Ministerial Formation
Ministerial formation never ends. Ministry is an on-going process of merging what we already know and are with new information, experiences, activities, and transformations of the spirit. In addition to taking in, ministerial formation also occurs through giving out in service to others, as ministers strive to educate, to inspire, to empathize, and to support everyone in our care. Whether in parishes or in communities, ministry is not a job, but a way of life. That said, careful observance of boundaries between minister and congregants are also important to keep a ministry vital.
To fulfill a major requirement of ministerial formation, the Masters of Divinity degree, I attended Austin Presbyterian Seminary (APTS). My decision to attend seminary felt like a big risk. Giving up my career in academia for the unknown world of ministry was downright scary. I chose APTS in order to remain with my children during their formative years of junior and senior high school. I am glad I made this decision. Even though it meant that I was the single UU student in a Christian institution, creating some challenges in meeting UUA course requirements, at APTS I received excellent academic training, exposure to an interfaith environment, and enough financial support to graduate debt-free. I was well-nurtured by APTS. What I missed was networking with other UUs. To cultivate more UU contacts, I have intentionally and consistently participated in professional development and other activities with the UU Ministers Association (UUMA) and have attended a range of UUA workshops and retreats, such as weeklong conferences at Ferry Beach and Star Island.
During intern ministry in Portland, Oregon, September 2001 to June 2002, I stepped --- actually, plunged head-first --- into many challenging ministerial experiences. September 11, 2001 was my second day on the job. This large urban church taught me much about preaching, social outreach, religious education, church financial management, and staff leadership. An equally important gift that year came from the ministers in the Pacific Northwest District, who taught me respectful standards for ministerial collegiality and ethics: how ministers interact with one another suggests much about our communication with congregations and communities. Back in Austin after the internship, I survived my first year as a minister in fellowship, 2003-04, by serving four quarter-time parish and community ministries. I actually generated enough income that year to buy a small house. In addition to honing ministerial skills, I also discovered new ways of integrating my former self as musician, teacher, and researcher with my new self as minister. This integration was important: my experiences from teaching, performing, administration, research, and writing are essential tools for my ministry. As Chaplain at Planned Parenthood, 2004-05, I acquired helpful skills in outreach to the public, especially in relating effectively to the media. I was a member of First UU Church, Austin when I heard my call to ministry, but I chose to ask Live Oak UU Church in Austin to ordain me. My ordination was on March 5, 2005. The theme of my ordination service was ‘community,’ and our community was a jolly one, especially the community choir of twenty singers from ten UU churches in central Texas.
I welcomed the opportunity to move to New England in August 2005 after my daughter, Amanda, completed high school. This move landed both of us in a very different culture from Texas: it was more like the region of Pennsylvania which we had left a decade earlier. Serving three very different interim ministries in New England expanded my ministerial horizons all the more, and professional contacts in the greater Boston area widened my circles of acquaintance with UU ministers and denominational activities. For the next four years, 2008-2012, I served in the Mountain Desert District, where the geographical contrast and new experiences in congregational cultures expanded my personal and professional horizons in very different directions. Back in central Pennsylvania for one year, 2012-2013, I was in familiar culture and geography. Three years in Reston, Virginia in the greater metro-Washington DC area, followed. This ministry marked yet another change of lifestyle, one which was faster-paced within the orb of the federal government, clearly an influence on congregational culture. I returning to central Pennsylvania to serve Lancaster UU Church for four years, not far from the German culture of my birth family. My current ministry in Indiana is my first experience living and working in the Midwest, a ministry made all the more unique by the presence of the covid pandemic. I look forward to my next transitioning ministry: I enjoy discovering new areas of the country and new experienced in congregational life in our liberal faith.
Through every transitioning position I have served I have grown as a minister in different ways. Since deciding to commit my professional life to intentional transitioning ministry, I have taken advantage of particular professional development to hone my skills in interim and developmental work. I joined the UUA Accredited Interim Ministry Guild (recently changed to the UUMA Transitions Chapter) in 2012 and qualified for final AIM status in 2015, Every year since then I have enjoyed benefits of specialized training at the annual meeting of this group in areas of ministry such as Appreciative Inquiry and atni-oppression work. In 2015 I qualified as Professional Transition Specialist with the Interim Ministry Network. The interfaith nature of this professional group offers yet different perspective and subject areas for honing my transitioning skills. Most recently I completed certification to qualify as Facilitator with the Center for Courage and Renewal, a spiritual program based on the writing of Parker Palmer. Tools from this work enhance the pastoral components of my work in congregational life,
I mention one other learning experience which has greatly expanded my skills as a transitioning minister. In my current and past two ministries, I have learned much about ministering to a congregation influenced by clergy misconduct: that is, congregations with a culture resulting from sexual and psychological abuse of power, leading to what we identify as 'afterpastor' ministry. With support from the UUA, I have attended three workshops for ministers serving in afterpastor contexts. These educational opportunities did much to expand my capacity to help congregations move past influences of misconduct and abuse.
I mention one other learning experience which has greatly expanded my skills as a transitioning minister. In my current and past two ministries, I have learned much about ministering to a congregation influenced by clergy misconduct: that is, congregations with a culture resulting from sexual and psychological abuse of power, leading to what we identify as 'afterpastor' ministry. With support from the UUA, I have attended three workshops for ministers serving in afterpastor contexts. These educational opportunities did much to expand my capacity to help congregations move past influences of misconduct and abuse.
Sanctuary and Social Hall, UU Church of Lancaster, PA
UU Church of Muncie, Indiana
Ministry is a quality of relationship between and among human beings
that beckons forth hidden possibilities;
inviting people into deeper, more constant, more reverent relationship
with the world and with one another;
carrying forward a long heritage of hope and liberation
that has dignified and informed the human venture over many centuries;....
Whenever there is a meeting that summons us to our better selves,
wherever our lostness is found, our fragments are united,
our wounds begin healing, our spines stiffen and our muscles grow strong for the task,
there is ministry.
--- Gordon B. McKeeman
“
Ministry is a quality of relationship between and among human beings
that beckons forth hidden possibilities;
inviting people into deeper, more constant, more reverent relationship
with the world and with one another;
carrying forward a long heritage of hope and liberation
that has dignified and informed the human venture over many centuries;....
Whenever there is a meeting that summons us to our better selves,
wherever our lostness is found, our fragments are united,
our wounds begin healing, our spines stiffen and our muscles grow strong for the task,
there is ministry.
--- Gordon B. McKeeman
“