I find it hard to believe that February is already drawing to a close. It feels like I just wrote my January blog post yet as I reflect on the last month, a lot has happened! This post is more informational than engaging, but I want to share these updates with y'all.
- At the end of January, I took 2 of the PCUSA ordination exams (Worship & Sacraments and Bible Exegesis). I spent over 50 hours on the exams in a period of 6 days. Months of preparation for both of the exams helped me to pass both of them (and I passed the Bible Content Exam last August), which is something for which I am grateful and of which I am very proud.
- As part of my internship, I attend Care Team (we do not have Deacons and instead have Ruling Elders and the Care Team) meetings monthly and I engage in pastoral care. At the February Care Team meeting, I experienced the joy of crafting with the Care Team. We made Valentine gifts (a pearl and lace Valentine decoration) for members of the church who are homebound. I loved delivering the gifts to a few members of the church and seeing the delight in their eyes.
- At the beginning of February I taught Sunday School at Ginter Park Presbyterian Church. I led a discussion about Aging & Spirituality, which was informed by seminars that I have attended at Westminster Canterbury in Richmond, VA. On that same Sunday, I co-led worship with my supervisor, Pastor Carla, and the President of Union Presbyterian Seminary, Dr. Jacqueline Lapsley. What a privilege and joy it was to co-lead worship alongside these two women ministers (Dr. Jacq is the first female president of Union Presbyterian Seminary & Pastor Carla is the first female minister of Ginter Park Presbyterian Church!).
- My husband and I traveled to Maryland on a Saturday to visit family and attend the Iowa Women's Basketball game versus University of Maryland. We loved watching the famous Caitlin Clark play basketball and seeing all of the University of Iowa fans who traveled in from so many places. Among the immense knowledge I have gained at my internship, I have learned the challenge of working on Sundays. Of course I knew about this challenge since I am a preacher's kid. But it is different when you are the one who is waking up early Sunday morning for a full day of work! I am grateful to my husband who drove us home from MD at 11pm on that Saturday so that I could sleep and be prepared for church in the morning. We are continuously learning what this balance looks like.
- I applied for and was selected to be a part of a Public Theology travel seminar to South Africa in May 2024 with my seminary. We will focus on public theology in South Africa, particularly as it relates to the work of justice and reconciliation in the aftermath of apartheid. The travel seminar will take place in collaboration with the School of Theology at the University of Stellenbosch, which houses the Beyers Naudé Center for Public Theology. We will visit sites of significance in the South African church struggle and participate in a class at the University of Stellenbosch on contemporary confessions, including the South African Kairos Document and the Belhar Confession. I am incredibly excited for this opportunity!
- Lent began at my internship with an Ash Wednesday Supper Church service. We fellowshipped over soup and bread, invited each other into a practice of Lenten discipleship, chatted with folks at our dinner tables about our spiritual practices, and then we received ashes (and I had the opportunity to impose ashes, which was a very powerful experience). As I reflected on the conversations with folks during Ash Wednesday Supper Church, I decided to add a spiritual practice to my life during this season of Lent. So far, my daily spiritual practice addition is either 5-10 minutes of centering prayer or doing "homework for life," which I learned about in my Introduction to Preaching class when we watched this TEDx video from Matthew Dicks.
I am grateful for the love, support, and prayers from my family, friends and church communities. May you feel God's constant love and boundless grace around you each day.
Peace and blessings,
Caitlin
