The Best Weekend EVER!

To say this past weekend was one of the best ever feels a bit like an understatement. It seems everything that possibly could have gone right did. What a tremendous gift!

My father, stepmother, and older sister all arrived on Thursday evening. It was such a gift to have them here to witness graduation and the last part of the call process. We had a great time visiting over the past six days and I miss them already. In between all the exciting events, we were able to explore Gettysburg and Lancaster county. The weather didn't always cooperate, but that did not phase us brave northwesterners at all! My amazing professor from Trinity, friend, and now colleague Audrey was able to make it for graduation! She is one of the main reasons I ended up going to Gettysburg. I could never thank her enough for encouraging me to attend all the way across the country. Pennsylvania has become my home and I would not trade my experience at Gettysburg Seminary for anything.

Graduation was everything I could have hoped and more. I really did not realize how important this was to me until I was up there about to receive my diploma. Looking around at my classmates and professors, I realized how much each person in the room has become a part of my life. God really used this amazing community to help in forming my pastoral identity.

Receiving the hood and the diploma was an incredible experience. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would recieve a Master's degree, let alone a four year Master of Divinity. I sat and stared at the diploma many times for days afterwards. It is a tremendous accomplishment only possible through the Holy Spirit. I know I could not have done this by any other means. God is so good and I cannot wait to serve in the parish!

Another major component to graduation day was Terry's arrival in town! For those who do not know, I met Terry online about 15 months ago. Why I joined eharmony is a whole other email but let me tell you, I am SO glad I did! Two weeks into my online journey, I was matched with Terry and knew from that moment on my membership would have to simply run out.

Our first conversation was over two hours long and it just kept getting better from there. He was in Okinawa at the time, serving as a religious program specialist in the Navy assigned to a Marine unit. The majority of our time has been spent communicating over the phone and online due to the distance. He is now living in South Carolina, making the distance better but still not great. We have become amazing friends simply through the phone and letters.

This weekend we decided to officially begin dating. We know with the distance this will not be easy, but we are up to the challenge! He will be in the states until October and then will do a six month tour in Iraq. After Iraq, it is our hope and prayer he will be able to begin seminary here in Gettysburg sometime soon after!

On Sunday Terry, my family, and I all traveled up to the churchs for my final call vote! This included my leading worship in both congregations. It was so special having them here to witness this event. I am pleased to announce there was a 95% majority vote in favor of calling me to St. Luke's in Mount Union and St. James in Huntingdon, PA! I will be the solo part-time pastor at St. Luke's and the Associate part-time Pastor at St. James in charge of youth, family, and intergenerational ministries! It is a wonderful call and I am so excited to begin.

Ordination is now scheduled for June 5th in Altoona, PA at the opening worship for Synod Assembly. If any of you are able to make it, please feel free to join us! I will officially be a pastor after ordination and will begin working that Sunday.

So, that is my big update! Thank you all for your love, prayers, and support. It has been a crazy journey and I could not have done any of it without you. I will continue to keep you posted on all the exciting events!

A Little Less Secreteness (Is that a word?)

Alright, so here is a little more info on the call process:

1) I have finished 2 of the 3 interviews and have had unanimous votes at BOTH!

2) The third and final part of the process will take place May 10th -11th. This is only ONE day after graduation and will be the congregational call vote. I will preach and help lead worship. The vote will take place that day and if they vote in my favor, I will either accept, reject, or take up to 30 days to make the decision.

3) If everything goes well, I will hopefully be ordained in early June and start very soon after that.

4) I am EXHAUSTED!

Hope you are all doing well. I have a TON of homework that is due by Monday of next week so should get going. Please keep praying, and I will continue to reveal details as I am able!

Living in a world of secrets

Hello dear friends,

I know many of you are wondering what in the world is going on in regards to the call process. As you can tell by the title of this blog, it is all about the secrets.

What I can tell you is I am indeed in the call process. So far it is going wonderfully and I am deep in discernment. This has been a marvelous process and I am learning a great deal more about how the Church functions. I had always wondered how the interview process was different for a pastor verses a "regular" job. I can tell you now it is INCREDIBLY different. Some of those differences are wonderful, some are overwhelming.

