On February 14, 2011, I submitted my application for admission to the Master of Divinity program at the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. This blog entry marks the beginning of a series of reflections on pursuing a seminary education. I hope you'll read along..... feel free to throw some questions at me, like, "WTF?" or "what motivates you to go back to school, particularly in a theological setting?" You know, stuff like that.
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"What ministry do you feel called to?"
That's a question that I've heard from a few people since I announced my decision to apply to seminary. The question comes as a surprise to me; I'm almost startled by it. First of all, "ministry" is not a word that appears regularly in my vocabulary. It's worse than a dirty word; it's a church-y word, one of those words that is mired in negative connotations, or at least clouded by a vague sense of confusion and angst for me.
Ministry? Who, me? Let's get a few things out of the way up front: I've never been baptized, I don't aspire to go on a mission trip, and "ministry" is the kind of work that other people do. I don't mean to generalize about anyone. I just mean, anybody but me.
But after giving it some thought, I realize that I feel called to . . . uhhh . . . what was it . . . teach! Yeah, teach . . . college. Or, write. I'm called to teach and write theology. Or, work for a non-profit organization like the Kentucky Foundation for Women. Or, be a pastor? I don't know about that one. I know some pastors. They're cool and everything, but they work like, at a church. You know? Every day, that's what they do. I guess. Worse than that, they work for the church.
So, here's my answer to the ministry question. My "ministry" (passion) involves writing and maybe teaching and hopefully working to make the world a better place, especially for women and girls. Whew! I thought this discernment stuff was going to be hard! What's next?
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3 comments:
I'm intrigued that you can be a Christian and still have those "negative connotations" about "churchy" words. Perhaps it is only my ignorance, but I was under the impression that people who go to church feel comfortable being in and a part of the church. I look forward to hearing more/reading about your views involving religion and theology.
Have you thought about being baptized? (OK, that was the easy part.) What have you thought?
You are such a rock star! I loved reading your post and look forward to many more!
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