{"id":1672,"date":"2015-04-07T16:23:11","date_gmt":"2015-04-07T21:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.familydill.com\/wordpress\/?p=1672"},"modified":"2015-06-19T13:07:13","modified_gmt":"2015-06-19T18:07:13","slug":"here-we-are-lord","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.familydill.com\/wordpress\/2015\/04\/07\/here-we-are-lord\/","title":{"rendered":"Here We are Lord……"},"content":{"rendered":"

In just a little over a month, Doug will graduate with a Masters in Divinity. Shocking I know.\u00a0 If you had known him, when I met him, you would never have foreseen this coming.\u00a0 This just goes to show that people can and do change overtime.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Not unlike any student who graduates from college there is much anticipation in the air.\u00a0 Along with that also comes, the anxiety of what\u2019s next.\u00a0 Colleges offer job fairs where you can submit resumes, and participate in general interviews. The student then waits to hear back from the potential employer.\u00a0 In the meantime, it\u2019s helpful if they look on their own as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Seminary is different. The seminarian cannot look on his\/her own, while he\/she waits.\u00a0\u00a0 I have written in the past about how the seminarian completes paperwork, and offers preference of where they wish to be.\u00a0 The bishops meet; the seminarians name is pulled and is then assigned to a synod. Once the synod has been assigned, the seminarian will hear from the bishop and the process begins.\u00a0 Keep in mind also there could be more than one seminarian heading into the same synod.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Just as with job fairs, the seminarian waits. How long he\/she waits depends on many things.\u00a0 Each synod has a bishop. Each bishop has their own way of doing things.\u00a0 Some are quick, some not so much.\u00a0 Here\u2019s what the big picture kind of looks like, but based on the bishop, can vary.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Bishop calls the seminarian. The conversation is short. \u201cHi.\u00a0 welcome to X synod my name is bishop Y. I will be reaching out to you soon so we can meet and talk.\u00a0 I look forward to meeting you\u2026.blah blah blah.\u201d Call ends.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Seminarian sits\u2026\u2026.wait time depends on the bishop.\u00a0 Some are called just shortly thereafter the first call, others could wait longer.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The seminarian now meets the bishop either in person, on the phone or via Skype\/Face time. Some may ask what the seminarian is looking for, some may not. Some may ask about what the family is looking for some may not.\u00a0 Some will only have 1 or 2 churches, where another will have several churches looking for a pastor.\u00a0 Some bishops will have several seminarians from the same school \u201ccompete\u201d so to speak for the same church, while others may not.\u00a0\u00a0 No it\u2019s not really a competition, but it feels that way.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The bishop will now send the seminarians paperwork to the churches looking for a pastor, they will also send the church information to the seminarian.\u00a0 Now the seminarian waits for the church to review the paperwork.\u00a0 When they are ready, the church will now setup an interview.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Depending of course on how many they may be interviewing, there could be more than one interview for each candidate.\u00a0 Once the church likes the seminarian, paperwork is given to the bishop to review for compensation etc.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

An Offer is made, once the offer is accepted or denied the church moves forward.\u00a0 If accepted it, it must go through a church vote. This maybe up to a month after the offer has been accepted. Once the vote is passed, the date is set and the rest they say is history.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

This in itself is a pretty long process, and if the seminarian is a lucky one, they can begin shortly after graduation.\u00a0 However, it can be months after graduation as well.\u00a0\u00a0 Now the questions of what if it\u2019s not a good fit and all opportunities in that synod are exhausted, what\u2019s next?<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Here\u2019s where my anxiety really kicks in.\u00a0 The seminarian will wait.\u00a0 They will wait while their paperwork is passed to other bishops, including other Synods.\u00a0 In some cases they may have to wait for the next draft, and this could be a year away. So now what?<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Yes a contingency plan should be made for such cases.\u00a0 Yes, this can and does happen, I\u2018ve seen first-hand with seminarians before us.\u00a0 But let\u2019s be realistic here.\u00a0 Who will hire someone, who is trying to interview at other locations and is knowingly going to leave as soon as they are voted in somewhere?\u00a0 Who can live on no income for a year for that matter?<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

