Let the Hoop Jumping Begin

A candidate for the ordained ministry of The United Methodist Church undergoes rigorous screening to ensure that s/he doesn’t turn out to be of unsavory character; or so goes the company line. In order to apply for a local pastor’s license it was necessary for me to follow a prescribed path under the watchful supervision of an ordained elder. Since I was on staff at Trinity Heights it was deemed a conflict of interest to have Nate fulfill this supervisory role, and so I was farmed out—in a manner of speaking—to the Rev. Kendall Taylor of Flagstaff’s Federated Church (a Methodist/Presbyterian hybrid). I also made the trek down to Phoenix for a complete psychological evaluation which found me, in the words of the examiner, “disgustingly healthy.” That’s the last time I was assessed in such a positive light. My interview with the district committee on ordained ministry was on a rainy afternoon in the basement of First United Methodist Church in Las Vegas (the building was recently sold and changed into a coffee house and Manpower center). Finally, I was interviewed by the Conference Board of Ordained Ministry at Paradise Valley UMC in Phoenix. It was a high point in my life when the chairperson, the Rev. Dr. James Standiford, affirmed my calling and approved my entrance into the licensing school at Claremont School of Theology. This has gone on long enough, but it is important to me to mention in conclusion that not once in this entire process was I ever asked to articulate my theology or worldview. This was my introduction to the reality that theology is not really what the church is concerned with.