Sermon Series, Women of Faith, Future Congregation...
This morning as I took a shower I dream about a sermon series I will do once I am the pastor of a church. It was a series that would take place in the summer and the theme would be bio-ethics. I thought about how I would start collecting information in different files for different possible sermon topics, speakers I would have come for an adult Sunday afternoon VBS, and a fun children's Sunday School/VBS curriculum that I could design.
Switching between regions of the United States gives me access to whole new kind of resource. My current job has connected me with Christians who are experts in their fields and have learned how to integrate their faith with their work. There is a gift in this.
But there is also a gift in my home region and that is a sense of stability and intimacy among a Christian community. In that region I imagine myself doing sermon series that go deeper into one's spiritual walk in a different way. I would still do a bioethics series, but it would probably only be a sermon series with an adult Sunday school class. The focus there might be more on one's personal experience of bioethics, where in this region there would be more of a professional aspect to the series.
This also led me to think about the differences in the types of ministry positions that are available to me. If I was at home, I would be applying for solo or senior Pastor positions. Here, I don't know what will be the outcome of the process. My boss (in a non-church position) actually was surprised when he heard me say that I would be open to a senior pastor role. He hadn't realized that this was a position a recent graduate could take. I really want to pastor a church.
Yesterday I preached the first sermon in a sermon series for my preaching class. It felt so right. It is what I am made to do. I haven't been able to use this gift as frequently the last two years, but the three or four sermons that I have prepared during that time have confirmed that preaching is part of my call.
My mother recently commented that she thinks the Women of Faith conferences are looking for new speakers. I use to sense more of a call to do that, but I also want to shepherd a congregation. Do I ask if they are looking for applications?
I have peace about what will happen after I graduate. I don't know exactly what that will be, but I have peace. I suspect there will be a break between my graduating and my starting at a church or whatever ministry God calls me to, and I don't mind. It would be nice to have some time to switch modes from school to work, to organize our home, to paint some walls, to catch up with friends, and to better explore our community. I would like to have a position by the time I am ordained. And I trust that will occur.
I am at peace. It will be fun to see where God takes me next!
Switching between regions of the United States gives me access to whole new kind of resource. My current job has connected me with Christians who are experts in their fields and have learned how to integrate their faith with their work. There is a gift in this.
But there is also a gift in my home region and that is a sense of stability and intimacy among a Christian community. In that region I imagine myself doing sermon series that go deeper into one's spiritual walk in a different way. I would still do a bioethics series, but it would probably only be a sermon series with an adult Sunday school class. The focus there might be more on one's personal experience of bioethics, where in this region there would be more of a professional aspect to the series.
This also led me to think about the differences in the types of ministry positions that are available to me. If I was at home, I would be applying for solo or senior Pastor positions. Here, I don't know what will be the outcome of the process. My boss (in a non-church position) actually was surprised when he heard me say that I would be open to a senior pastor role. He hadn't realized that this was a position a recent graduate could take. I really want to pastor a church.
Yesterday I preached the first sermon in a sermon series for my preaching class. It felt so right. It is what I am made to do. I haven't been able to use this gift as frequently the last two years, but the three or four sermons that I have prepared during that time have confirmed that preaching is part of my call.
My mother recently commented that she thinks the Women of Faith conferences are looking for new speakers. I use to sense more of a call to do that, but I also want to shepherd a congregation. Do I ask if they are looking for applications?
I have peace about what will happen after I graduate. I don't know exactly what that will be, but I have peace. I suspect there will be a break between my graduating and my starting at a church or whatever ministry God calls me to, and I don't mind. It would be nice to have some time to switch modes from school to work, to organize our home, to paint some walls, to catch up with friends, and to better explore our community. I would like to have a position by the time I am ordained. And I trust that will occur.
I am at peace. It will be fun to see where God takes me next!
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