I'm an Inquirer!

Last week I went home to Nebraska to attend a Presbytery meeting. For those of you who aren't Presbyterians, Presbyteries are groupings of congregations which decide things on a larger scale than by individual churches. I'm part of Homestead Presbytery, which includes most of Nebraska. For people considering ordination, your home presbytery is who approves you, supports you along the discernment and education process, and may someday ordain you. During the long path from "hey, I think I might want to work in the church" to ordination, a person is considered to be "under care" of their presbytery. I'm applying to seminaries this fall and certain enough about being called to ordination that I felt comfortable telling my pastor and quite a few committees, so I applied to become an Inquirer. Inquirer is the first step along official approval for ordination, which made me pretty nervous about showing up at the Presbytery meeting for approval.

Unsurprisingly, church officials are pretty friendly and supportive when you go before them to declare your interest in ordained ministry. I was terrified to be presented at the Presbytery meeting. Thankfully, being approved as an Inquirer is more of a gesture of good faith than a test of theological knowledge. My parents and many other people from my home church were present, and it felt wonderful to have them there. The Presbytery approved me as an Inquirer, so I'm one step closer to ordination. The next part of my path is seminary, so I've got plenty to work for.