About This Blog

An Introduction…

So I think the most important question to answer is simply why this blog exists…

You see, I’ve come to this silly notion that I’d like to be a Lutheran pastor.  It’s not so silly actually, although some people might think it is (more on that later…)  But since I’ve received so much support from my friends, family and community members in my reaching the point I’m at, I felt it was important to give them an outlet to keep informed about how things are going.

Posts on this blog will be about my journey as I work my way through the ELCA candidacy process, or just general thoughts related to my faith and religion.  If you look back towards some of my older posts, you will find my reflections on my Summer 2011 Project Connect Immersion at Saint Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church in Morgantown, WV.

Candidacy/Discernment

These posts will follow my steps through the process of figuring out just what it is that God is calling me to do with my life.  The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has a very specific set of steps that candidates for public ministry must follow on the path to becoming a Pastor, many taking place before even applying to a seminary.  I will use this blog to keep my friends and family, both at home and throughout the country, updated on my progress as I fill out the paperwork, write my essays and choose between the ELCA’s eight seminaries.

Project Connect Immersion Internship

Over the course of summer 2011, I served Saint Paul Lutheran Church in Morgantown, WV as a Project Connect Immersion Intern.  Project Connect is an initiative of the Eastern Cluster of Lutheran Seminaries focused on identifying future church leaders and giving them the resources to discern and pursue a call to public ministry.  The Immersion program pairs young adults (like myself) with ministers in a congregational setting to give them an idea of what parish ministry is like.  Essentially, as he has explained it to various parishioners, my summer job was to follow Pastor Brian Bennett around and learn about what exactly it is that pastors do outside of the time we see them on Sundays.  These blog posts will focus on my experiences working with Pastor Bennett and the things I learn through this internship.

“So one last time, why are you starting a new blog?”

Here’s the funny thing… I started this blog in hopes of keeping my religious thoughts and secular thoughts separate.  I thought that many of my friends who enjoyed my more random blog posts would be made uncomfortable by me posting about discernment or seminary.  In reality, I’ve found the exact opposite.  So many of my friends and family have been extremely supportive.  I continue to maintain and update both blogs, but THIS blog has slowly become my primary outlet for posting thoughts online.  I appreciate the opportunity to share news and musings with friends but also to share with the wider world.