SUSAN FARLEY By Terri Mork Speirs W
hen it comes to preparing people for church leadership, some congregations stand
out as “pastor factories,” if you will. Three churches alone have collec- tively laun ched nearly 120 sons and daughters into ordained and lay min- istry: pastors, missionaries, deacon- esses, diaconal ministers, associates in ministry, professors, administra- tors and communicators. These three congregations don’t have much in common, yet there must be something shared in the water—baptismal water, that is. Promises made at the font have pro- pelled many of their offspring into ministry. What are their secrets?
Speirs is a writer and communications consultant; member of St. John Lutheran Church, Des Moines, Iowa; and blogs at thesnakecharmerswife.
blogspot.com.
Like other pastors, Judith Delgado (second from left) was drawn into ordained ministry because of the influence of her congregation—Trinity, Brooklyn, N.Y., and people like Socorro Valenzuela (left), Anglie Polanco and baby Zuheidi, and Ivonne Davila, former members. Delgado serves St. Peter in the Bronx Lutheran.
It takes a community to raise a pastor
3 congregations provided church with some 100 pastors
Country church In the heart of Iowa sits Gowrie, population 1,000. A big blue sky, lush green ground and the assurance of fertile black soil center the people of Zion Evan- gelical Lutheran, recalling a time when the church was the center of social networking. At the edge of the town sits the sturdy brick building that houses the congregation, which was formed in the late 1880s. Since then, Zion has reared some 27 sons and daughters into ministry. “One of the wonderful things about Zion is that there were so many active
30 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
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