Candidate 5 Profile

Section A. Background Information

10. Year of Ordination

2014

11. Denomination of Ordination

Christian Reformed Church, Classis GR East

12. If not RCA, what classes or supervising body from the ordaining denomination recognizes your ordination?

Christian Reformed Church, Classis GR East

13. Present denomination

Christian Reformed Church, Classis GR East

14. Present classis or judicatory

Christian Reformed Church, Classis GR East

15. If you are not now a member of the Reformed Church in America, can you, in good conscience, agree with the doctrine, discipline and government of the RCA?

Yes.

16. Do you support the mission and division of the Reformed Church in America?

Yes.

17. Citizen of what country? If not USA, do you have permit to live and work in the USA?

USA

18. Previous Experience

19. Formal Education

20. Continuing Education

21. Languages (list any languages, other than English, in which you can preach or converse fluently)

I can speak some Spanish, but I do not use it very often and it has been years since I gave a sermon in Spanish.

Section B. Reflection

1. Describe your strengths, the best of who you are, and what you bring in service to the church.

I am a strong administrative leader, as well as a gifted teacher and preacher. I enjoy working as part of a team, and cultivating a sense of community among those with whom I work. While I am an introvert who appreciates time to write and study on my own, I am also an effective comunicator, a good storyteller, and I find satisfaction in helping others cultivate their strengths and grow in their faith (and as you can see, I also write run-on sentences like the apostle Paul). I appreciate opportunities to exercise creativity and innovation, particularly in the area of faith formation. I can usually get a fairly good read on the interpersonal and emotional dynamics at work in most situations, and I address conflict with intention and care. I don't take myself too seriously, and what I lack in parish experience, I make up for in capability.

2. Name two or three mentors who have significantly contributed to your ministry, and explain why these people are important to you.

Rev. Kathy Smith was my advisor while I was in Seminary. I went to Seminary when my children were young, and having a mentoring relationship with a person who had a similar experience was quite encouraging.

Mr. Peter VanderMeulen was my supervisor for most of the time that I worked for the CRC Office of Social Justice (2011-2017). He recognized my gifts as a leader and gave me opportunities and responsinilities to grow the skills I needed to become a leader in the Church.

Pastor David Sieplinga was my colleague for the last year that I worked at Oakdale Park CRC. His example of servant leadership was a blessing to me, and he challenged me to grow in my worship planning and leadership.

3. What caused you to enter ministry, and what are the core values that define your vision for ministry?

I grew up attending Church, Sunday School and Catechism classes. I attended a Christian day school from preschool through high school. And I knew from a very young age that Jesus is Lord.

I also knew that I wanted to serve God. But my imagination for how I would serve God was limited by what I saw around me, <redacted>. Unlike many of my <redacted> colleagues, I was not encouraged to enter the ministry of preaching until I was in my twenties. I entered ministry with the strong desire to serve the CRC through it's ministries of social justice and race relations. But while I entered ordained ministry with notions of what I would do, God has continusously challenged me to imagine more. After nearly seven years serving in the CRC's denominational offices, I chose to leave my position. I have taken part-time, temporary jobs since then, and have felt a strong call to parish ministry led by my heart for worship and faith formation.

4. Explain the strategies or ideas that most excite you for helping a church to become and remain missional.

Churches reflect the face of Christ by being places of welcome and inclusion, through ministries that meet people where they are, and that provide opportunities for listening and growth. I think churches do this through fostering an environment where fellowship (meals, conversations), prayer (of all kinds), studies (of books or films or the Bible), service, and activities (based on community interest) are practiced not as obligations but as a way of doing life together in Christ. Intergenerational Faith Formation is important to shaping a community of faith. If we know one another, and care for one another, we will stick together, even when times are challenging. Iron sharpens iron in this way. While weekly worship services and Bible studies are at the top of my list of what I appreciate about church, I know for others it may be coordinated service projects, or the ministry of music, or something else. In these post-COVID days we are all trying to figure out what church will look like, but the possibilities are exciting.

5. Name three of your most passionate hopes for the Church at large, and why they are significant to you.

First, I hope that the Church would seek justice for those being marginalized. Members of the Church often fail to recognize the collective power that we have. Through partnership with other communities (whether faith-based or not), we can live out our faith, by advocating with others for their God-given rights.

Second, I hope that the Church will seek healing for those who have been harmed by the Church through abuse or exclusionary practices. We have done so much damage in the ways we have sought and maintained power, and by trying to define who does and does not belong. I pray that we can turn to God, again and again, in repentance and seek relationships of mutuality and trust.

