Last night I met with the Presbytery of San Francisco, and was finally officially accepted as a Candidate in the ordination process. For those who have followed along – this is, of course, the second time I’ve officially been accepted as a Candidate. Last night was a wonderful experience to be with the Presbytery, to be in worship with the group, and to end the evening with the report from the Committee on Preparation for Ministry and be welcomed into the Presbytery through questions, anointing with oil, prayer and celebration.
I was introduced by my CPM Liaison and then gave a short introduction of myself, Â highlighting a few points from my MEW (a document that is included in the Presbytery docket that highlights my Motive for Seeking Ministry, Experience of Faith and Work in the Church). Then came the question time. My liaison asked the first question about my desire to look for new ways to engage people today with the Gospel and mission. I talked briefly about Presbymergent, Theology Pub and alt.worship.
Leslie Veen asked the second question, which was about the line in my MEW that mentioned “the mystery and holy ambiguity found in a life of faith,” and how I saw that impacting the youth ministry work that I did. I was thinking I’d get off the hook with just one question, because it was very late and everyone was ready to go home.
But no. Who started walking up the center aisle? None other than Mr. Moderator of the General Assembly, the Very Right Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow. I couldn’t figure out what question he had up his sleeve…and then he dropped it. “Why do you want to be Presbyterian?”
As I began to mention in my answer, this was the question on my application to become an Inquirer in 2004 that I struggled with the most. I didn’t know why I wanted to be Presbyterian – I just happened to end up being Presbyterian after going to a Presbyterian college, working at Presbyterian church camps, and serving a Presbyterian church. But as a good friend of mine, an Orthodox Priest in Twin Falls, Idaho once said to me, “Adam – that’s great. That tells me HOW you landed in the Presbyterian church – but doesn’t say anything at all about what is KEEPING you here.”
I don’t think I would have been able to answer that part of the question without having gone through my experiences over the past year. To say that this ordination process since my December 2008 Ordination Service was called off has been difficult and frustrating is an understatement. But it was during the times when I debated leaving the PC(USA), when I took a UCC Theology & History course to see if that was a path for me, that I eventually decided that there was something strange, something odd that kept pulling me back to the Presbyterian Church (USA).
Good friends of mine have helpfully given me the words for that feeling…a call by God. And as I mentioned last night in front of the Presbytery of San Francisco…of course there are issues I have with the Presbyterian church, it’s not perfect and to be perfectly honest, I think I’m still figuring out exactly why I have been called to be a Presbyterian. But I cannot shake the fact that I strongly believe that God has called me to this church.
That’s what I shared last night, and then I was voted in as a Candidate. My “effective” date was January 6, 2010 – so as of January 6, 2011, I’ll be able to go through the final stages with the Presbytery and then, assuming all goes well, would be ready to be ordained early Spring 2011. I’m very glad to have been accepted by the Presbytery of San Francisco, and am looking forward to nurturing the relationships with future-colleagues that I already have, and continuing to meet new folks.
Thank you to all of you who have been with me on this journey and I appreciate all of your prayers and support.