Assay the essay

Most of you know that I recently decided to go to seminary. It's a decision that has been a long time coming. I sent my application to Memphis Theological Seminary this afternoon. Today I thought I would share my admissions essay. The essay was to include the following: (1) a brief biography; (2) a narrative of your spiritual journey; (3) your reasons for wanting to study at a theological seminary; (4) your perceptions of key issues confronting the church in the world today. I'll let you be the judge as to how well it addresses those items.

My path to pursuing a seminary education has been long and winding. The prospect of seminary has followed me for many years, but I have only recently decided to follow through with the notion. I felt God’s call into full-time ministry for quite some time but ignored it for several years. I am now ready to begin the pursuit of this call.

I spent my childhood in Florence, AL. I lived there with my parents, brother, and sister until I left to attend Auburn University. While at Auburn I began dating and married my long-time friend. We now have 2 children (14 & 10) and live, once again, in Florence.

As a child my family attended St. James United Methodist Church. My mother grew up at St. James, and my dad began attending after they married. For the first decade of my life I spent almost every Sunday morning attending worship and Sunday School at St. James. I spent most Sunday nights in the children’s program and attended VBS every summer. St. James played a large role in my early spiritual formation.

At some point my family drifted away from the church. I never really knew what happened to keep us away, but, as a 10 year-old boy, I did not mind the extra time at home on Sunday mornings. During my time away from the church God continued to pursue me, usually through my family. My grandmother continued to attend St. James, and she invited me to go with her almost weekly. Any time I stayed with her on the weekend she made sure I went to church with her. One of my uncles also made sure God stayed fresh on my mind. He continually invited me to his church and to various Bible studies. He even spent a few hours at our house ‘witnessing’ to my brother and I. At some point, mostly just to make him leave me alone, I told him I planned to go back to church. I also made a deal with my grandmother that I would try going to church again when I turned 16 and could drive myself. In hindsight, I realize it was a deal with God as much as it was with my uncle or grandmother.

When I turned 16 I kept my word. In January of 1990 I voluntarily walked into a service at St. James UMC for the first time in 5 or 6 years. Over the next few months I became heavily involved in the youth program at St. James. That summer I made a decision to accept Jesus as my savior, and I joined the church by profession of faith. Over the next few years I grew closer to God and became a leader in our youth program. I began volunteering as a counselor at Camp Sumatanga and participated in a puppet ministry that travelled around Alabama and Georgia.

In 1992, I left Florence to attend Auburn University. During my first couple of years in Auburn I did not find a church to attend. Eventually my wife and I found a church we enjoyed. Soon after that I took my first paid ministry position. While working in that part-time position, my relationship with God grew more than I ever expected. After college my wife, our son, and I moved back to Florence. After we moved back to Florence I first felt God calling me into ministry.

The first hint of this call came, at no surprise to me, from my grandmother. The Youth director at St. James, my childhood church, was leaving, and my grandmother became convinced, and in turn convinced me, that I should take the job. I applied, and the church hired me as their part-time Youth Director. I worked at St. James for 2 years. In February of 2000 I took another step toward answering the call into ministry. That month I began searching for a full-time youth ministry position. I worked in full time youth ministry for the next 5 years in both Birmingham, AL and Paducah, KY.

My family and I moved back to Florence in December of 2004. I left youth ministry and returned to Florence to work in the family business. I left the ministry for many reasons. Homesickness and my dad’s health were among the reasons, but I was also frustrated with church work and feeling burnt out. I wanted to simply be a church member, not a staff member. We returned to St. James and I began playing with the band for the contemporary worship service. After a few months we left St. James for various reasons. We soon found a church home at Edgemont UMC.

By the time we found Edgemont I was already beginning to feel restless in my lack of ministry work. Our pastor quickly put me to work teaching a summer book study for the youth. Over the next few years I fell into many volunteer positions. I taught Sunday School. I filled in as needed in the Youth Ministry. I served as an assistant worship leader for our contemporary worship service. I led various book studies and Bible studies. As I took on more responsibilities I began to, once again, feel the call into ministry.

For the last year or so I have felt that God is calling me to full time pastoral ministry, but I have ignored that call. I did not want to work in a church again. I did not feel like I had the personality or the skills to be an effective pastor. I did not know if my family would support the decision. I had many excuses. All the while I grew more and more restless, and I grew more and more frustrated with my current job.

In the last few weeks I have decided to pursue this calling. The spark came from my wife who, with no prompting or any previous mention of the subject, asked, “When are you going to seminary?” At that point I knew God was again working through my family to open my eyes, ears, and heart to his call.

I believe God is calling me to the ministry of an Ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church. I have applied to be a candidate for ordained ministry. A Master of Divinity degree is another step toward that goal. I hope, through my studies, to gain a better understanding of God through his word, by listening to others’ experiences, and through study and discussions of other theologians.

Through my ministry I hope to help the church address some of the major issues it faces in today’s society. One such issue is restoring groups who have been marginalized by society and especially by the church. These groups include the poor, single parents, and the homosexual community. As a leader in the church I hope to establish a constructive relationship with such groups to express and display the love of God to them. I hope to reveal to all who feel as though the church has ignored them or let them down that the church is a place of love and acceptance.

I still do not know if I have the skills to do these things. I do know, however, that with God’s help I can accomplish these things. I once heard, and have often repeated, that, “God does not call the equipped, he equips the called.” I believe that statement. I also believe that an education from Memphis theological Seminary is an important step toward becoming equipped for my call.