Recommended for endorsement*

I wasn't sure whether to bring this up on the blog since I really don't want to be Johnny Toots-His-Own-Horn, but there really isn't much else exciting going on — except midterms, of course — so, here goes.

Everybody, I've been recommended for endorsement.*

I'd better explain that. Today and tomorrow, various members of various candidacy committees from various synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America are visiting campus at Luther Seminary to conduct various interviews. Today, I had the pleasure of sitting down with my faculty adviser and two members of the multisynodical candidacy committee that includes my synod, the East Central Synod of Wisconsin. This was an endorsement interview. Students who have already been "entranced" as candidates for ordained or other ministry are up for endorsement after the equivalent of one year of full-time seminary study. In the endorsement interview, the panel made up of the student's adviser and candidacy committee members considers the student's understanding of his or her call to ministry, spiritual growth and faith commitment, educational and theological wisdom and personal and interpersonal skills.

Now, that sounds like a lot of technical, procedural stuff, and it is. But my endorsement interview was about 28 times more fun than I thought it was going to be. All three members of the panel were great to talk with, and I really enjoyed reflecting on how I've grown since beginning seminary. They even said some nice stuff about me. Then I stepped out of the room, stood around for a while, came back in and learned that they recommended me for endorsement.* I should finally explain the asterisk. This recommendation is contingent on me completing Clinical Pastoral Education, which I'm now all but officially lined up to do this summer. The panel's recommendation goes before the full candidacy committee in about six weeks. At that point, assuming the committee confirms the endorsement, I'm not only affirmed in my potential for ordained ministry but also eligible for internship next year.* Whee!

Now, for some people, this is just hoop-jumping, but, for me, it's hoop-loving. There are a whole bunch of other Luther Seminary students who are going through the endorsement interview today and tomorrow, and I pray that each of them has an experience as positive as mine. The real highlight for me came after the interview, when Pastor Sue, my contact person from the candidacy committee, recalled how nervous I was when I first met with her almost two years ago. I had been nervous about whether I could be as good of a pastor as my dad. Today, Pastor Sue said, it was clear that I was developing my own pastoral identity. That meant a lot. I don't think I've ever been as excited about becoming a pastor as I am today.*

Wait a minute. Why was there an asterisk behind that?
Oh, yeah. I can't be all that excited for long — midterms are coming up.

P.S. Here's a photo that is largely unrelated to today's interview (it would have been kind of weird to stage a photo with my panel). It's a picture of my Grandma Gladys and Grandpa Don on the weekend before last, when Tracy and I were visiting Green Bay. It was four weeks to the day that my grandpa had his very scary fall down the stairs. He's at home now, doing well, although his memory so far isn't quite what it used to be — he was without oxygen for more than five minutes, so it's all still really miraculous. Anyway, this was just before my grandparents finally ate the 55th anniversary cake they got at the hospital. It's got to be the cutest picture I've ever seen, so I wanted to share it with you all. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Thanks be to God.