I don't think I've ever written a blog post about this so I thought I'd put something up today.  This comes after reading a couple posts put up by Adam Walker Cleaveland and Tony Jones about the PCUSA Ordination Process.    The just of the story is that Adam is a candidate for ordination, has dual degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary, has passed all his ordination exams yet is being told by a Presbytery he is transferring too that it is not enough and he needs to go back and take 7 additional classes in order to be considered for ordination.   Now I don't know the finer details of Adam's process but I have read through much of the responses on both their blogs and is has really caused me to think.

In 2000 I entered into the ordination process.  At the time I was the Director of Youth Ministry at Bel Air Presbyterian Church.  I was also working on a Masters in Divinity Degree from Fuller Theological Seminary.
My process involved quite a bit of growth.  I was at the time a pretty raw youth minister who said what he thought a bit too carelessly.  The journey through the inquirer phase was a good one but also really difficult.  I often felt a bit alone trying to navigate the waters of the process.  My committee was great but I didn't quite know how to utilize them.  After a couple years as an inquirer I became a candidate right as I finished seminary.  I remember having to schedule my meetings to move to candidate stage really far in advance.  At that time I was beginning to question where God was calling me.  We were living in a small house in Van Nuys California and had a couple of sons.  A position opened up at a beach church in San Diego and it seemed like a good fit.  It was a large evangelical church but had a different view of the ordination process and who they would ordain.  I made the decision to leave the PCUSA ordination process at that point because I felt like I wasn't ready for it.

After a very short time at that new church I realized that I missed the PCUSA.  I realized after I left it that  the theology, the ecclesiology and the polity were who I was.  But, I had made a huge move, bought a new house and wasn't able to go back to the PCUSA.  I made the decision at that time to pursue further theological training and decided to pursue a Doctorate studying at George Fox Seminary with Leonard Sweet.  This was one of the best decisions I've ever made.  In the three years I was at George Fox I grew in ways that I never thought I could.  I was challenged to think through all my ministry paradigms and practices as I knew them.  In the middle of that program I lost my job at the church in San Diego and was in the middle of a job hunt.  Interestingly all of my top possibilities were in the PCUSA.  God was doing something in leading me back.

After a long and very good process with a couple of great PCUSA churches I was led to Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas Texas.  At HPPC I have the opportunity to be a Youth Minister using my gifts and skills learned from many years of youth ministry to lead an amazing team of youth workers.  I feel like God has put me in the perfect situation and I feel blessed every day to be in it.

I have had quite a few people ask me if I am going to enter back into the ordination process.  The answer is for now: Yes.  I made the decision that I would not think about that until finishing my doctorate which I did this year.  I recently received my file from the Pacific Presbytery and am working with Grace Presbytery to begin the process again.  This time I'm entering into the process with a lot of hope because I'm doing it at the right time of my life, my ministry and my career.  I know that the process tends to weed people out as I believe it should.  I'm a bit nervous to begin meeting with new committees with different expectations and ideas of what I should and shouldn't do in order to be ordained.

I guess I should just say I'll keep you posted.  I don't know how this will go but I'm hopeful because I believe God is leading me back into it.