Taking Stock
Please provide a personal statement reflecting on: 1) your goals in seeking theological education and the experiences that have led you to do so; 2) the reasons you have chosen Hartford Seminary, in particular, and your educational/vocational objectives for the program you are pursuing; 3) the life experiences that have most significantly shaped your values and who you are as a person. Statements should be typewritten, double-spaced and no less than three and no more than four pages in length. Please do not staple personal statements to the application.
As a Christian woman, an Episcopal priest and pastor, and a mother, my life is based on the establishment, care and nurture of relationships. My relationships with God and God’s creation, with the people I have been entrusted to pastor, and with friends and family are based on my firm belief that mutuality, dialogue, and intentional presence are the touchstones for how we are intended to be about living and working in the world.
To live my life to the fullest I am challenged to be in relationship passionately and consistently. I am called to be in relationship with the people I am called to pastor and those who hold different views about spirituality and issues of faith. I am called to work to deepen my relationship with the scriptures of my faith, with the theological writings and teachings of the Church, and with the spiritual writings and sacred texts of people of faith. My relationship with God has been transfigured by a commitment to a rule of life that includes daily prayer, scripture, spiritual direction, and acts of compassion and reconciliation in the world. My relationships with family and friends provide the support and encouragement I need to be in ministry and allow me an opportunity to grow in faith and love. This circle of support has provided me with a rich trove of experiences of union and reunion, challenge and growth, joy and sadness, that are the hallmarks of a life lived in the world and in community and in relationship.
I am deeply committed to living my life as a continuing process of education, formation, and broadening perspectives. An environment that encourages and nurtures an inquisitive probing, intellectual stimulation, and the courage to engage new ideas is at the heart of the space I hope to create at home and within the parish community.
For an extended period I have believed that the center of my life in Christ is based on the relationship with God that is established and nurtured by sacrament and scripture working in tandem to provide growth and insight. I am, however, coming to believe that a much more complex matrix of factors are interacting to provide this growth. Rather than holding fast to the dualistic “Word and Sacrament” I find myself called to expand this perspective to include other factors, particularly community. At this point in my faith journey and in my life as a priest, I feel called to lift up Word, Sacrament, and Community as the cornerstones of the church I am called to serve, with the realization that in this post-modern world, I will probably be called to further expand my perceived cornerstones in order to embrace the poly-phonic nature of the world in which I live.
As a chaplain at a major medical center and as a priest serving both urban and rural churches, I am called to be in relationship people of many faiths, cultures, backgrounds, and lifestyles and I know that I work best in an environment that is not only diverse, but committed to hearing the voices of others. My past experience of Hartford Seminary, as a special student, has convinced me that we share this goal and commitment. The ability of the students and staff of Hartford Seminary to be in relationship with people of other faiths while maintaining the integrity of the individual faith traditions is, I believe, a model for how my parishes and Church need to go about the work of working and ministering in the world. I have been challenged by the classes I have taken at Hartford Seminary and have benefitted from the education I have received in those classes.
Other factors that contribute to my determination that Hartford Seminary is the appropriate place for me in study for a Doctor of Ministry degree include: the close proximity to my home and employment, the urban environment, the commitment to the study and enhancement of parish based ministry, and the economic factors that play upon me as a single parent, and the recommendations of people who I respect and admire.
Quite frankly, I did not expect to be considering application to a Doctor of Ministry program so soon after receiving my Master of Divinity degree from the Episcopal Divinity School. However, the ecclesiastical world into which I emerged after graduation is vastly different from the one I embraced when I applied for postulancy in the Episcopal Church. The Church clearly needs to discern a new way of being in the world, a new structure for administration, an expanded commitment to mission and ministry, and an enhanced way to communicate effectively in an increasingly digital environment. The old ways of building relationships and community, incorporating new members, reaching out to others no longer work. The Church of my youth is dead and I am called to be a witness to its resurrection and new life.
My assumption upon graduation had been to acquire a three year curacy position in a large parish followed by a call to minister full time as Rector with a single parish of my own. The reality of the Church I have found is that after an eighteen month curacy shortened by financial concerns, I have been called to minister as a Transitional Ministry Developer with three parishes located in two distinct communities in the Diocese of Connecticut. These parishes are among a small group of Connecticut parishes that have embraced regional ministry and the tenants of Total Common Ministry as a new way of being God’s people in these places. After twenty years, the functionality of this model is decreasing precipitously and a new way of being the Church is emerging. The people of these parishes have embraced the concept of Eucharistic Community – the coming together of Christians to gather at God’s table for prayer of communion – and the going back into the world for mission and ministry as a new way of being.