I can also tell you this process is not fast. It is not like going into a job interview and knowing within the week if you have it. This will take time, weeks, not days. The call process is a time to discern as a pastor (or future pastor in my case) and as a congregation. This is an interview both for the congregation and the pastor. It is a coming together to discern where God wants all of us to be.

So, I hope this gives some answer to those who are "biting at the bit". As more is able to be revealed, I will be certain to share it. Your prayers, concerns, questions, and loving support have all been felt and appreciated. Thank you for being there for me throughout this journey. I pray you are all doing well and would love to hear how you are doing when you have time!

The Beginning of the End

Whew, I did not realize how long it had been since I gave a real post. I guess that is just a testament to how busy things have been!

Life seems to be speeding up and slowing down all at the same time. The last few weeks I have had a case of the "seminary plague" which was probably heightened by all the stress of my last semester. Doctors in this area say it has been one of the worst flu seasons they have seen in over a decade; I would have to say from my experience with it, I agree! Glad it is over a gone finally, as it was absolutely horrible.

My younger sister came in to town to spend Spring break with me last week. Aside from the flu, we had a great time. We spent most of our time here in the Gettyburg area, going up to Hershey, the Harrisburg area, and even horseback riding here on the battlefield (very cool, I recommend it).

In the midst of the flu, I had a meeting scheduled in New York City. My body really didn't want to go, but I knew I needed to. We took the train in from Harrisburg and spent the first day resting and then seeing the broadway production of Spamalot (my favorite). That evening I got really sick and it didn't end in time for the meeting. As hard as it was, I knew I had no choice but to cancel it. We then called and got an earlier train back to Harrisburg. As miserable as I felt, Jamie and I still managed to have a good time. The interview will now take place over the phone this upcoming week.

The call process has been going really well. Unfortunately, I can't say much about any of the details. This makes it difficult to share my joy with others, but it is the way things are done in the church. What I can tell you is I have a big interview coming up in the near future. Please, keep me and the congregation in your prayers as we interview. I will whole-heartedly admit I am nervous! I know that as long as I am myself, it will all work out. It is still scary though....

Another exciting thing coming up is I will be teaching a one day course on Christian Education for lay people on April 12th. I was asked to do this last summer and am very excited about it. I will be focusing on teaching the students how to create a mission statement for their Sunday school program and how to pick and adapt curriculums to fit their congregations. It should be a lot of fun.

Thank you for all your prayers and support. It is really difficult to believe in under 50 days I will have graduated (that is if I finish all this homework that has piled up!). I am looking forward to it but will really miss this community. I love Gettysburg so much and the people I am surrounded with on a daily basis. Thankfully I will only be a couple hours from here so can visit often.

Alright, back to homework! I pray you are all doing well, and promise to update you soon!

Laura Lynn
http://www.asherandjacobsfriends.com/
http://laurathevicar.blogspot.com/

Assignment!

Hello Everyone!

I apologize for leaving you in suspense. I am so pleased to announce I have been assigned to the Allegheny Synod in central Pennsylvania. This is the area in which I did internship and I loved it so much. The synod goes from the Somerset area up through State College. It is beautiful and is surrounded to the Appalachian "mountains". Sorry for the parenthesis, but being an Alaskan it is hard to call those things mountains!

What will happen now is I will begin recieve a profile on a congregation. We will then begin the interviewing process which includes preaching at the congregation. A voting process then takes place and if all goes well, I will accept the call! If this does not occur, the process begins all over again with another congregation.

In regards to my ordination, this is all dependent upon the call process. The one thing I can promise is it will not happen before graduation in May. I know many of you who hope to come out are eager to find out when this will be. Unfortunately, in most cases there is not much notice as to when or where this will take place. If you are looking to attend, please let me know and I will notify you as soon as I can.

Thank you for all your notes of prayer, encouragement, and even concern when you didn't hear anything! I was assigned to the region on Wednesday and didn't hear from the Bishop about the synod till this afternoon. This is all so exciting though a little overwhelming.

Please continue to keep me in your prayers throughout this process, especially that the Holy Spirit will guide me to wherever I am called.

Laura

My personal blog: http://laurathevicar.blogspot.com/