Candidate 20 Profile

Section A. Background Information

10. Year of Ordination

Anticipated ordination date: immediately

11. Denomination of Ordination

United Church of Christ

12. If not RCA, what classes or supervising body from the ordaining denomination recognizes your ordination?

United Church of Christ

13. Present denomination

United Church of Christ

14. Present classis or judicatory

United Church of Christ

15. If you are not now a member of the Reformed Church in America, can you, in good conscience, agree with the doctrine, discipline and government of the RCA?

Yes

16. Do you support the mission and division of the Reformed Church in America?

Yes

17. Citizen of what country? If not USA, do you have permit to live and work in the USA?

The United States

18. Previous Experience

19. Formal Education

20. Continuing Education

21. Languages (list any languages, other than English, in which you can preach or converse fluently)

I am fluent and can preach in Spanish. I can hold basic conversations in German, French, and American Sign Language

Section B. Reflection

1. Describe your strengths, the best of who you are, and what you bring in service to the church.

Some strengths in my ministry are my ability to easily adapt to changing situations, my ability to communicate well, and the joy I feel in ministry. Ministry is fluid and constantly changing. You can plan all you want, and planning is essential, but things can change in the blink of an eye. This shows up in small details, like a children's sermon demonstration failing, or in big ways, such as, after spending three months planning for Holy Week and Easter, re-imagining it all in one week due to the pandemic. Being fluid is necessary. I love to read and write and have been speaking in public since I was very young. I am comfortable preaching and teaching in a variety of settings, and to diverse groups of people. I have learned to adapt to my audience and present information in a way that is easily received. I also take great joy in the church and in sharing the Good News, which comes through in all I do.

2. Name two or three mentors who have significantly contributed to your ministry, and explain why these people are important to you.

My mentors are a diverse group of ministers, from different cultures and serving in different settings. My first mentor, Rev. Emile Jacquet was a small town, Filipino pastor in the church where I was raised. He taught me the unconditional love, welcome, hospitality, and patience of ministry. Rev. Dr. Alvin Jackson, an urban, African American pastor, gave great hugs (it helps that he was several inches taller than me). He showed me the diversity of ministry. Through him I learned a different style of preaching and how to get truly excited for God. And Rev. Lynn Sullivan, a white suburban pastor, taught me how to lead a congregation with quiet grace. She helped refine my leadership skills and taught me to find my own voice as a pastor. There are many others who have had influence on my formation as a minister; I know there will be many more throughout my ministry, but Emile, Alvin, Lynn have surely given me my foundation as a pastor.

3. What caused you to enter ministry, and what are the core values that define your vision for ministry?

There are a lifetime of events that led me to follow God's Call into ministry. The overriding theme to my Call, though, is the chance to share God's love and wide-open welcome with everyone I meet: from the youngest of God's Creation to the oldest. I have known the extravagant welcome of the church, just as I have know what it is to be denied by the church for simply being who I am. I do my best to live into the scripture that tells us God created all of humanity in God's own image and blessed each and every one of us without question or hesitation. Jesus came to this world to remind us of that blessing and to bring us back into the loving presence of God by showing us how to care for each other and live into that blessing that God bestowed on us so long ago. And while Jesus is no longer a physical presence on earth, the Holy Spirit is still with us, connecting us to each other, to God, to the past, the present, and the future. I continue to listen for the Spirit's guidance.

4. Explain the strategies or ideas that most excite you for helping a church to become and remain missional.

Every church is different so I like to listen to and get to know a congregation before putting together specific strategies. In most instances, getting congregation members excited about what can be done and how we can do it together is a great start. If members are excited they are more likely to get involved and work together to support missional work. Not only will we be serving God with the missionwork we do, it creates a more connected community. And while mission work can be a lot of work, it can also be a lot of fun to do together. I also like to find the different strengths of congregation members and raise those up. Using those strengths empowers members to take ownership or lead in different areas. I find if mission is inspired and led by its members it is more likely to receive the support of the rest of the congregation, to be a more lasting work.

5. Name three of your most passionate hopes for the Church at large, and why they are significant to you.

That the church will embrace God's wide-open welcome and the blessing of God in each one of us, that we do the work of justice Jesus called us to, and that the church find new ways to stay connected to the world are my hopes for the Church. If we can see God in every person we meet, each will be loved as a child of God. In doing so, the church as a whole would be able to do the work of justice that Jesus showed us so many years ago. We would feel that it would not be enough to just talk about the love God has for one another, but work for that love. Put that love into action and care for each individual in God's Creation; this would keep the church connected, just as the Spirit has done for so many years. The pandemic gave us a boost into the virtual world; I would like to see the church embrace that and use the marvelous technologies around us to augment the worship life we already have, reaching out to a much larger community.

