Feeling quietly proud.;…

I think it was some character from the Pogo comic strip of yesteryear who used to say (usually after some ridiculous catastrophe) that he was “quietly proud.” The phrase has become part of my vocabulary, but I’ll admit that sometimes I’m not totally quiet when I’m feeling proud.

I was feeling quietly proud several times last week during our Conference Board of Ordained Ministry at Mount Wesley…specifically, when two First Church alums came for their ordination interviews. Kyle Toomire, our former associate pastor and Director of Youth Ministries, was unanimously approved for elder’s orders, and Deana Hendrix, a former member, was unanimously approved for deacon’s orders. Both Deana and Kyle began their candidacy for ordained ministry at First Church. Kyle is now pastor of a new church, Journey UMC in Kyle, Texas (yes, that’s Kyle in Kyle!) and Deana is a chaplain with Methodist Health Care Ministries in San Antonio. She has recently been tapped to serve as lead chaplain at a new hospital in the Methodist system.

Both Kyle and Deana were exemplary candidates who showed that they are effective in ministry and faithful in responding to God’s call on their lives. And as I thought of the role First Church played in their lives, in their call and in their preparation for ordained ministry, I couldn’t help feeling quietly proud!

At the risk of forgetting someone, I list others who began steps toward ordained ministry while at First Church who are now serving honorably and well in our Conference—Mel Hazlewood, pastor at LaGrange; Jason Teague, pastor at Comfort; Peter Castles, associate pastor at Manchaca; and Barbara Ruth, Corpus Christi District Superintendent. Two of our own staff members, Jen Stuart and Cathy Stone, are currently enrolled in studies at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and are in the early stages of candidacy for ordained ministry. Considering all these people and their gifts for ministry, I am more than quietly proud—I am enthusiastically proud!

It is a wonderful thing to be part of a church in which members understand their call to discipleship in the church and in the world. And it’s a blessing to the church and the world far beyond us when that church sends out into ordained ministry men and women with particular gifts for word, sacrament, order, and service. All of us at First Church should be proud—maybe not so quietly—that we are a missional church, a teaching church. And who knows who else among us might be discerning a call? I’ll be quietly proud when I hear about it!