Initial Interview

Posted on January 25, 2005 by Jen

I have my initial interview to re-start my candidacy process for ordained ministry on Friday at 3 pm CST. Prayers would be very greatly appreciated.

Re-Starting the Candidacy Process

Posted on May 27, 2004 by Jen

I am starting the process to re-apply for candidacy in the ELCA. I’m taking it easy this time and writing my essay slowly and choosing my words carefully. As I am in this process, I would like to ask that people keep me in prayer. I didn’t ask for prayer last time and I think it would have made a difference.

Here are my specific requests:
-Pray for me as I write my essay to express myself and my call in a way that communicates that it isn’t about what I want, but about what God has called me to do
-Pray for me in the process as I deal with interviews and psych testing
-Pray for a job for me in the meantime

If anyone wants to proofread my essay, also let me know.

Protected: Being Sick + Sappy Episode of “Joan of Arcadia” Makes Jen Something Something

Posted on April 2, 2004 by Jen

Postponement

Posted on February 17, 2004 by Jen

I’m getting the feeling right now that my plans to return to school this fall are perhaps not the ones the Lord wants me to have. Last year, I was chomping at the bit to get back to seminary. Right now, I’m kind of not as diehard about having to be back in school in September.

This is kind of shocking considering my anguish last April when I was denied candidacy for ordained ministry. I remember being so crushed and devastated by the news that it took HOURS to stop crying. The bitterness and my attempts to get back in didn’t even stop until November when I realized that my attempts were not helping me or my case. (The candidacy committee of my synod in Ohio is tough to work with and has been declared so by about 70% of those dealing with them, but that doesn’t mean I need to badmouth them at every turn. It also makes me look like I’m not mature enough to deal with this.) If the Lord wants me to serve Him as a minister of Word and Sacrament, He can direct my steps in that direction.

Maybe I’m healed from the pain of last April. Maybe I still have a little more to work on before I’m really ready. Maybe I’m just really satisfied with my life here and don’t want to face another transition or the fact that I’d be away from Jon and the cats three or four days a week. All I know is that if I’d been in school this year, the following things wouldn’t have happened:

We wouldn’t have adopted Freya and Edda.

I wouldn’t have been able to go with Jon to call interviews, which means that I wouldn’t have met the call committee at the churches here who were the deciding factor in our decision to come.

I wouldn’t have gotten to sing Fauré’s Requiem with St. Paul’s and that’s an experience that was incredibly healing after this summer.

I wouldn’t have gotten to participate in the funerals this summer. It was a tough experience but it taught me how I grieve and also how to deal with grieving people. Death is also not as freaky to me.

I wouldn’t be teaching 14 Vikings about the tenets of Lutheranism and be dragged into discussions on embalming practices.

As usual, the Lord knew best. Now to see what’s next in store for me…

Ordination Pics

Posted on January 5, 2004 by Jen

Jon and I after his ordination

The gang who laid hands (minus one)
From left to right: Rev. Mark Shoemaker, Rev. Bill Rauch, Bishop Callon Holloway, Jon, his dad, and me. Missing is Rev. Dick Burgie. (A shame because Dick is such a kick.)

The laying on of hands. This is the fake one for pictures. The real one had me standing and holding the book for da Bish.

Commencement Pictures

Posted on June 3, 2003 by Jen

Richard was brave enough to post pictures of himself in a funny hat for *HIS* convocation, so I thought I’d volunteer Jon for some academic robe posing of his own. 😀

We're marching to Zion...
The faculty leading the procession to Mees Hall