Many come to the program with low
self-esteem. “They will say, ‘What’s wrong with me? Why won’t anyone listen to me?’ ” John Grabner
immersion week with the Appalachia Ser- vice Project. “I was so positively overwhelmed by that experience that losing my job didn’t feel like such a big deal, or so I thought,” he said. During his second
period of unemploy- ment, Grabner had the benefi t of an outsourc- ing fi rm’s counsel. He connected with the Business Executives
Marketing Group, where he discovered people who want to help others. “A couple of people I met had started networking groups at their churches, and that inspired me to create Trinity Connect (at the Lansdale congregation) to help unemployed or underemployed people think about approaches to fi nding satisfying work,” he said. “I think a large part of my faith founda- tion is helping others.” Trinity Connect has counseled about 70 people dur-
ing the last three years, ranging from an auto mechanic to a chief fi nancial offi cer. Grabner said about 25 per- cent have found satisfying jobs. Many come to the program with low self-esteem.
“T ey will say, ‘What’s wrong with me? Why won’t any- one listen to me?’ T ey are frustrated and sometimes have become reclusive,” he said. “We teach them not simply to look for a job, but also how to connect with others for advice.” Grabner now has the most satisfying job of his life
as an energy engineer with a company that relates to PPL, a large Pennsylvania power utility. He works with churches, apartment landlords, hospitals and other enterprises to fulfi ll a state mandate to reduce energy consumption. Sometimes when he thinks about his work, Grabner
asks God for guidance. “T e opportunity to talk about [my work] to God tends to move me in the right direc- tion,” he added.
Tempie D. Beaman T e 66-year-old, a member of Ascension Lutheran Church, Los Angeles, has struggled with layoff s since 2003. “T at year I was principal of our church’s elemen- tary school when it was determined it had to close,” she said. “I found myself unemployed and ineligible
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for unemployment. I had a mortgage and other bills with no source of income. For the fi rst time in my life, I found myself seeking assistance from the congregation’s food pantry rather than providing it assistance.” Beaman found some part-time work as a consultant,
but otherwise had plenty of time. “I began a more con- sistent time of personal devotions, began daily exercise and continued my congregational involvement,” she said. She took up volunteer faith-based community orga-
nizing, receiving training from a chapter of a national community organizing group and from the ELCA. “Members of the congregation personally supported me in ways I didn’t expect when I was unemployed,” Beaman said. “Sometimes aſt er Sunday worship, I would fi nd a check or cash stuck in my Bible, or members would put balled-up money in my hand—$200, $50, $20.” Beaman began to realize what it means to trust God.
“It’s easy to trust when you can see how things might work,” she said. “It is much harder when nothing is visible.” In 2007 she entered candidacy for the ELCA’s
diaconal ministry roster and became a student in the T eological Education for Emerging Ministries (TEEM) program at Pacifi c Lutheran T eological Seminary, Berkeley, Calif. “However, by the time I fi nished my studies in 2010, funding had dried up [for my preferred position with Lutheran Disaster Response].” Unemployed again, she decided to “retire” and now
has a limited source of income through unemployment and Social Security. “My previous experience … taught me I just needed
to continue to do what God asked of me, and God would take care of me. I lived out my call as a diaconal minister in service,” Beaman said. She currently is the nonpaid executive director of My Friends House Inc., Ascension’s outreach ministry.
Danette Hendrickson A member of Hawk Creek Lutheran Church, Sacred Heart, Minn., Hendrickson is the spouse of a farmer and has been redevelop- ing her career for a third time. She attended Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn., for a while but leſt to spend 10 years working full time as a lay campus minister at a community
college. More recently she worked 11 years as marketing
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