6. Give an example of how you would theologically address an issue facing your contemporary world. Please be thorough enough to help the reader to understand your thought processes and your life commitments.

The Pandemic has given us an opportunity to live into the teachings of Christ. Jesus taught us the most important commandments are love God and love your neighbor. We show that love by caring for those around us. Never has there been more need to care for each other than this moment. There are things every person can do, regardless of age, ability, or culture. Jesus showed this to everyone he met: the widow giving her only coin, the outcast Samaritan, the young boy providing food for the thousands, the wealthy tax collector with money to spare. We can't all provide or do the same things, but each can do something. Some can provide food to the hungry. Some can create virtual worship spaces. Some can reach out to those that cannot leave their homes with phone calls, emails or other contactless methods to help keep us connected. We can mask up to help prevent the spread of the virus and end this pandemic as soon as possible. God gave us a mandate to care for ALL Creation when God created humankind and Jesus showed us how to do it.

7. What theologians, pastors, authors or other leaders have had the greatest influence upon your life and thought? (List up to 4 and explain.)

Father Richard Rohr, Bishop Yvette Flunder, Paul Tillich, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer are all authors and theologians that have influenced my life and ministry. Each of them has taught me: that each of us is precious to God, a diamond of God's own Creation; that we are meant to look on each other with that same love and blessing, drawing in the margins of society as Jesus did; that sin is merely a separation, from God, each other or from ourselves, and that Jesus Christ came to remove that separation and bring us closer. Nothing we could do could earn us God's grace and blessing, just as nothing we could do could lose it, but that doesn't mean we should rest on our laurels, either. I don't always agree with everything each of these theologians has said or written, but each of them has offered me a piece of their theology that has helped to form mine.

8. How do you hope someone influenced by your ministry would describe what s/he considers to be most important?

I pray those who encounter my ministry walk away knowing they have the light and love of God inside them and they must then go out and spread that light and love with all God's people. The inter-generational family Vacation Bible School program I ran this summer was an outdoor program Its camp out theme was all about the light and love of God and Jesus. We focused on different types of light: the campfire light that warms you, the light of lanterns that light your path, the glow of fireflies that bring you joy, and the beams of flashlights that help you find things. These different kinds of light help explain the way God lights up our world: God lights us from the inside with the warmth of love, sent us Jesus to light our path and guide our footsteps, shows us sparks of joy in the world that we can marvel at, and sends us out with our own lights to find the works that need to be done to care for God's Creation. This light and love is what I hope people come away with.

9. Name at least one challenge for a pastor who accepts a Call to lead a church whose culture is other than his/her own.

I think one challenge is to meet the congregation where they are and not try to bring them to where you have come from. God created a wondrous world of diversity and each person experiences God in their own way. Embracing those differences adds to the beauty of God's world. A pastor needs to resist the temptation to remake the church into something they are more accustomed to. Another challenge is to realize that cultural and even language differences will show up where you least expect them. I once did a children's sermon at a church in New York City where I talked about water bugs. Every time I mentioned them one of the kids would cringe. I didn't understand why the cute little bugs that would flit across the pond at the farm I grew up on would cause such a reaction until a couple weeks later when someone shared with me what that refers to in the City; big ugly bugs! It was too late to fix the children's sermon, but I learned an important lesson from it.

10. Describe your vision and hopes for the Church over the next 5-10 years.

Every pastor hopes to see growth in the Church, and I, too, would like to see the church grow substantially in the next 5-10 years. But not just grow in membership. I would like to see it grow its reputation for love and welcome. So many see "The Church" as a place of judgment. I would like to see less conservative denominations grow their voice and let the world know there is a place where all are welcomed into God's presence, just as they are. I would like young and old to know this is a place they can turn to whenever they need support and guidance - that they will receive the love of God and a welcoming embrace. I would like the church to grow its support of those who are on the edges of society; the homeless, those without food, the persecuted, those who are discriminated against, and the list goes on. Jesus calls us to put our love into action and I would like to see the church grow its light brighter so that others will see it and know where they can turn.

11. If there is anything else you would like to add about yourself that you think would help a search team to better understand and consider you as their next pastor, please elaborate here.

As difficult as it has been at times, I have enjoyed the challenge of creating new ways to do ministry during the pandemic. I have found new ways to use technology and social media to create a hybrid experience that I feel has become our new reality. I love the roots of traditional worship that keeps us connected to our past and future, but I also love to create new spaces that may resonate for those not reached by a traditional service. The Highwomen song, "Crowded Table," encompasses much of my ministry: "The door is always open... Everyone's a little broken. And everyone belongs. I want a house with a crowded table. And a place by the fire for everyone. Let us take on the world while we're [all still] able. And bring us back together when the day is done." This is how I see God's house. None of us is perfect, but we all belong. There's work to be done and we all need to help, and in the end we will always be able to share a meal at God's Table.