My theology of ministry is recently written. It fulfills general outcome 4 (identity). It is informally written as it has personal pronouns and rather than doing a bunch of research and having resources, I chose to write it based on my thoughts and what I have learned and come to believe more generally. Ideas from it are present in several other papers in my eportfolio.
In Dr. Hamilton’s Old Testament class last fall, I wrote a paper about Lady Wisdom from Proverbs 8 and the Woman of Valor from Proverbs 31. It fulfills outcome 1 (Scripture) since it explores the biblical text and different translation, interpretation, and application considerations. One thing I might do differently in this paper is to emphasize more what it meant, or does mean today, to use Proverbs 31 as a poem to honor women. I mention this in the paper but after conversations with friends recently about this, I am newly struck by this option in reading it and in applying it. It might be difficult for women today to re-accustom themselves to hear this chapter as a way of honoring them rather than putting pressure on them, but it might be a worthwhile shift.
While in the MFT program, I took a course that was a dual MFT/MACM class – Theological Reflections on Human Behavior. It was taught by Dr. Goff and Dr. McCracken. The paper below was an assignment where we had to integrate theological and psychological perspectives in the practice of ministry and therapy. It focuses on the topics of human nature, sin and dysfunction, and integrating theology and psychology based on models from a course textbook. I chose this paper to be a part of my eportfolio because of the integration aspect, which is important for any student but especially for a student who is receiving degrees in both fields. It fulfills the general outcome 2 (tradition) in that it discusses my views on traditional or doctrinal topics, such as sin and human nature. It fulfills general outcome 4 (identity) since it offers more perspective and insight into how I see my two degrees of therapy and ministry working together at times but perhaps needing to be separate at times as well. It fulfills the MACM specific outcomes 1 (history) also because it addresses traditional topics, such as sin and human nature, and 3 (integration) because it addresses the relationship between theology and psychology.
Divorce and Divisions was an essay I wrote for Dr. Foster’s Advanced Restoration History class last fall. It originally did not have a title but was simply the weekly response to the reading and a discussion of the theme(s) that stood out to us. The week I wrote this essay we read about the division between the Disciples of Christ and Churches of Christ in the first decade of the 1900s. I compared the break-up of this previously unified religious group to the break-up of a married couple when they get a divorce and relied on my personal experience as a marriage therapist. I received quite a bit of positive feedback from Dr. Foster about this essay and I can say that I truly enjoyed writing it and combining my two fields. Since it deals with my particular religious heritage body, the Churches of Christ, I feel like it fulfills outcome 2 (tradition). Similarly the historical aspects and information of the paper fulfill MACM specific outcome 1 (history). I also feel like it fulfills outcome 5 (communication) because it is a 2 page essay that is concise yet descriptive in its analysis and comparison of church divisions and marriages ending (and because of the positive feedback I received from Dr. Foster about it).
Below is my current résumé. The only thing it does not reflect is that I have been hired to be a youth minister at West Houston Church of Christ in Houston, TX starting in June. My résumé is a representation of outcome 4 (identity) as it describes the ways I have been active in ministry, education, other employment opportunities, and other speaking or leadership opportunities. While I believe and hope that I will be at West Houston for more than a brief stay, I will likely keep my résumé updated just in case and so that it will be less work to update whenever I am ready to apply for PhD programs and eventually find a position as a professor.
Below is the Formational Goals reflection from GST Orientation. It fulfills outcome 4 (identity). We received results from some of the assessments during the fall and some during the winter. I believe I have not changed too much in personality since I took the assessments so the results should still accurately portray me. I had mixed reactions to parts of the results but after considering them for awhile I believe they are fairly true representations of me.
Case 1 was written during Foundations last fall. Since that was only a few months ago, my response to the case probably would not vary too much from what is written in the paper. There are no perfect responses or concrete formulas because each situation is different because of the people, culture, scenario, and timing. I feel like I relied on insights from my therapy training as well as my ministry experiences and previous ministry classes when I wrote this paper. This Case Study fulfills the MACM specific outcomes of 2 (practice) and 3 (integration).
Attached is my Reflection on Ministerial Identity paper from Foundations. It fulfills outcome 4 (identity). Since I have only been in the GST full-time for one year, I took Foundations last August. I am not sure how much I have grown or changed in my identity as a minister since I wrote this paper last fall. However I do believe it is a fair representation of where I currently am as I enter into full-time ministry. It also includes some of the ideas and impacts from my time in the MFT program as they have shaped my view of ministry and myself.
My Pathways project is still in the works. It is for Dr. Crawford’s Church History II class. The point of my Pathways project is to research marriage among clergy since the time of Luther. One of our textbooks had a statement in it that Luther’s marriage became a model for others. I am attempting to try and trace the transition from clergy not being allowed to marry to the current state of married clergy being the norm in several denominations (to the point where it sometimes feels like a requirement in order to be a minister) and what lessons or patterns we can learn from this history. I think how marriage works (or doesn’t work) for ministers is very relevant. Since I’m an MFT grad, marriage is a particularly interesting topic for me and depending on what I learn I might have some theories or models from that to compare or analyze what I find. This project meets the general outcome 2 (tradition) and the MACM specific outcome 1 (history) and possibly also the specific outcome 3 (integration) since it combines my MFT skills with ministry.
When I entered the GST, I received credit from undergraduate course work and testing in Greek and therefore did not have to take any further Greek classes. The credits for Greek also mean that I have fulfilled outcome 3 (language). My skills are not as sharp as they were back then but I do still use Greek and go to the Greek text in order to learn more about specific passages I am using and reading. Even in youth ministry I hope to use Greek at least in preparation and perhaps even throwing in a few words in lessons – I have done that before and it seems teenagers like to learn cool sounding words sometimes!