Over the last few months, I’ve been sharing updates on my discernment process and steps toward ordination in the United Church of Christ.
- A Story of Stoles: Discerning What Next (January 2023)
- Update: My United Church of Christ Ministry Discernment Journey (February 2023)
Pligrimage Paper
In my most recent discernment post I shared a list of documents I’ve created or curated, including a document called a “pilgrimage paper.” The pilgrimage paper is an exploration of how it is that I came to the place of formally seeking ordination in the United Church of Christ.
This document – alongside many others – helps those on the Committees on Ministry get to know me. As a reader of my blog, I hope the following excerpts afford you an enhanced understanding of who I am and why I’m now engaged in this process.
Selected Excerpts
The following seven excerpts come from five sections of the pilgrimage paper I penned in January 2023.
From “Introduction”
The paper begins with these words:
The Christian faith began to shape me before I took my first breath and will continue to form and inform me for the duration of days. I’ve been on the journey of faith long enough and traveled far enough to engage in considerable experiential learning. The account that follows is an attempt to share some of the many highlights of my travels, especially those relevant to how I came to seek ordination in the United Church of Christ.
From “The Early Years”
In sharing my faith journey I move quickly from birth through early childhood and my elementary school years before sharing the “aha” experience of confirmation:
Confirmation changed everything. Suddenly, I was called upon to study Christianity in a much more robust, academic, and committed way. My primary confirmation teacher, the Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Johnson Pense, was the warmest, wisest, and strictest teacher I’d ever encountered. What started as boring classwork and burdensome homework transformed into meaningful discovery and a newfound passion for learning the story of the Presbyterian tradition and the contents of the Bible.
From “Academic Preparation”
Since I was called to ministry in high school, I started my academic preparation for vocational ministry as an undergraduate student before continuing on to complete the seminary degree most commonly associated with preparation for pastoral ministry (Master of Divinity):
My undergraduate education taught me how to study the Bible while my seminary education taught me why to study the Bible and how church history, theology, and the reader’s social location inform the ways people approach the biblical text. My undergraduate education taught me the importance of focusing on the basics of Christianity as expressed in Christianity’s first century while my seminary studies helped me understand the complexity of that approach and enabled me to see that approach alongside several others as options for how to live out one’s faith in the twenty-first century. Together, these experiences provided a solid academic foundation for ministry in the local church.
From “Discovering the United Church of Christ”
My first experience of the United Church of Christ came after many years of ministry experience in other Mainline Protestant denominations:
One of the first congregations my wife and I visited was Naples United Church of Christ. Within a few months we had become members, and I had joined the staff in a part-time role as Director of Adult Education.
Before joining the staff and during my four years on staff, the congregation’s Senior Pastor, Rev. Dr. Ron Patterson, went above and beyond what anyone would expect to welcome me into the United Church of Christ and ensure I had ample opportunities to learn, grow, and serve in my new denomination. Early on, I was surprised how at home I found myself in this denomination then known nationally as the church of the “Still Speaking God.” Not only did I find that God was still speaking; I also found that I was listening more attentively than ever.
From “Pursuing Ordination”
This explains a bit more about the many denominations I’ve been a part of prior to finding the UCC:
Since discerning a call to vocational ministry at age 16, I’ve been committed to living into my calling. My original limited vision ministry has expanded significantly over time.
I have experience with six of the seven Mainline Protestant denominations. I served local congregations affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Lutheran (ELCA), Presbyterian (PCUSA), and United Church of Christ, shepherded a faith-based non-profit birthed in a congregation affiliated with the United Methodist Church, and was married in the Episcopal Church. I also have significant experience with other traditions, including through my education. I earned my undergraduate degree in ministry from a school affiliated with the independent Christian church, a graduate degree from a school affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, and a doctoral degree from a school affiliated with the Churches of Christ.
Additionally, in my roles leading two faith-based non-profit organizations, I’ve partnered with dozens of congregations from these and many other Christian denominations and traditions.
Also from “Pursuing Ordination”
Often there is a specific experience that motivates action. For me, this recent experience reinforced an earlier decision and compelled me to take action:
A few months ago while in my office at the White Rock Center of Hope I was violently assaulted by a neighbor in need. This experience and the recovery that followed pushed me to ask hard questions of myself about who I am, who I am becoming, and what it is that I know I should do but have not yet done. One of the clear answers to this intense exercise was to actively pursue ordination in the United Church of Christ.
And Another from “Pursuing Ordination”
Given my appreciation for all Mainline Protestant traditions, I explore why the United Church of Christ is my permanent home:
While my theology has long overlapped in significant ways with all of Mainline Protestant denominations, I was never able to fully identify with any until I became a part of and deeply understood both the history and present expressions of the United Church of Christ. The UCC is a denomination that originated because four different traditions came together as one. The UCC has always been, is, and I believe always will be a united and uniting church. And the UCC motto “That they may all be one,” taken from Jesus’ words to the disciples in John 17:21 speaks to a way forward that I believe is more needed in today’s polarized world than it was when the denomination was first formed in 1957.
So What?
I’ve always been a bit atypical. I’m engaged in this process after having served on the staff of one United Church of Christ congregation and as Interim – Transitional Senior Pastor of two other UCC congregations. I’m now a volunteer small group leader and shepherd a number of other small group leaders in yet another UCC congregation. And, I’ve been a fellow and a coach in the denomination’s social enterprise fellowship.
I’m excited to take the next steps on this journey.