You know there’s never such a thing as a clear answer in church work, right? Case in point: as a followup to yesterday’s prayer request for my ordination interview, here’s the results.
- I submitted 20 doctrinal questions and a sermon for review.
- I passed 17 of those questions and my sermon passed.
- The Board APPROVED me for Ordination BUT places that approval CONTINGENT ON me re-answering those errant three questions and those to be reviewed in the Spring.
- So, if I pass those three questions in the Spring, I’m approved for Ordination in the United Methodist Church.
Woohoo? Yea? Sorry? Yeah, I’m honestly so fresh out of it that I can’t really decide what my response is. But given it’s a few days past thanksgiving, here’s what I’m thankful for:
- I’m thankful for passing 17 outta 20. 85% isn’t a bad score in any profession…even Surgeons pass with an 85%! But not Methodist pastors! Ha!
- I’m thankful for the grace given to me by the Board that they have me rewrite 3 questions rather than submitting them all again. That was in their realm of possibilities so I’m thankful.
- I’m thankful for good clergy friends who waited for 2 hours for me to emerge. Love you folks!
So, in short: I’ve got another hoop ahead of me and have a few months to discern and wrestle with and study those questions. I’ll be talking about them on this blog, so stay tuned. Thanks for walking this journey with me.
~UMJeremy
Congratulations and huge well done from me!
I'd personally be delighted with 85%!
Look back and see how far you've come. The road ahead is much shorter than that.
Ok, so for those of us still going through the process, which 3 questions didn't they like and why?