Hello friends -
Lars and I are slogging through winter. It is finally warming up (38!) and most of the snow has melted. Our back yard was nothing but weeds when we bought the place so now it is a big mud patch. I go out to walk the dog and I fall out of my clogs. We need to look into some grass. Either way we are both eager for the arrival of Spring. We planted lots of bulbs when we got here and I can not wait to see their happy faces.
Lars finally got a job. He is working as a cook at "The Homestead". It is one of our restaurants - the only one that doesn't specialize in burgers. He is making steaks and pizzas and seems to be enjoying himself.
We are busy inside the house while we wait for Spring. We ripped up our bedroom carpet yesterday to finally get down to our hardwood floor. God only knows why there were so many staples but Lars and I finally got everything cleared. It looks awesome.
Church is going OK. Some of you saw my short lived post on an issue with parishoners. We had a run in about the authority of Scripture. Much to my surprise they are still attending. The session has voted to no longer be a Confessing Church so that is good. Admist the division talk I am glad that they heard my call for working together. This job is difficult and I am constantly lamenting how unprepared I am from my time in seminary. There is just such a disconnect from the way we are trained to be pastors and what the work actually requires of us. Oh well - "I will, with God's help"
Hope you all are well. Thanks for your care and concern. I miss you - and Anitra - what I wouldn't give for a Mount Tam Pale Ale and some Onion Rings - thanks for the picture.
- Heather
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2 comments:
The reality of ministry is significantly different from our classroom expereinces (yes...even including AIM!)and, I believe, from many of the expectations we share while in seminary.
I do feel well prepared for what has come up -- just not well prepared for some of the practicalities. I am confident that our preparation with a little experience will take us a long way. And, when I compare our depth of study, preparation, and commmitment to even the most astute of the congregation...I see how we can be sat aside as leaders. It's Ok and will only get better.
Hey all -- since I'm actively involved in that preparation process, I feel compelled to write a response. First from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching's brand new book "Educating Clergy":
"In "Open Secrets"(2001) Richard Lisher, who teaches at the Divinity School of Duke University, recalls his first parish assignment in the 1960s. He had completed his seminary and doctoral studies and was being sent to a congregation in an economically depressed, rural community in the Midwest. As he describes the transition from school to congregation, he illustrates the challenge of linking the knowledge and skills of professional education with the judgements of professional practice: "When you pull up to your first church, it's a moment of truth, like the first glimpse of a spouse in an arranged marriage. It had been 12 years since I'd blurted out my secret at the family dinner table: 'I'm going to be a pastor. What do you think of that?" (p. 108)....
More than 30 years later, a priest responding to our survey [the folks who wrote this book] of seminary graduates said that although she felt "well prepared...for Sunday mornings, -- liturgy, preaching, education," and for specific tasks of "counseling and pastoral care," the "weekly work" of "supervising and working with staff, parish administration and leadership, working with volunteers, parish record-keeping and archives, leading/working with vestries and other committees, delegating responsibilites, parish finances, stewardship of our own time and resources" had not been effectively "integrated into the priestly role." The [s]eminary, including field education, did not give me any sense of what parish ministry is like during the week and how it all fits together. The biggest challenge of parish ministry...is fitting all this together without going nuts and still have some kind of life (including sleep!)."
The whole dang book is about that disconnect and how seminaries could/should/would do a better job of preparing people for ministry. (It's a question that I hope will shape and form my own D Min project eventually!) And you are not alone in feeling that way...I don't know if that's good or bad news! I agree that there are gaps in seminary education and if you can help identify where those gaps are and how a 3 or 4 year M Div program could do a better job, please let me know! And I would encourage you to write a letter to the Dean -- you know, what worked, what could've been better...etc.
I had lunch with graduating seniors here at Western today and they're saying some of the exact same things that I have heard during my time in seminary, both as a student and on staff. Again, I don't know if this is comforting or puts the "dis" in comfort!
If you haven't read "Open Secrets," I highly recommend it. Find those networks of support -- keep on blogging, call write, send smoke signals -- pull weeds, plant grass and keep the faith that spring hopes eternal!
Love & blessings on this Valentine's Day to you all who are wrestling with first calls and for those who are even now preparing their hearts to receive that first call. It ain't easy either way. But please remember you don't have to do it alone.
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