Parkway UCC - THE GOOD NEWS

      I am thrilled to begin growing with Parkway United Church of Christ in faith and ministry.  Thank you for the incredible welcome of July 14 and 15, and for the continuing welcome I am receiving as I meet the many wonderful members of this vibrant community.  Thank you for calling me as your associate pastor.  The ministry opportunities facing this community are dazzling!

      The road toward ordained ministry can be intimidating and confusing, as well as fulfilling, and it is a road that I am still on.  Because it can be confusing, the following is a roadmap of where I have been and the final straightaway yet to come.  Five years ago, as a full-time undergraduate student at Marquette University in Milwaukee (and part-time student of rock and roll), I could no longer deny a call to ministry that had been incubating for several years.  A committee was formed at my home church in Brodhead, Wisconsin, and this committee and I were in conversation over the course of six months discerning my call together.  It was revealed that my home pastor had been conniving with the Council President in praying that I would eventually heed just such a call to ministry.  The committee deliberated and then gladly recommended to the Southwest Association of the Wisconsin Conference that I be extended “In-Care” status in order to pursue seminary education and eventual ordination.  Over the past four years I have begun and completed a Master of Divinity at Eden Seminary, completed oral and written examinations and papers, and been approved for ordination “pending call.”  This means that while I have completed all the other preliminaries required for ordination, the United Church of Christ does not ordain ministers until they receive a call from a local church, such as Parkway.  Having now received such a call, a date will soon be set and I will be ordained in my home church, Brodhead Congregational United Church of Christ in order to serve as an ordained pastor here at Parkway.

      In addition to theological education, Eden Seminary requires students to be VERY actively involved in ministry throughout the course of their academics.  During my four years at Eden I was a part-time student youth pastor at St. Johns Mehlville for two years, an intern at Interfaith Partnership/Faith Beyond Walls for one year (while simultaneously serving Mehlville), and licensed solo pastor of Pilgrim UCC in Labadie, Missouri for two years.  Licensed ministry is an authorized ministry of the United Church of Christ similar to ordination, but in which the minister’s authorization for ministry only extends to the particular local church being served, is often part-time, and does not require a Master of Divinity.  At Pilgrim I had the privilege of preaching and leading worship and sacrament each week, teaching, providing pastoral care, presiding at two weddings and a funeral, making music, and having my name on the sign out front.

      Thank you for ushering me into the final leg of my journey toward ordination.  I guess you could say that all that intensive and extensive prep happened just to bring me here to you!  I’m ecstatic, and deeply grateful.                                Blessings,  Joe