“Follow me,” he told them, “and I will make you fishers of people!”   

Matthew 4:19

This morning Veronica will be speaking with her Candidates Committee with the Lutheran Diocese of northern California to speak about her path to ordination.  I remember meeting with my Candidates Committee 34 years ago this month and how nervous I was to speak with this committee about my path to ordination.  And all of these years later, here I am, still in ministry.  

There weren’t many women ministers when I began my process and I remember how grateful I was to the women who came before me.  I was grateful to stand on their shoulders and here Veronica and Rola are on their paths to ordination and a new generation is born and I hope to be some shoulders that they can stand upon.  I cannot begin to tell you how incredibly grateful I am to work with these two powerful women.  For both of them, this is some of the best preaching I have heard. It’s as if they have been seasoned pastors for years.  I am consistently amazed by their talent and see the deep Call in them.  People have often asked me about The Call and it can be hard to articulate it.  The best way that I can describe it, is that it’s like being bitten by “The Jesus Bug.” Once you’ve been bit, there’s nothing else that you can do.  I have thought about leaving ministry, or checking out another profession, but nothing else appeals to me.  I am completely drawn in – hook, line and sinker – into to telling the Good News of the Gospel.  I know it may sound schmaltzy and a bit saccahrine, but it’s truth.  I love talking about the bible, and studying Jesus and his words and ways and powerful message of love, hope and forgiveness.  When Jesus said to all of those fisherman all of those years ago saying, “Hey!  I’ve got a new profession for you!  You’re no longer going to be fishing fish, but being fisherman of people.”  That Call Jesus put out all of those years ago to Peter, James and John still applies today for Pamela, Veronica and Rola. It’s beautiful witness this Call throughout all of these generations and how it is alive and well today.