As a result of these changes, I find myself called to work out of two offices in a ministry team configuration that includes myself and two “Sunday Celebrant Only” priests, three parish musicians, a part time secretary, a very part time sexton (janitor), and three sets of vestries (governing boards), worship teams, facilities committees, etc. I am called to empower Ministry Development Teams which is a new/different way of structuring ministry in the Episcopal Church, to mentor and train a cadre of lay people called to preach regularly in our congregations, work to plan and implement shared worship experiences that embrace the different liturgical styles of each parish, and to work intentionally to overcome the systemic propensity of our system to embrace and encourage clericalism. This new way of being a pastor and priest is forming me in a distinctly different way than I expected at the start of my priestly formation process.
I also find myself challenged to help these congregations deal with the financial realities of financial crisis and actively aging congregations which will leave two of the parishes without funds within eighteen months. I in all likelihood will be tasked with the dissolution of one of the three parishes and the formation of one merged congregation from the membership and resources of the prior parishes, the selling and perhaps purchase of church buildings and grounds, the de-sanctification of memorial gardens, the possible cessation of a soup kitchen ministry, and the abandonment of a prized pipe organ. I will also be engaged in bringing into new relationship the members of three leadership teams, the formation of a new culture and worship life, the creation of a church community centered not only on worship and pastoral care, but on mission and ministry in the world.
It goes without saying that I learned very little about any of these things while in seminary! I do however, after speaking with the faculty and students present at the Hartford Seminary Information Day and in conversations since then, have a clear sense that Hartford Seminary would be a place where appropriate response to these challenges could be envisioned and a way forward discerned and implemented. A community in which to engage this ministry that will offer not only support and encouragement but honest critique and insight is an important part of the relationships which will make the arrival of a new way of being Church happen in a healthy and holistic way. God is doing a new thing and we are all called to be part of it!
The good news, it that the Good News does remain, God is still present and active in the world, and that the relationships that have carried us thus far continue to grow. We truly are an Easter people and I feel deeply blessed to be part of the resurrection story of these parishes and the Church.
Thank you for the opportunity to share part of this journey with you.
As a Christian woman, an Episcopal priest and pastor, and a mother, my life is based on the establishment, care and nurture of relationships. My relationships with God and God’s creation, with the people I have been entrusted to pastor, and with friends and family are based on my firm belief that mutuality, dialogue, and intentional presence are the touchstones for how we are intended to be about living and working in the world.
To live my life to the fullest I am challenged to be in relationship passionately and consistently. I am called to be in relationship with the people I am called to pastor and those who hold different views about spirituality and issues of faith. I am called to work to deepen my relationship with the scriptures of my faith, with the theological writings and teachings of the Church, and with the spiritual writings and sacred texts of people of faith. My relationship with God has been transfigured by a commitment to a rule of life that includes daily prayer, scripture, spiritual direction, and acts of compassion and reconciliation in the world. My relationships with family and friends provide the support and encouragement I need to be in ministry and allow me an opportunity to grow in faith and love. This circle of support has provided me with a rich trove of experiences of union and reunion, challenge and growth, joy and sadness, that are the hallmarks of a life lived in the world and in community and in relationship.
I am deeply committed to living my life as a continuing process of education, formation, and broadening perspectives. An environment that encourages and nurtures an inquisitive probing, intellectual stimulation, and the courage to engage new ideas is at the heart of the space I hope to create at home and within the parish community.
For an extended period I have believed that the center of my life in Christ is based on the relationship with God that is established and nurtured by sacrament and scripture working in tandem to provide growth and insight. I am, however, coming to believe that a much more complex matrix of factors are interacting to provide this growth. Rather than holding fast to the dualistic “Word and Sacrament” I find myself called to expand this perspective to include other factors, particularly community. At this point in my faith journey and in my life as a priest, I feel called to lift up Word, Sacrament, and Community as the cornerstones of the church I am called to serve, with the realization that in this post-modern world, I will probably be called to further expand my perceived cornerstones in order to embrace the poly-phonic nature of the world in which I live.
