor of a wonderful UCC congregation, I thought I had arrived – that I had finally become a “real” pastor. But months later, I still find myself trying to get people to accept my role. I had expected that this would be a challenge with […]
Wardrobe choices. That’s what my husband and I were fighting about that evening. It was like an episode of “What Not To Wear” was playing in front of our closet.
I have a go-to quote. Many pastors do. We have trusted companions that travel alongside us and provide meaning, repeatedly, in a variety of situations. Go-to quotes, rehashed sermon illustrations (spoken in different contexts, of course), and our best life stories are often guides that keep on giving right when we need to say something […]
Dear Askie, My college roommate is being ordained as a Presbyterian minister next month, and I’m traveling to attend her ordination. I’m Christian (Episcopalian, specifically), but I’ve never been to an ordination before. Is there anything I need to know? More importantly, I’d like to give her a gift for her ordination, but I’m not […]
May 17 – Almost exactly five years after my husband proposed to me, we flipped over a pregnancy test to see a small plus sign. In that moment our life changed. We had taken one huge step toward being parents. I found myself between simply being an adult who could focus almost completely on my […]
Ah, the call process. What an idyllic, prayerful time, characterized by careful consideration of congregations and clergy alike, with everyone putting aside worldly concerns to discern the will of the Triune God. Sound familiar? No? What’s that? You experienced stress, anxiety, or confusion while looking for a position as an ordained minister? Blasphemy, blasphemy! Well, maybe so, but, given […]
There are certain life markers and statistics that make me feel old: my ninth wedding anniversary is coming up, as is my tenth college reunion; I have high school friends with four kids. But the most remarkable one of these facts is this: I’m only 30, but I’ve already been a pastor in two denominations. […]
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