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Summer plans.
Nov. 1st, 2013 03:38 pmSo life plans seem to be more or less falling into place. I may have mentioned this before, but how the call process works is that you are assigned a region, and then a synod speaks up and says 'hey, we might have a place for this person' and then they start the process of matching you up for interviews with congregations in need of pastors like some sort of weird synodical dating service. But when your spouse is anchored to a geographical region, you have to say 'this is the only synod I can be in' and hope they honor your restriction. Which, here in the Twin Cities, they will not. Which means I am going to be unassigned and floating. That means I'm going to be sitting around waiting for a call for a while, unless some miracle happens, and so I started brain storming what to do. I decided to apply to chaplain residencies so that for the next year I'll at least be employed, even if I won't be ordained (you have to receive a call to a church for that, usually). But that still left the whole summer of me floating around doing nothing.
SO Pasha started thinking about spending some time in Ann Arbor doing research with a colleague there, since I will be more or less unemployed either way. I didn't want to just be floating around doing nothing in an unfamiliar place, though, so I e-mailed the synod there to ask if they might have use for me somewhere. It took a couple weeks but the assistant to the bishop got back to me and said yes, and she wanted to talk with me and forwarded my information to the director of evangelical mission and to a host of pastors. The DEM e-mailed me about 5 minutes later, and a pastor at a church in Ann Arbor sent me an e-mail a little bit later. So we contacted Pasha's colleague and told him we are free to come so it sounds like, though nothing is setting in stone yet, we may be spending July and the first part of August in Ann Arbor.
This seems like it could work out pretty well for me. This is a bigger geographical area so I think Lutheran churches are more sparse. I think if I do some work there and they like me, word could get back to that bishop, and bishops talk... so maybe it could be a connection that might give me a boost here. It's real ministry experience, and it's in a university setting which is outside of my ministry experience thus far. If I can do a residency next year, that will also give me really valuable experience, so maybe once some more calls open up in the Cities, I will look more attractive as a first call pastor. We'll see what happens. I feel kind of good about it. I am slightly nervous but I think it's like 'my future is unfolding in front of me' kind of nervous. For now, I just have to get through approval, though...
SO Pasha started thinking about spending some time in Ann Arbor doing research with a colleague there, since I will be more or less unemployed either way. I didn't want to just be floating around doing nothing in an unfamiliar place, though, so I e-mailed the synod there to ask if they might have use for me somewhere. It took a couple weeks but the assistant to the bishop got back to me and said yes, and she wanted to talk with me and forwarded my information to the director of evangelical mission and to a host of pastors. The DEM e-mailed me about 5 minutes later, and a pastor at a church in Ann Arbor sent me an e-mail a little bit later. So we contacted Pasha's colleague and told him we are free to come so it sounds like, though nothing is setting in stone yet, we may be spending July and the first part of August in Ann Arbor.
This seems like it could work out pretty well for me. This is a bigger geographical area so I think Lutheran churches are more sparse. I think if I do some work there and they like me, word could get back to that bishop, and bishops talk... so maybe it could be a connection that might give me a boost here. It's real ministry experience, and it's in a university setting which is outside of my ministry experience thus far. If I can do a residency next year, that will also give me really valuable experience, so maybe once some more calls open up in the Cities, I will look more attractive as a first call pastor. We'll see what happens. I feel kind of good about it. I am slightly nervous but I think it's like 'my future is unfolding in front of me' kind of nervous. For now, I just have to get through approval, though...