Third, I hope for unity that is genuine. I think much of the unity we experience in the Church today is at a surface-level, and rooted in cultural affinities. God asks that we center around the gratitude that we have for the saving work of Jesus Christ. Unity in diversity is a responsibility of the Church, not an obstacle to overcome, or a value we can push down on our priority list. But it has to be real.

6. Give an example of how you would theologically address an issue facing your contemporary world. Please be thorough enough to help the reader to understand your thought processes and your life commitments.

Well, that's an overwhelming question to think about, but I will try to formulate a decent reponse. The issue of racism is one that is close to my heart. In looking at the ways that racial injustice is systemically woven throughout our systems of education, housing, and policing, for example, I find the Reformed understanding of "original sin"(see Belgic Confession, Article 15) to be helpful in explaining systmic racism to those who do not understand it. I have found it is important to differentiate between intentions and impacts. The Behar Confession is a wonderful resource here, too, as it gets to the heart of how the sin of racism needs to be addressed, in point 4 it states, "We believe that the church as the possession of God must stand where the Lord stands, namely against injustice and with the wronged." Racism, like the many other -isms that plague our world, needs to be addressed and rooted out in order for us to live the good news of the gospel without hypocrisy.

7. What theologians, pastors, authors or other leaders have had the greatest influence upon your life and thought? (List up to 4 and explain.)

Walter Bruggemann - Brueggemann 's biblical scholarship on the Old Testament texts has opened by eyes to the profound call to justice and mercy throughout the Scriptures.

Willie James Jennings - I appreciate Dr. Jennings' scholarship on race in his book, The Christian Imagination. I also treasure his commentary on the book of Acts, which includes an inspiring ecclesiology.

Grace Ji-Sun Kim - Dr. Kim is an ethicist whose focus on intersectionality has given me profound insight into how the gospel message can be lived powerfully today, challenging corruption and the abuse of power in many forms.

Suzanne McDonald - I read McDonald's small book, Reimaging Election, as a Seminary student and fell more in love with Jesus. Her explanation of the doctrine of election is amazing.

8. How do you hope someone influenced by your ministry would describe what s/he considers to be most important?

I'd like to influence people to exercise their imaginations as acts of hope and trust in God, no longer accepting easy answers or looking at faith as the practice of setting boundaries. I want people to see faith as an invitation to explore the unknown without fear, to find the courage to live into their God-given callings. I want people to find belonging in a community of faith where they can experience encouragement and accountability, as well as the mercy, grace and love of God that we have in Jesus Christ. I want people to see obedience to God as a gift, not a burden. I long to see the practices of prayer, Bible study, service and worship lived into so that they might shape people's faithfulness, and not tokenized like items on a "to do" list. All of thise would be characterized by a posture of hospitality that moves willingly from welcome to embrace.

9. Name at least one challenge for a pastor who accepts a Call to lead a church whose culture is other than his/her own.

There is a learning curve wherever a pastor goes, but that curve can be quite steep when crossing cultural boundaries. I imagine for me, serving a Church outside of the community and denominaton that have always been home to me, I will need a lot of grace. There are also issues of communication, because what means one thing to one person can mean something else entirely to someone else. I had the gift of growing up in a household with parents from two cultures, which has contributed to a sense of isolation from not "fitting in" entirely in one or the other, but also made intercultural relatinoships and cross-cultural experiences less intimidating than others who may not have had a similar upbringing.

10. Describe your vision and hopes for the Church over the next 5-10 years.

This is another ambitious question, so my response will be ambitious, as well. As I mentioned in myresponse to #5, I'd like to see the Church 1) seek justice for the marginalized and oppressed, 2) seek healing through repentance and acts of reparation, and 3) practice genuine unity. The Church is called to follow Christ, and to do that, we need to stop trying to hold the power and take the lead. Rather, in humility, we need to serve, listen, and practice faithfulness to God by loving our neighbors as ourselves. I think it will be necessary for denominations and churches to divide in order to follow the calling that God has placed on us. "Don't ask, don't tell" is no way to maintain genuine unity. Christ cannot be the center when we have placed ourselves and our priorities there. The Church is called to follow Christ by seeking the flourishing of all people who bear God's image (2 Corinthians 5:15-21).

11. If there is anything else you would like to add about yourself that you think would help a search team to better understand and consider you as their next pastor, please elaborate here.

Thank you.