Letter from Commission on Ministry

I know it has been awhile since I last posted, but I've spent the time working, reflecting, and processing. I finally received an electronic copy of the letter I was supposed to receive in hard copy a few weeks ago. I will paste it below for you all to read. It is not nearly as in depth as I had expected but that is the way things go sometimes. I am getting ready to head to Minnesota next week as a chaperone for the Diocese of Maryland Delegation to E.Y.E. '11. I'm pretty pumped to experience E.Y.E. from another point of view and see what sort of insights I develop. I want to try to write at least one blog post a day from my journey, but I don't know what the internet situation will be so if nothing else I will back post all the entries when I return to Maryland. And now without further ado I give the letter:

May 18, 2011

Dear Kassia,

Thank you so much for your openness and eagerness to discern how God is calling you to use your gifts and experiences to serve God’s people.  We especially thank you for doing so in the unique younger vocations process designed for 2011.  This letter, including the recommendation, is a follow-up to our earlier phone conversation following the April interviews.

At this time the COM could not affirm that seminary in the fall of 2011 was the most appropriate next step in your discernment.  We do affirm, however, your continued discernment regarding ministry in general and ordained ministry in particular.  We recommend that your next steps of discernment would include the Diocese of Maryland’s Discerning Ordained Vocation (DOV) program, through which you would meet monthly with a cohort of other aspirants and experience an internship in a parish other than St. James.  You may submit an application for this program, downloadable from the Diocesan website, to Dawn Kline at the Diocesan Center.

The following is the recommendation from the COM from your interview report:  We believe Kassia is not yet ready to test her vocation by going to seminary.  She needs experiences in the wider church and experience of the wider needs the church addresses.  We recommend that she enter the regular DOV program in the Fall 2011 intake, and continue exploring her vocation.  Within the DOV program, we recommend that her internship be in a faith community very different from those she has been part of in recent years.  If she can fit in an additional volunteer experience on top of work and the DOV internship, so much the better:  the aim is for her to experience a variety of worshiping communities and a variety of social ministries, before returning for another interview in the spring of 2012.     

I believe engaging this diocesan program would be a fruitful time of discernment for you within the larger church, and would give you an opportunity to engage in ministry alongside people of more diverse ages and experiences.

Blessings,

COM Chair