The Call Process

This is long overdue...

I've been assigned to the Northwest Minnesota Synod, which is my home Synod! Mike and I are thrilled to be going back to familiar territory. It will be nice to be among colleagues I had when I was in Youth Ministry. We are feeling blessed and optimistic!

On April 5th Mike and I met with the Synod Staff in Alexandria, MN. It was an excellent day. We found out more about the Call Process and what to expect as we move forward. We also had an excellent meeting with the Bishop and got some ideas about possible churches. The good news is that there are many good possibilities and I would be blessed to serve any of them.

Now we wait!

We will receive paperwork on churches and they will receive mine. If the Call Committee from a given church is interested they will be in contact to schedule an interview (or more than one). If and when a Call Committee feels like they want to offer a call they schedule a Congregational Meeting (they have to announce it two consecutive Sundays before they can vote). Then if the congregation agrees with the Call Committee's recommendation I'll receive a Letter of Call and we have to decide if we want to accept (I have 30 days). Sounds time consuming, huh?

The only part of this process I am struggling with is the waiting. I love to plan ahead and that's just not possible with so many variables. So for now we're staying in Dubuque indefinitely and I'm getting a summer job, just in case. We can stay on campus until at least July 15th. Hopefully by then we will be further along in the process. I am confident that God is at work preparing a place for us. I may need to continue reminding myself of that.

In the meantime there is a lot to keep me busy. Final papers and projects (due by the end of April), Graduation on May 15th, a summer full of work and travel and fun! If that weren't enough there's always packing and sorting that can be done because someday soon we will be moving back to Minnesota!

Regional Assignment

In February of your Senior year leadership of the ELCA meet and decide first what region candidates will be assigned to a Region of the ELCA. There are 9 regions in the ELCA. We affectionately call this process "The Draft", which isn't far away from the way the process actually works. Before this meeting the leadership that gathers recieves the paperwork for all the candidates seeking call and on the day of the draft they work hard to match candidates (based on their gifts) with a Region that will best utilize those gifts. Before the meeting all 65 Bishops of the ELCA are asked to report the number of 1st Call Openings in their Synod. This number helps the group to divvy up the candidates so that each Synod receives a number of candidates that will help them fill their vacancies. At the same time this group wants very much to help candidates find a call. On February 22nd & 23rd the 2011 Draft was held. As a result of that meeting, I have been assigned to Region 3 of the ELCA (Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota).

In the next week or so the Bishops from Region 3 will meet and they will decide together which candidate will go to which Synod. The Synods are visible in the Region 3 link above. For now Mike and I know in general where we are going and are now looking forward to more specific information. We are also looking forward to interviewing at churches for first call.

Picture of Mike and I
Opening the Regional Assignment Envelope

January Interm in Haiti

In January I traveled to Haiti for my January Interim. The trip was led by Pastor Doug Hill from Abiding Hope Lutheran in Littleton, CO and professor Brad Binau from Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Ohio. We spent a week in Littleton learning about Missional Leadership and partnership with Christians in other places. Then we traveled to Haiti for 9 days to meet with Abiding Hope’s ministry partners from the Haitian Timoun Foundation. The HTF serves the children of Haiti in many ways and we visited their ministries in Jacmel and Port-au-Prince. St. Joseph’s Family is an amazing organization that offers group homes for the throw-away children of Haiti, including street children, child slaves (restaveks), and children with special needs. Pazapa (meaning step-by-step) offers schooling for special needs children, and is now one of only a handful of facilities that offers a school for the deaf. Tetkole (meaning heads together) helps reunite children with their families. Fonkoze (meaning shoulders together) is Haiti’s largest micro-finance institution (MFI), helping raise women and their children out of abject poverty.

There has been a lot of coverage in the news about how little has been done in Haiti since the earthquake. During this J Term I learned a great deal about how important it is partner with local people in order to be more effective when attempting to be of assistance and especially when partnering in ministry. While it is true that there is much more work to do in Haiti and a lot of the aid has not reached the people who need it, we saw good work being done by the HTF. Likewise the money given to Lutheran World Relief is funneled through people in Haiti who know how to use it best. There is great hope in the midst of great struggle in Haiti and the Haitian people are beautiful loving people of great strength and love. If you get the opportunity – visit Haiti! It is an incredible place.

