The Whys And Wherefores

This blog is the result of three things that should never, ever be combined:


-A somewhat overzealous devotion to the wonders of the Internet
-A belated (three weeks after the end of the semester) idea for a project on call and vocation, and
-A grad student with waaaay too much free time on her hands :)


In the fall semester of 2009, my first semester at Wesley Theological Seminary, I took a class on Call & Vocation In Campus Context with Malcolm Frazier, who serves as chaplain at Howard University.  As a final project for the class, we were asked to create and outline a concept for education and discussion about the concepts of call and vocation.  At the time, I wrote a sermon about call and vocation as it applies to lay work in the church.  However, as I reflected on the project, I found myself trying to come up with another concept, one that could connect my personal journey of discernment with my desire to reach out to others exploring a call to vocational ministry.  I hope that this blog will accomplish just that.


One of the great challenges of discerning a call to ministry in the 21st century is the very breadth and depth of the church in modern society.  Once upon a time, God called Moses out of a burning bush, gave him a vision for ministry and handed him the tools he needed to succeed.  A classmate struggling with her own discernment once joked that she prayed for God to "bring back the burning bush", a sentiment I suspect will always resonate with those who seek God's will in their lives for any length of time. However, the tool I have found most helpful in my call journey is that of friends willing to share their lives with me, to speak openly of the ups and downs, triumphs and failures, smooth sailing and rough roads they have encountered.  This is what I hope to provide in this blog. 


During the early days of my discernment process, I read a wonderful book by Sarah Sentilles that outlined the challenges women face in ministry across the lines of denomination, age, race, socioeconomic background, location and sexual orientation.  I hope that I can recruit some friends to help author this blog with me, so that we can present a multi-faceted view of the trials and tribulations that we face on this road to ministry, and offer what we can in the way of hope, encouragement and the lessons we wish others had told us :)  Join us as we untangle the strands of our hopes and God's dreams, our will and God's, and be encouraged, for "you did not choose Me, but I chose you!" (John 15:16a).