As a chaplain at a major medical center and as a priest serving both urban and rural churches, I am called to be in relationship people of many faiths, cultures, backgrounds, and lifestyles and I know that I work best in an environment that is not only diverse, but committed to hearing the voices of others. My past experience of Hartford Seminary, as a special student, has convinced me that we share this goal and commitment. The ability of the students and staff of Hartford Seminary to be in relationship with people of other faiths while maintaining the integrity of the individual faith traditions is, I believe, a model for how my parishes and Church need to go about the work of working and ministering in the world. I have been challenged by the classes I have taken at Hartford Seminary and have benefitted from the education I have received in those classes.
Other factors that contribute to my determination that Hartford Seminary is the appropriate place for me in study for a Doctor of Ministry degree include: the close proximity to my home and employment, the urban environment, the commitment to the study and enhancement of parish based ministry, and the economic factors that play upon me as a single parent, and the recommendations of people who I respect and admire.
Quite frankly, I did not expect to be considering application to a Doctor of Ministry program so soon after receiving my Master of Divinity degree from the Episcopal Divinity School. However, the ecclesiastical world into which I emerged after graduation is vastly different from the one I embraced when I applied for postulancy in the Episcopal Church. The Church clearly needs to discern a new way of being in the world, a new structure for administration, an expanded commitment to mission and ministry, and an enhanced way to communicate effectively in an increasingly digital environment. The old ways of building relationships and community, incorporating new members, reaching out to others no longer work. The Church of my youth is dead and I am called to be a witness to its resurrection and new life.
My assumption upon graduation had been to acquire a three year curacy position in a large parish followed by a call to minister full time as Rector with a single parish of my own. The reality of the Church I have found is that after an eighteen month curacy shortened by financial concerns, I have been called to minister as a Transitional Ministry Developer with three parishes located in two distinct communities in the Diocese of Connecticut. These parishes are among a small group of Connecticut parishes that have embraced regional ministry and the tenants of Total Common Ministry as a new way of being God’s people in these places. After twenty years, the functionality of this model is decreasing precipitously and a new way of being the Church is emerging. The people of these parishes have embraced the concept of Eucharistic Community – the coming together of Christians to gather at God’s table for prayer of communion – and the going back into the world for mission and ministry as a new way of being.
As a result of these changes, I find myself called to work out of two offices in a ministry team configuration that includes myself and two “Sunday Celebrant Only” priests, three parish musicians, a part time secretary, a very part time sexton (janitor), and three sets of vestries (governing boards), worship teams, facilities committees, etc. I am called to empower Ministry Development Teams which is a new/different way of structuring ministry in the Episcopal Church, to mentor and train a cadre of lay people called to preach regularly in our congregations, work to plan and implement shared worship experiences that embrace the different liturgical styles of each parish, and to work intentionally to overcome the systemic propensity of our system to embrace and encourage clericalism. This new way of being a pastor and priest is forming me in a distinctly different way than I expected at the start of my priestly formation process.
I also find myself challenged to help these congregations deal with the financial realities of financial crisis and actively aging congregations which will leave two of the parishes without funds within eighteen months. I in all likelihood will be tasked with the dissolution of one of the three parishes and the formation of one merged congregation from the membership and resources of the prior parishes, the selling and perhaps purchase of church buildings and grounds, the de-sanctification of memorial gardens, the possible cessation of a soup kitchen ministry, and the abandonment of a prized pipe organ. I will also be engaged in bringing into new relationship the members of three leadership teams, the formation of a new culture and worship life, the creation of a church community centered not only on worship and pastoral care, but on mission and ministry in the world.
It goes without saying that I learned very little about any of these things while in seminary! I do however, after speaking with the faculty and students present at the Hartford Seminary Information Day and in conversations since then, have a clear sense that Hartford Seminary would be a place where appropriate response to these challenges could be envisioned and a way forward discerned and implemented. A community in which to engage this ministry that will offer not only support and encouragement but honest critique and insight is an important part of the relationships which will make the arrival of a new way of being Church happen in a healthy and holistic way. God is doing a new thing and we are all called to be part of it!
The good news, it that the Good News does remain, God is still present and active in the world, and that the relationships that have carried us thus far continue to grow. We truly are an Easter people and I feel deeply blessed to be part of the resurrection story of these parishes and the Church.
Thank you for the opportunity to share part of this journey with you.
posted by AnglicanWoman | 11:14 PM
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