Ch-ch-ch-changes

Well... the cat is out of the bag.

As I alluded to in my first post, I knew some changes were coming for Drew and I in this upcoming year. This past week it became official, and yesterday we announced it to our students, so now we can share with the rest of the world.

First, some helpful background info: Drew is in the ordination process for the Lutheran church [for those of you who don't live at a seminary, that's the fancy way of saying he is working towards being a Pastor]. Part of that process is getting a Masters of Divinity, which is the degree he completed at Duke this past spring. However, since Duke is not a Lutheran seminary, he is required to take some additional Lutheran specific classes to complete this process before he can be ordained. This is something we were aware of and had prepared for. Our plan was for him to commute to the closest Lutheran seminary (which is in Columbia, SC) part time over the next two years to complete these courses. This would allow us to stay in Durham and for him to continue his work with Duke Lutherans. At the end of those two years, we would move somewhere for our "internship year" which is another part of the ordination process, and then he would officially be a Pastor. Huzzah.

As you might have guessed from the title of this post, however, some things have changed. In a turn of events that requires a lot of explaining [and possibly a strong drink] to get through, going to the seminary in SC part time is not a viable option. As we were not made aware of this fact until the weekend before classes started, that did not give us a lot of time to figure out an alternative. I'm not gonna lie, it was a very long weekend of discouragement and frustration. Fortunately, God is good. Drew's ordination committee from Ohio rallied around us, as did our local church here in Durham. Thanks to their advocacy and some compromise from the seminary, we have a new plan in place.

Thus, as of October 1, Drew will begin his internship year, serving as the "vicar" at St. Paul's here in Durham. St. Paul's, for those of you who don't know, is the church Drew is already employed at, the church that sponsors Duke Lutherans. This means that Drew will continue his work on campus, as well as pick up extra responsibilities at St. Paul's. The internship year for an ordination candidate is to immerse them in full-time ministry under the supervision of an experienced Pastor, and we are beyond pleased for that to be happening here at St. Paul's. If the past year of Drew working there had not been enough, the overwhelming support we received yesterday at church after it was announced was just further encouragement that we are in a good place, surrounded by good people.

On the other hand, this means that next summer, once internship is over, we will be leaving Durham in order for Drew to be a full-time student at a Lutheran seminary. After a year of full-time classes, he will be eligible for ordination and we will take our first call. Crazy, right?

While we are excited for ordination to be a full year closer, we are also aware of what we are giving up for that to happen. Our plan for Drew to commute for his classes wasn't ideal, but we chose it for a good reason: we wanted to stay here longer. We love Durham, Duke, our students and our community. We are invested in this place and these people, and we were so looking forward to living life here for two more years.

But, ordination is the goal. Better still, ordination is the call. So while we may not love all the steps to getting there, we know that pressing on towards that call is what we need to do.

So... we are going to enjoy every single second of this year. Retreats, worship, meals and fellowship with our students. The beautiful weather and amazing food that Durham offers. Enjoying and encouraging our friends as their own lives change. We are excited for what's ahead of us, this year and beyond. It'll be crazy, but it will be great :)

...except for packing the house. that won't be so great.