We are working on our contingency plan, and I am concerned that Doug\u2019s call will take a while to show itself. Doug and the bishops initial goal was June 1st, but we truly do not see that happening. Why? Because we still have not received any paperwork for churches. \u00a0The earliest now we could hope for would be July 1st.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Now here\u2019s the last tricky piece to my anxiety ridden life.\u00a0 I want to be happy for all those who are getting interviews and or offers.\u00a0 I\u2019m even happy for them to know they have a place to go shortly after graduation.\u00a0 But I must also be honest in saying, I\u2019m jealous too.\u00a0 Why don\u2019t we even have interviews yet? Where are we going?\u00a0 Yes, Yes, different bishops, different ways.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

We have not made any \u201cpublic\u201d announcement because we really don\u2019t know where we are going to end up. \u00a0 So once again, I ask for continued prayers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

I will also try to default to one of my favorite verses: Jeremiah 29:11 \u201cFor I know the plans I have for you,\u201d declares the Lord, \u201cplans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In just a little over a month, Doug will graduate with a Masters in Divinity. Shocking I know.\u00a0 If you had known him, when I met him, you would never have foreseen this coming.\u00a0 This just goes to show that … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faith"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2m8F1-qY","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1627,"url":"https:\/\/www.familydill.com\/wordpress\/2014\/07\/16\/the-pastors-wife\/","url_meta":{"origin":1672,"position":0},"title":"The Pastor’s Wife","author":"Kris Dill","date":"July 16, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"This blog is different from my last few blogs. But I didn't realize how much this topic bothers me. When people ask me what my husband does, I always stop and think. Depending on who's asking, my reply is typically, he's a seminarian or he's a pastor. I know, I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith from the Average Person"","block_context":{"text":"Faith from the Average Person","link":"https:\/\/www.familydill.com\/wordpress\/category\/faith\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1773,"url":"https:\/\/www.familydill.com\/wordpress\/2016\/09\/06\/who-do-you-say-i-am\/","url_meta":{"origin":1672,"position":1},"title":"“Who Do You Say I am?”","author":"Kris Dill","date":"September 6, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I was recently watching the movie, \u201cGod\u2019s not Dead 2\u201d. The first movie, \u201cGod\u2019s not dead\u201d centered on a student who was forced to defend and prove his point that God exists, after his professor wanted the whole class to admit God does not exists. \u00a0Where the second movie, is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith from the Average Person"","block_context":{"text":"Faith from the Average Person","link":"https:\/\/www.familydill.com\/wordpress\/category\/faith\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"hello-my-name-is-template","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.familydill.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/hello-my-name-is-template-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":153,"url":"https:\/\/www.familydill.com\/wordpress\/2012\/04\/14\/amazing\/","url_meta":{"origin":1672,"position":2},"title":"Amazing………","author":"Kris Dill","date":"April 14, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Well I must say today was an amazing day so far.\u00a0 I'm sure if you follow my post's on Facebook, you know I'm totally stressing about my Microsoft Excel class.\u00a0 I had no real problems with PowerPoint, or Word.\u00a0 Excel on the other hand is all logical thinking. I have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith from the Average Person"","block_context":{"text":"Faith from the Average Person","link":"https:\/\/www.familydill.com\/wordpress\/category\/faith\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1669,"url":"https:\/\/www.familydill.com\/wordpress\/2015\/03\/17\/whats-it-all-about\/","url_meta":{"origin":1672,"position":3},"title":"What’s it all about?","author":"admin","date":"March 17, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"This past weekend, I sat with the potential future spouses\/significant others\u00a0of Wartburg, who came along to help their partners decided which Seminary might be the best one for them to enroll in.\u00a0Oh, how well I recall my own spouse\u2019s\/significant others\u00a0weekend. At Wartburg, there are two times a year that they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith from the Average Person"","block_context":{"text":"Faith from the Average Person","link":"https:\/\/www.familydill.com\/wordpress\/category\/faith\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.familydill.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.familydill.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.familydill.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.familydill.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.familydill.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1672"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.familydill.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1694,"href":"https:\/\/www.familydill.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1672\/revisions\/1694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.familydill.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.familydill.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.familydill.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}