Thursday, January 26, 2012

An Ecumencial Impulse


As I was growing up, I was exposed to some pretty mixed religious influences.  My extended family is largely conservative evangelical.  My parents raised me in the Episcopal Church.  For the last twenty years or so, apart from dropping in on the occasional Quaker meeting, I have been a member of a Congregational church.

One thing that has been compelling for me about being in seminary is seeing what passions gave birth to those traditions.  My first course on the history of theology was thrilling because I began to see the layers of choice and chance that contributed to the practices and diversity of our present-day churches.  But it has always been mystifying to me how my very theologically savvy parents could make sense of moving from Nazarene to Episcopalian.

A year ago, as part of my American Religious Histories class, I did a paper on the origins of the Nazarene Church so I could get a better handle on how that came about.  Last summer I took a course in UCC History and Polity – which included the Congrega­tionalists in the mix.  This January, I am rounding it out with a course in the Anglican (Episcopal) Tradition.  With each pass, the path from Martin Luther to Phineas Bresee through John Wesley becomes clearer.  Call me a geek but I find that pretty exciting!

But I am reminded that the history of religion has its dark sides as well.  This month, I am preparing for a sermon about the relationship between scripture and slavery in America. In the process, I read about the struggle to end the slave trade in the British Empire.  One account made clear that the Anglican Church – the predecessor of the church I was brought up in – benefited from and was complicit in maintaining this brutal injustice in the Caribbean.  Pretty disturbing stuff!

Throughout seminary I have also been motivated to deepen my ecumenical and inter-faith awareness.  A number of my closest friends in junior high headed off to Hebrew school many afternoons.  I’ve gotten a taste of Judaism through taking a World Religions class, studying Hebrew a bit, and attending synagogue some.  (I certainly want to know more about Hinduism!)  As an adult, my first marriage was to an increasingly devout, conservative Catholic.  Next semester, I’m taking a class through the St. Paul Seminary to get a taste of how Catholics approach the Pauline epistles differently than Protestants.

For years, I have been claimed by an ecumenical impulse: “why can’t we all just get along?”   But while I love certain people and want to treasure their traditions, oftentimes, others who are also dear to me have clearly felt wounded by those very same faiths.

Still… I intend to somehow be part of healing those wounds while listening to those whose voices I have not yet fully heard.

-Karl Jones, MDiv student

Monday, January 9, 2012

Respite


Late last week my mother called to say she was going to cancel her trip to Laughlin, Nevada because my sister had injured her back and couldn't travel. On other occasions, my response would have been, "Oh bummer. Guess you'll have to reschedule."

This time, my response was, "Unacceptable!" The difference is the logistics needed for mom to get away. As I mentioned before, my dad is currently under in-home hospice care and the program allows one 5-day opportunity for respite care. For mom to get away took countless phone calls with healthcare providers and social workers. For me to accompany her took a weekend's worth of doing my day job, including going in to the office on the holiday, and getting my ducks in a row.

I originally felt this sudden trip was one I was doing for my mother and, in the sense that I'm letting her drive the agenda, it is. But, despite the fact that I'm checking in with the office a couple of times a day, this is a good bit of respite for me, as well.

The seminary does a nice job of scheduling in respite times each semester -- it's called Reading Week. But for the large group of students who are holding down full-time jobs, that week becomes one of working overtime to catch up on neglected duties and taking what little time is left to attend to neglected family and school work. In short, there's very little rest for seminarians with families and jobs.

So, I'm taking a little time to reflect during this impromptu vacation on the craziness of the last semester -- one where I took a class, worked a job, did an intense internship on a cancer unit in a large hospital, provided assistance to my parents, loved my spouse, moved to a small room where I live for half of my week away from my home and family. While I think this is something I don't care to repeat (although I will be continuing this life until May), I can't think of which pieces I can cut out.

It's during these rare quiet times that I realize that, like many of my classmates, I am driven and encouraged by something greater than myself. Over the Christmas weekend, I woke up repeatedly thinking of the hymn "Spirit of the Living God, Fall Afresh on Me." I have to say, the Spirit has fallen on me so much during the past several months that the outside observer would think the Spirit may have imbibed in too many spirits.

I start my J-term 3-week intensive class on Monday. In 3 weeks' time, we accomplish the same amount of work as what is done in a regular semester. I'll be able to use a little vacation time (but less than I had planned because of my current detour), but the internship and family situation cannot be put on hold. Spirit, don't be too graceful. Fall as you may. I am ready.

- Jayne Helgevold, MDiv student

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Discovering Your Work


It feels somewhat surreal to go from the last few weeks of the term with papers and exams for four classes to the unstructured days of holiday break. I assume I am not alone in being greeted with a major cold as the gift that keeps on giving. I am anxiously awaiting the day I wake up with a clear head. 

I have my syllabi from the last semester along with my papers and notebooks assembled and am preparing to write my Post-Course Reflections for my Integrated Notebook. Let me break that down a bit.  Post-Course Reflections ask questions about each course you have completed and include: major learnings; what you wrestled with in the course; what were personal breakthroughs; and what you discovered about yourself during the course. It takes some discipline to complete these after each semester but the reward is that you can capture important information about your journey through seminary and where certain insights, growth, and stumbling blocks occur. The Integrated Notebook serves as an archive with all of your past papers, reflections, faculty evaluations of your work, etc. It provides an opportunity for you and your faculty advisor to see where you have come from and where you are going.

For me, in my crazy-paced life which tends to focus solely on the present, it provides proof of my hard-earned past and my yearning for the future. In my second year of seminary I can see a major shift in my academic competence and self-perception. Despite my frequent questioning of myself as “minister in formation,” that is exactly what I am. My Christmas list this year took a drastic shift and included a Unitarian Universalist (UU) chalice necklace, The Peoples’ Bible, and a UU Standing on the Side of Love sweatshirt and bag. I am now confident enough to say that I am in seminary and working toward ordination without fear of someone shattering a delicate connection to my new identity. 

This week also includes: firming up logistics to secure a full-year (1548 hour) internship at a local UU church (which far exceeds the UTS internship requirement but is required by the Unitarian Universalist Association for ordination); preparation for sermons and services for several UU churches in MN this coming February; reading books to prepare for a 10-day UTS global justice trip to Chiapas, Mexico this January; making a calls for interfaith work in St. Paul to defeat the November 2012 ballot initiative which would enshrine discrimination in the MN constitution regarding the definition of marriage; and I am in discussion about a spiritual direction group with local women clergy this January in order to feed my own spiritual practice. 

A quote attributed to Buddha sits within view of my desk “Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it.” As unlikely as it seemed a few years ago—I feel like I am becoming a minister. What an incredible gift to be able to do so.

-Laura Smidzik, MDiv student