Faith Journey and Ordination

Exciting News I am in process of seeking ordination. I have a council of great people that will determine if they feel this is what God has for me. Soon I should tell the tale of how I decided it was time to do this, and the years I thought I would never do it. But today I am going to share my faith journey post that I had to write up for the people on my committee.

I was four years old when I decided that I believed the story of Jesus and I wanted to follow him. I was twelve when I realized the love that God had for me and I wanted to have a real relationship with God. I was 17 when I felt God calling me to participate in mission. I was 18 when I realized that as hard as I tried I was never going to be a perfect Christian, and God was going to love me anyway. I started seminary immediately after college. During both my college and seminary years I was given the opportunity to see God work all over the world. I was challenged to rethink how I lived my faith and recognized that faith without works is dead. At 24 I discovered that I had health issues that would prevent me from being a missionary with any of the organizations that I knew of, so I had to rethink God’s plan for my life. It was than that I realized how much I could do working with the American Church. This lead me to explore creative ministry options in the U.S. and that eventually brought me to San Francisco.

I realize the above is a quick fire timeline but honestly the details in between can sometimes feel overwhelming. From the time I was 4 I have been on a journey with God that has taken me from complete doubt to confident faith.

So this is where I am at today: I am deeply in love with my Creator, I am seeking to follow Jesus and am engaged in inviting others to join me. I believe that there is no greater religion than to care for widows and orphans, that I must learn what it means that God desires mercy and not sacrifice, that I am called to seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God. I know that the wages of sin is death, and we all must grieve sin, and trust in God’s grace to forgive and heal. From my own journey with God I have seen that God is active in the redemption of all things, and has called all people to join in the healing of the world.

It is my desire to join God in movement and mission through out the world. I am currently doing that by leading in my faith community as we meet in homes each week. Someday I would like to start my own Church. As I spent time as a chaplain at Baylor I discovered that I had a pastoral gifting. In my time living in San Francisco I feel that God has allowed me to engage with the Church seeking justice in beautiful ways.

I am seeking ordination as a way of asking my community, dispersed across the U.S., to affirm that you all see God at work in me to engage the world with the story of Good News.