- Caring For All Creation
- Nurturing care and compassion for God’s creation.
- Maintaining a basic understanding of mental health and wellness
- Practicing self-care and life balance
- Providing hope and healing to a hurting world
- Attending to one’s own spiritual and pastoral care, including engagement in supervision as appropriate.
- Stewarding the resources of the Church.
1. Nurturing care and compassion for God’s creation.
This Mark of Faithful and Effective Authorized Ministers asks me to recognize that creation is a gift and that gift is one that is entrusted to human care. This mark also challenges me to connect environmental responsibility with Christian discipleship because caring for God’s creation is a practice of discipleship. Through my membership at Penbrook United Church of Christ as well as a tour at Solomon’s United Church of Christ in Chambersburg, PA, I have learned about how to more effectively incorporate being careful stewards of creation through exploring ways to reduce waste as individuals and as a community, ways to recycle products effectively, evaluate energy use, and partner with local organizations addressing environmental concerns. I have learned through these experiences that caring for creation involves a both/and approach- it requires an approach that addresses both our individual choices AND attention to the larger systems that are affecting our communities, and specifically, focusing on those communities that have fewer resources. I need to deepen my understanding of environmental justice and develop practical ways to integrate creation care into congregational teaching and mission.
2. Maintaining a basic understanding of mental health and wellness.
This mark asks me to recognize the importance and impact of mental health concerns. It asks me to respond to persons experiencing mental health challenges without stigma and understand the limits of my professional competence as a minister. My work in human services, and more specifically within child welfare and the field of service coordination, has reinforced the importance of understanding how trauma, stress, family circumstances, coupled with mental health challenges, can affect how someone behaves and their relationships with others. I have learned through my professional experiences, both within the public and private sectors, that compassionate care requires curiosity rather than the broad assumptions that many of us hold. I have also learned that spiritual support can complement, but should not replace, appropriate clinical care. One of the reasons I am pursuing ordination is that, as part of my calling, I have come to recognize the importance of spiritual care, a topic I cannot address as a government employee or in my current roles. As stated previously, mental health care should not be replaced by spiritual support; however, our faith can be a comfort during times of duress. I need to continue learning about mental health resources that offer a spiritual component, as well as since being newer to the area, resources that are geographically local, crisis response services, and referral practices so I can respond responsibly when someone seeks pastoral support.
3. Practicing self-care and life balance.
This mark asks me to understand that in order to maintain a sustainable ministry, it requires that I pay careful attention to my own physical, emotional, spiritual, and relational well-being. During my studies at Wesley Theological Seminary, I had to balance demanding professional responsibilities as a full-time employee, seminary assignments as a full-time student with a course load that at one time had 6 courses in a semester, and church involvement. All of these activities, at one time, revealed how quickly I might neglect rest while trying to meet others’ needs. If it wasn’t for my self-care routine of running, spiritual reflection and Scripture reading, and spending time with my friends and family- I may not have made it through those challenging demands. In those experiences, I have learned that exhaustion can affect my judgment, patience, and ability to remain present to people. I have discovered that I have a need to become more disciplined about boundaries, protected time off, and restorative activities, and I am working on identifying which commitments are essential and which can be shared or postponed. This is often easier said than done.
4. Providing hope and healing to a hurting world.
I believe that this mark asks me to offer compassionate presence and practical responses to suffering and oppression. In offering this hope and healing, it must be done without minimizing people’s pain or promising easy solutions. When working in child welfare, many times I was supporting families experiencing crisis- whether as a result of substance abuse, mental health, physical needs, or other reasons. These professional experiences have shown me the importance of listening to those who are experiencing hurt, acknowledging their loss, connecting people with resources, and helping them identify realistic next steps. I have learned through both my professional experiences as well as through my internship at Penbrook United Church of Christ that hope does not require us to pretend that all is well and everything will turn out fine; sometimes it means helping the people you connect with recognize that they do not have to face these hardships and life alone. I need to continue developing pastoral care skills, particularly in grief and trauma, through education, supervision, and consultation with experienced pastoral caregivers.
5. Attending to one’s own spiritual and pastoral care, including engagement in supervision as appropriate.
This mark asks me to recognize that ministers also need support, accountability, and spaces to process the emotional demands of ministry. Powerfully, this mark reminds me that while pastoral ministry is a ministry that is not done alone. It is important to identify networks of support and compassion. Through this ordination process, I have had the opportunity to discuss difficult ministry situations with my pastor and mentors; a trusted mentor or supervisor can help me distinguish my responsibilities from matters outside my control which was helpful in the conversations I have been able to participate in thus far. I have learned that seeking guidance is a sign of responsible leadership. It is not a sign of weakness to ask for help and support. I have learned that unresolved stress can affect pastoral relationships if not handled appropriately. I need to establish consistent practices of pastoral supervision, spiritual direction, and peer consultation so I have a reliable place to reflect on challenges and receive honest feedback.
6. Stewarding the resources of the Church.
This mark asks me to be a faithful steward of the congregation’s financial, material, human, and relational resources responsibly and transparently. During my internship at Penbrook United Church of Christ, I had the opportunity to help plan their first stewardship campaign in a number of years. Historically, the church would reach out to the congregation as needs arose instead of a financial plan based in stewardship. During the budget planning meetings, I would often ask, “What does your budget show were your priorities are?” In participating in these conversations with the stewardship committee, I I was offered the opportunity to help them explore, with a limited budget, ways to prioritize needs and still remain faithful to their mission. Through this experience during in my internship, I learned that stewardship is not only about raising money; while that is an aspect of it, it is also about taking the available resources of a congregation and figuring out creative ways to align that with their mission. I need to deepen my knowledge of church budgeting, financial oversight, and resource planning so I can help congregations make thoughtful and accountable decisions.
Caring for All Creation
The ideas surrounding caring for all creation have profoundly impacted my view of pastoral care and ministry. My understanding of pastoral care includes recognizing that people experience suffering in spiritual, emotional, physical, and social ways. These ways are both internal as well as societal and systemic. I seek to offer compassionate presence without assuming that prayer alone resolves every difficulty. Faithful ministry sometimes means listening, but sometimes means being silent and present. It means sometimes I have to connect people with professional support. Sometimes it means challenging the systemic conditions that contribute to their suffering.
