When I was young, I never dreamed I would wind up a minister. Seminary and theological education were not on my list. Yet the Spirit doing the thing she does, she got to work and things changed.
When I entered seminary, I assumed I would be taught all the things I would need to know to be a pastor. I would be trained in ways to provide care and support for those I would serve. I would learn how to use my voice in the pulpit, which honestly terrified me at the start of seminary. I would learn all the new and exciting theological takes on faith and ways to use them in ministry.
While some of those assumptions held truth, there was a lot more learning that took place outside the classroom. Specifically, in my internship. While it was a class I was enrolled in for my transcript, it was anything but a classroom type of learning.
My internship took place in Palmer, Alaska, at United Protestant Presbyterian Church. My role that summer was to learn from the co-pastors and help with the youth and young adults. I had never been to Alaska. I had never worked with co-pastors who were spouses. And I had never lived so far away from home. But I was excited at the possibility mixed with a little bit of fear at the uncertainty.
My co-pastors, Tim and Leisa, welcomed me with open arms. They were kind, loving and compassionate. They loved their people and their town, and their people and town knew it. The number one lesson they taught me that summer was that you love your people and you show up where they are, no matter what.
I was told that if I was invited to go fishing by a church member, you go. If a youth wanted to go for a bike ride, go. That one proved an issue, as I did not know how to ride a bike. But that is a story for another day! If an elder wanted to take me on a day excursion to another town for community building or a meeting, take them up on the offer. Basically, be with your people and be where they are. Show up for them.
Throughout that summer, I did just that. I traveled with folks. I attended meetings. I went with people when an invitation was extended. I made it a part of my learning — what can I learn or do when I go with this person or attend that meeting. And it was transformational for me.
This summer class had many tasks we needed to do to complete the course. Things like preaching at least twice or leading a Sunday school class were important for me. They helped me find my voice and become more comfortable with leading. The biggest lesson of showing up for your people was not on the list, but the most vital lesson that came from my summer.
To this day in my ministry, it is all about showing up for my people. It is about the ways I make it to the football game or softball game to cheer on my students. It is about the ways I sit in on senior seminar presentations to hear all the things they have learned in their studies. It is about the ways I sit with students when they get sad or difficult news that impacts their daily lives. It is about the way I show up with cupcakes and confetti as we celebrate graduate school acceptance or other joys.
I am sure I would have learned this valuable lesson at some point in my ministry, but I attribute it to working alongside Tim and Leisa and experiencing it firsthand. And it has me wondering about ways the church can model this. How can the church be a place of showing up with the people? How can we model this for those within our church and those outside the church?
This past month, I returned to Palmer, Alaska. I returned to United Protestant Presbyterian Church. This reunion was to celebrate and give thanks for Tim and Leisa as they retired after 35 years of ministry in Palmer.
And as I sat in the pew and worshipped, it became clear — the impact of their ministry of showing up was seen in the church and town of Palmer. The place was packed, the service joyful and the fellowship a time of thanksgiving. All because these people were there for their people and their town.
Generations of people gathered to thank Tim and Leisa for their years of service and care. Some members of the church, some town members, but all were there with gratitude. All because these two pastors did what they knew ministry was all about — showing up. A lesson I got to experience firsthand as an intern with them and a lesson that has been carried through my ministry to this day.
Words will never be enough to thank these two co-pastors and that church who took a chance with me as their intern. But their impact lives on in my ministry. And my students know their impact because they have a chaplain who shows up for them and with them — they know the church can be present with them wherever they may find themselves.
