My 1000 post life-story

I was born and raised in the suburbs of St. Paul, MN. Most of my family still lives in Minneapolis-St. Paul. I was a good student, a semi-lousy athlete, and fairly introverted. I devoured books. The worst punishment my parents had for my siblings and I, when we were really rotten, was to forbid reading for two days. Our cousins thought this was nuts.

In high school I was active in drama, math team, and in cross-country ski team until my asthma got so bad that outdoor winter sports were impossible. I started taking classes at the community college five blocks from our home when I was a junior in high school, and graduated with an associate of arts degree one week after I graduated high school. While that should have meant I only need two more years for my Bachelor’s degree, actually it took 12. (But that’s getting ahead of the story.)

I was also active in UMYF, and other church activities, including planning and organizing the Easter Sunrise Service one year. That was the first time someone suggested that I consider full-time ministry. I laughed in his face. The next time was a few years later, when I asked my pastor to write a college recommendation letter. He suggested I major in religious studies, with an eye towards attending seminary. I made a passionate (and not particularly tactful) speech about how God needs good engineers, and how no one takes seriously anything clergy say about God anyway, since it’s their job to say it. When I think back on that one, I can almost hear God snickering.

Anyway, I headed off to Iowa State University to study mechanical engineering, which was my second choice major. My dad convinced me it was more practical than physics, which was my first choice. Iowa State is a good school for M.E., close to home (but not too close), one of my Dad’s best friends was an alum and, most importantly, my high school sweetheart was accepted at Drake, 35 miles away. Ironically, we broke up Thanksgiving of our freshman year.

I made it through a year and a half before realizing that I was bored to death by engineering. I liked theoretical mathematics, all that real world stuff was dull. Unfortunately, the way I reached this conclusion was by noticing that I wasn’t doing my homework or going to class. So I became one of the strangely large group of National Merit Scholars who drop out of college. I was extremely embarrassed about this for several years.

I worked several different jobs, trying to figure out what to do with my life, and was all the time very active in church, especially in a church theatre troupe, but also serving in various local and state-wide offices. I won’t recount my “call” experience here. There aren’t really words that would fit around it. Suffice it to say that while I still believe that lay people are vastly more important than clergy, both in the world and in the church, it became increasingly clear that I was going to be one of those less important types. I was working as a caterer at the time, so I gave my two-years notice (hey, I wasn’t in any hurry) and applied for candidacy for ordained ministry. Candidacy in the United Methodist Church is a five-stage process, it took about two years to be certified, then I applied to seminary.

I had the slight problem that seminary is graduate school – a master’s degree program – and I hadn’t ever finished my bachelors. I had picked up a few credits here and there, and once I started candidacy I made an effort to finish, but I was still nine credits short. I was accepted anyway, on probation, and took a summer class and a couple of correspondence classes to make up the difference. The M-Div is a 3-4 year masters program, since it combines education in academic theology, church history, and biblical studies with practical classes in counseling, church management, etc. It’s a degree that suffers from multiple personality disorder – can’t decide if it’s grad school or vocational school. After my second year I accepted an appointment as a part time student pastor, dropped to part time student, and started commuting between my parish and school. For two years I put about 1000 miles a week on my car and rarely slept in the same state more than two nights in a row. Fortunately, in the second year my mom gave me the complete unabridged LotR trilogy on tape, which made the miles fly by.

After I graduated I expected a new appointment, since my position was ¾ time, but the two little churches in my parish decided that they wanted to go back to having a full-time pastor, and I was re-appointed to the same charge, full time. I’m on the “possible move” list for this year, which means that around March I’ll start getting nervous every time the phone rings.

So that’s where I am now. I had way too much fun in the academic theology classes, so I expect that in 2-5 years I’ll be asking for appointment to attend school and applying to PhD programs in theology. I was a grad assistant for two different professors, enjoyed leading discussion groups and had people tell me I was a good lecturer. So after the PhD I might teach, or I might come back to serving local churches. Or God might have some other plan in mind, which no doubt I’ll be dragged into kicking and screaming. (I’m trying to practice obedience, but Jonah is still my patron saint.)

That was mostly all about church/school/work, so I’ll just throw in that I have a wonderful extended family, even though they are 200 miles away. My hobbies include cooking, gardening, pottery, and pathetic attempts to learn to play the hammered dulcimer. OSC is not quite my favorite author, though he’s in the top five, and Speaker for the Dead is one of my “if I were stranded on a desert island” books. I realized after about the fifth time that someone commented, after I conducted a funeral for someone I’d never met, “It was like you’d known her all her life,” that Andrew Wiggen, SftD, is in some weird way a mentor of mine.

I’d like to thank the jatraqueros for keeping me sane in a town of under 500 people when I’m used to a big city. In real life I’m an excellent listener, online that translates into “mostly invisible,” but I’m here considerably more often than I post. Coming here is one of my few chances to interact with people who watch the same movies and read the same books that I enjoy. Most of you are also a lot closer to my own age than most of my parishioners. And I don’t have to watch my mouth for fear that you’ll give my words more weight than they deserve. So thanks.

 

Congratulations! Nice Post.
 

edit: Of course for someone who's been here a year less than I and has more posts, I don't think I, at least, am going to regard you as silent.

[This message has been edited by MrSquicky (edited November 20, 2002).]
 

And I suspect I'd like your church. Your belief that the lay people are more important than the clergy is what does it for me...not that I agree, but to me, humility is a requirement for spiritual leadership. But I don't want to steal any of that humility away from you, so you just keep on thinking as you do.
 

My brother's a minister, so I'm always interested in hearing about other ministers' lives. Sounds like you're a good pastor to your parishioners.

(And while I applaud your mention of the *excellent* LotR audiobooks, I am sorely disappointed by the lack of eggplants in your post. )
 

Thanks for sharing.
 

This was a wonderful post. I can tell because at the end I was wishing it was longer.

God enjoys Physics more than the practical application too. He just didn't tell too many people about that because He didn't want to disappoint us.

~Jane~
 

Funny how so many people think their life story is boring. It almost never is, and certainly not in your case.

I really enjoyed reading it. Thanks.
 

Thanks for all the wonderful comments everybody.