Much of my time in Edom over the past four years has been related to school and ordination.
During this time I have been working on (and completing) my MDiv at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. That means that I logged about 624 hours (that is 26 days folks!) on the road between Edom and Dallas for classes. That does not count the hours to Longview for internship or any of the hours on the road to Houston or Lakeview for conference related work. Add to the travel time the amount of time that it took to write all of those papers, complete all the projects, do all the reading (and I am still not done with all the reading...are you?), etc., and you will begin to get some sense of the insanity that has been my life these past four years.
I have been frequently asked about my choice for seminaries and what I thought of others. My seminary choice had a lot to do with family relationships and having enough money to go to seminary. Needless to say, the package that Perkins/SMU offered me was the best deal. It allowed me to stay and serve in my current conference and kept me close to family ties that we have here in Texas. Although I would say that I am more conservative than many folks at Perkins, I faired well with my grades and studies. My experience with seminaries is that no one school has it all. Some have phenomenal preaching teachers, while others are noted for their biblical scholarship. I have learned in my seminary career to temper everything. I have spent a great deal of time reading from authors and professors of other seminaries to keep my education as balanced as possible (or as unbalanced as possible...depending on how you want to look at it); and this has served my own spiritual growth and education quite well.
While there are areas of disagreement that I have with some professors at Perkins, I have been blessed to learn from some folks that I truly consider great in their fields. Some of those include Dr. Bassler, Dr. Howard, Dr. Heller, Dr. Abraham and Dr. McKenzie; just to name a few. I have been well served by the works of others outside of Perkins including Dr. Ray Anderson (Fuller Theological Seminary), Dr. Joel Green (Asbury Theological Seminary), and Dr. Darrell Bock (Dallas Theological Seminary). So the point of all of this, I guess, is to say that your education is quite literally what you make of it (regardless of who is at the head of the class teaching it).
Perhaps the best feature of Perkins was the mix of students that were there. Because of that mix, I have been able to have meaningful and thoughtful debates and conversations with ministers (and future ministers) in the Catholic, United Methodist, Anglican, Episcopalian, Greek Orthodox, Nazarene, Eastern Orthodox, Pentecostal, African Methodist Episcopal, Presbyterian, Baptist, Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ, and many other denominationally affiliated and independent churches. Add to that the ability to worship and study with folks from all over the globe (Iran, Russia, Africa, Australia, and many other places), I have been blessed with a deeper look into the cultures and practices of Christians everywhere. This has been, by far, the deepest blessing.
One of the realizations that I have had, now with more than 8 years of recent schooling, is that I am a student. I love to explore and to learn. And I love to share those explorations and lessons with others. While I am planning on returning to school to get my Doctorate of Ministry (DMin) degree in a couple of years, I realize that learning and education are just a deep part of who I am and how I am wired.
On the ordination side of things, I reached a milestone during my time here in Edom. At this last Annual Conference, I was commissioned as a probationary elder in the United Methodist Church. This process has taken 9 years to accomplish...and if all goes well, in a couple of years (the Annual Conference of 2011) I will be fully ordained as an elder in the church. There are/have been a lot of hoops to jump through and it has been an excruciating process at times. I am, however, better and stronger for having stayed the course. I look forward to the opportunities that I will have in the years to come to work with others to revise and improve upon this process for those that will follow me into ordained ministry.
I do want to say, that by and large, the commissioning interview (the big board) was one of the most affirming experiences to date in my process towards ordination. I have had several of the members of the Board of Ordained Ministry come along side me in the past few weeks and speak encouragement and blessing into my life. It is as if I have finally made it out of the wilderness and am truly becoming a part of something that is much larger than I could ever be on my own.
The highlight of Annual Conference for me this year, was the moment that Bishop Huie placed her hands on my shoulder, smiled, said my name, and spoke those historical words of the commissioning liturgy over me and prayed. It is a moment that I don't think will soon be forgotten.
So while at times, my journey has seemed tenuous and tedious, I am grateful to have completed these two huge milestones in my life and career as a minister within the United Methodist Church.
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When I was ordained "deacon," which is the way we did it in those days -- deacon first, then elder -- my oldest daughter was 6 years old. She was in the balcony with Judy Brantley, drawing the event of me kneeling at the altar with the bishop. I still have the drawing and it is precious to me. Too bad Bailey was quite old enough...
This has been my first year on the Conference BOM, so this year's interviews with candidates were my first (though I've done district level before). It's interesting, when I saw you -- who I didn't interview -- and those that I did interview and mentor being comissioned or ordained, I felt like a proud father, even though at the time I grilled 'em good! Yes, though the process is long and arduous, I think we're better for it.
Congrats again!
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