Level up! (Again!)
Hey! Today is the second anniversary of my ordination. Yessiree, two years ago today, I filled out the web form that made me a real live legit religious minister. It was hardly the culmination of hard work that it is for some ministers (it was more like the start of the work), but it's still a noteworthy day for me, and so I'll commemorate it like I did last year--with a blog post.
Ministerish highlights of the year:
...which has lead to much accolade from the local liberal religious scene and a sudden upswing in demand for my services. It's honestly overwhelming. I'm a lazy guy, I like doing one thing at a time and slacking off a lot between things, and now suddenly I've got half a dozen requests sitting in my email box from people who are interested in my services or who want me to attend or lead their services. I'm glad I spent much of the last year learning how to be a bit more organized about things, because right now I can barely stay afloat. I just hope I can seize these opportunities while they last.
The grad school rejection was slightly disheartening, given that I put about two months of effort and one cross-country trip into applying, but the five months since then have been so jam-packed that I barely think on it anymore. To think I almost spent three years and thirty thousand dollars to have a bunch of hippy ministers teach me how to do the hippy ministry I currently find myself immersed in! (I'm not bitter!)
Anyway, I don't mean to be cocky about all this. I'm just saying, things are going extraordinarily, surprisingly well for me this anniversary. Growing up and growing into my ministry continues to involve a lot of learning about my own limits and weaknesses, but I'm still plenty satisfied with what I've achieved so far. And so, even though I didn't make it off to wizard school like the rulebook says I should, the DM in my head is still letting me level up once again this year. Who knows what the future will hold, but it's been a great game so far.
Upcoming events include being a guest speaker at the Stone Soup supper at the Green St. Unitarian Universalist church this Sunday from 5:30-7:30pm, my ongoing spirituality group 1st & 3rd Tuesdays of the month at 7:30pm at the Channing-Murray, the third annual Midwest Discordian Ministry Assembly over Memorial Day weekend, and way out in October I'll presiding at the wedding of my friends Scott & Dawn. There's bound to be lots more events coming soon, so keep an eye out, maybe I'll actually remember to post about them here!
Peace & Slack!
Reverend Jack,
3rd Level Cleric (Chaotic-Good)
Ministerish highlights of the year:
- Organized second annual Midwest Discordian Ministry Assembly (third one is this month, not that you'd know from all the planning I haven't done.)
- Performed my third wedding ceremony, this time for my dear friends Mark & Eva in June
- Wrote an excellent application for a Unitarian Universalist seminary; got rejected, but that's okay, the gods that matter obviously want me to stay right where I am and I didn't much like San Francisco anyway
- Made many new friends at the Unitarian Universalist church, especially through Rev. Axel's twice-monthly Bible Study
- Conducted my first ever Sunday service at the Channing-Murray Foundation in October, conducted a second service later that winter, which lead to...
- Leading a twice-monthly spirituality group at C-M called "Building Our Own Religion", which lead to...
- Became a member of the Board of Governors at C-M
- And finally, just two Sundays ago, gave my first ever sermon from a pulpit at the Unitarian Universalist church...
...which has lead to much accolade from the local liberal religious scene and a sudden upswing in demand for my services. It's honestly overwhelming. I'm a lazy guy, I like doing one thing at a time and slacking off a lot between things, and now suddenly I've got half a dozen requests sitting in my email box from people who are interested in my services or who want me to attend or lead their services. I'm glad I spent much of the last year learning how to be a bit more organized about things, because right now I can barely stay afloat. I just hope I can seize these opportunities while they last.
The grad school rejection was slightly disheartening, given that I put about two months of effort and one cross-country trip into applying, but the five months since then have been so jam-packed that I barely think on it anymore. To think I almost spent three years and thirty thousand dollars to have a bunch of hippy ministers teach me how to do the hippy ministry I currently find myself immersed in! (I'm not bitter!)
Anyway, I don't mean to be cocky about all this. I'm just saying, things are going extraordinarily, surprisingly well for me this anniversary. Growing up and growing into my ministry continues to involve a lot of learning about my own limits and weaknesses, but I'm still plenty satisfied with what I've achieved so far. And so, even though I didn't make it off to wizard school like the rulebook says I should, the DM in my head is still letting me level up once again this year. Who knows what the future will hold, but it's been a great game so far.
Upcoming events include being a guest speaker at the Stone Soup supper at the Green St. Unitarian Universalist church this Sunday from 5:30-7:30pm, my ongoing spirituality group 1st & 3rd Tuesdays of the month at 7:30pm at the Channing-Murray, the third annual Midwest Discordian Ministry Assembly over Memorial Day weekend, and way out in October I'll presiding at the wedding of my friends Scott & Dawn. There's bound to be lots more events coming soon, so keep an eye out, maybe I'll actually remember to post about them here!
Peace & Slack!
Reverend Jack,
3rd Level Cleric (Chaotic-Good)