Next steps?

My little life has been a busy one for the last few weeks. I've been focusing on completing the paperwork for preliminary fellowship in the UUA, so that I may join some of my fellow seminarians and ministers at the cermony of the Service of the Living Tradition at General Assembly in Florida, next month. I used to have real ambivalence about this ceremony, just as I have had about most graduation ceremonies, but I have come around. I'm looking forward to this, especially processing in the company of peers.

I've been accepted into a chaplaincy residency program at United Hospital in downtown St. Paul. This nine-month program will give me the necessary clinical pastoral educational credentials to work as a chaplain in many hospitals and related settings.

There are several motives for choosing this chaplaincy program. I remain focused on ministry in the parish, and have sensed, and been advised by several I trust, that a year of chaplaincy will only make me more effective in parish ministry. I also realize that finding the 'right' parish position might require some flexibility, so having the credentials to work as a chaplain could be useful. I'm excited about this program; two good friends in ministry were quite persuasive about the quality of the program. Finally, Liz and I just weren't ready to pick up and move so soon, after just a year in these wonderful cities. Even after this winter.