O God, you have called your servants to ventures of
which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden,
through perils unknown. Give us faith to go
out with good courage, not knowing where we go,
but only that your hand is leading us and your love
supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen. (ELW p. 304)

This prayer began my discernment of ministry and continues to be a daily prayer. Please join me in making it ours.

Six years ago when asked by Pastor, Martin Gehring, “Have you ever considered ministry as a vocation?” I laughed, said, “No!” and didn’t give his question further thought – until he invited me to lunch and the subject of our conversation was – you guessed correctly – ministry as a vocation. I kept saying, “I can’t do that!” And ever so gently, Pastor Martin would point out to me that not only could I, but I was doing “that!” So, one year later, after much prayer and many conversations with family and friends, I applied for Candidacy for Ordained Ministry, just to see if God was truly calling me to the ministry of word and sacrament.

When I began my discernment for Ordained Ministry, the year of internship I was told, is this incredible year of supervised learning and serving Christ. Internship is “a full year of major and intensive involvement in a responsible ministry of the church and is itself a ministry of learning and serving; …an integral and required component of a seminarian’s preparation for ordained pastoral service; …a way of preparing for ministry based largely upon an action/reflection learning model; …an integrative experience by which a student’s knowledge, skills, attitudes, and commitments become interrelated with the planning, doing, and evaluating of ministry; …etc” (Internship Committee Manual, pp. 5-6). Yes, Internship is all that and more. Internship continues the discernment process for the ministry of word and sacrament. Your commitment as a congregation to support an intern is a true gift to the Church. Thank you!

Two weeks following the “Meet and Greet” (a week of interviews students have with potential internship supervisors), Pastor Jane Jenkins, Trinity’s Director of Contextual Education, asked me if I would have a phone interview with Pastor Bill. I remember closing my phone following my conversation with Pastor Bill, and I am not sure my feet touched the ground, because I found myself in Pastor Jane’s office saying, “I think I am being called to Dallas for internship!” Pastor Jane, smiling said, “Tell me about that.” (A notorious question of Pastor Jane’s to begin a conversation.)

The song we sang following my installation as your Intern, Will You Come and Follow Me, the Summons, ELW 798, reminds each of us whose we are and the great mystery into which we are baptized. Each of us is called and claimed by God and we are never the same. God is continuously transforming us. We find we do things we never dreamed of doing. We find ourselves in places we never thought of going. We always find ourselves in the midst of God’s children – the very presence of God – knowing that God’s love is indeed leading and supporting us.

By the grace of God, I have come to Dallas, to Christ Lutheran Church, to worship and serve the living Christ with you. Together we will discern and live out our gifts for ministry proclaiming the gospel. We have heard God’s voice and together we will follow Jesus –
and we will never be the same!

May God bless us to be a blessing to others!
—Intern Ladona