A video of my Haiti trip by a fellow student and traveler from Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Ohio.

Approved for Ordination to Word and Sacrament Ministry.

On Thursday, December 16th I met with a sub-committee (4 members) of the Northwestern Minnesota Synod Candidacy Committee for my Approval Interview. This is the important final interview with the committee. In this interview they could have decided to approve me for ordination, postpone my ordination (usually until certain conditions have been met by the candidate), or deny my application for ordination. In our meeting we had excellent conversation about my Seminary experience, CPE, Internship and my Approval Essay for about an hour and a half. When we were finished they let me know that they were planning to recommend that I be Approved by the larger committee. On Thursday night I received a phone call that I have been approved for ordination to Word and Sacrament ministry.

This has been a long journey, but a blessed one. I appreciate so much all the prayers and support I have received from family and friends along the way. These four years have been a time of growth and affirmation of my call to serve God and God's church.

NEXT STEP: Regional Assignments on February 23rd! REGIONS OF THE ELCA

Senior year... so far

It was recently brought to my attention that I haven't written anything new recently and this is true. My good friend Trish recently said, "Susan, update your blog. Lots is happening!" She's right, lots is happening. First of all Mike and I have moved back to Dubuque, IA for my senior year at Wartburg Theological Seminary in late July. In August my nephew Ethan stayed with us for a week and we learned how fun and exhausting talking care of an 8-year-old is. I took Ethan back home to Spokane and visited my sister. Now senior is under way and all the important final steps toward ordination that go with it.

Before school started I wrote my Approval Essay. This essay was reviewed by members of the faculty, who then interviewed me. On October 27th the entire faculty met and approved our entire class for ordination and composed language that will be a part of my file. In December I will meet with my Candidacy Committee in Moorhead, MN and they will make a decision whether to approve me for ordination or not (the other options are postponement or denial - see "Seminary Tutorial" post, recently updated).

On December 1 my first call paperwork is due. This paperwork goes to the church leadership (bishops, regional coordinators, etc.) who will make regional assignments . The regional assignments will be made in February. In March the bishops from each region will meet and make Synodical assignments. After I find out which synod I've been assigned to the process for finding a first call will begin. Ordination will happen once I have a call.

Stay tuned for lots of new and exciting developments as Senior year continues!

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Pageant in De Smet, SD

A couple of people have asked me about the annual pageant here in De Smet. The dates for the 2010 show are;

July 9, 10, 11
July 16, 17, 18
July 23, 24, 25

For even more information check out

http://www.desmetpageant.org

Maybe you'll even know one of the actresses...

Moving as a way of life

I love moving. Not the back breaking work, not the exhaustion that comes with it, but the process. Mike and I have been married for nearly 9 years and the move to South Dakota will be our sixth move. One of those moves was literally across the street (we moved from 617 to 618 main, but we still moved).

The best part of moving every few years is that you get a chance to reassess your stuff. What do you have that you don't need anymore? What do you have that you can live without? Long distance moves especially help you to really rethink your possessions. For Mike and I we really have to love a piece of furniture to go to the trouble of loading it in a truck and hauling it across country.

The other great thing about moving so often is that all your little stuff gets reassessed too. We look through our clothes, our papers, our knickknacks. All this moving has helped us to eliminate clutter in our lives. So even though moving is a lot of work it allows us to keep our lives more ordered.

The blessing and the curse of seminary is that you move to seminary and after 2 years years you move away for a year of internship and then you move back to seminary for a final year of school. Then after graduation you move again. So that's four moves in four years. By the time we get to first call we should be down to our most valuable possessions.

Just so we're clear, while Mike and I like to declutter our lives by moving, our cat Berronar hates moving. She hates car rides and being locked in a room while we load the truck and new places freak her out. She'll be alright though as long as she has Mike to pet her on the long car ride and at the end of the journey.